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Mains Pains - Two Phase Days

🕑 Added 2018-06-11 04:55:46 +0000 UTC

Comments

Harry Lakhaney

Hey Fran....What a weird and wonderful mains system you have in Philly! Looks like something out of Dr Frankenstein’s Lab (Pun intended ha ha Fran Lab!). All that’s missing are a few knife switches to throw on the mains. :-)

And the two phases are 90° apart from each other, so it's no stripped down version of 3 phase system (which would be 120° offset per phase), but one half of a four phase system!

2-phase mains, did not know those existed, US is a weird country sometimes :-)

Fran Blanche

Thanks Tesla!

Fran Blanche

It's sluggish. My shop neighbor had a 2-phase to 3-phase converter installed on our floor for some of his larger lathes.

Daniel Bingamon

So, the early motors would have been wound for the 2-phase operation? Just like there are three-phase motors today. No need for starting capacitors.

Brad Wilmot

How does a modern induction motor behave on 240V with a 90 degree phase shift instead of 180? In our building we have 120/208 3-phase, and the 120deg phase shift causes the motors to take longer to start...

Paul John Showalter

Wow! That is really amazing. And the room in the basement looks unreal.

Carissa Vixen

Oh wow, what a beautiful set of antique switchgear. I wonder if the building has an elevator with a DC generator or mercury arc rectifier to complete the vintage beauty? 👍

Catchy title, too!

Many thanks for a very cool tidbit of little-known (unknown by me, till NOW!) information, Fran!