Outstanding explanation of single and 3 phase electrical power.

A place to keep track of reference material - any particularly useful books, articles, etc. should be listed here.
Post Reply
JoeBallantyne
Posts: 291
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2010 4:08 pm
Real name: Joe Ballantyne
Location: Redmond, WA

Outstanding explanation of single and 3 phase electrical power.

Post by JoeBallantyne »

I just saw this video on youtube when looking for information on rotary 3 phase converters, and it has the clearest explanation I have ever heard of both 3 phase and single phase power setups. I wish I had gotten an explanation like this in college. Explains standard US single phase setups as well as 3 phase wye and 3 phase delta and how they work. It also explains how 3 phase rotary phase converters work. (They make 3 phase delta.)

https://youtu.be/mUXLxK_zI24

Joe.
User avatar
Emma Black
Posts: 196
Joined: Wed May 11, 2022 9:42 am
Real name: Emma Black

Re: Outstanding explanation of single and 3 phase electrical power.

Post by Emma Black »

This is great. I came across this exact video a while back when pondering getting a single or 3 phase lathe and then buying a 3 phase converter. I went with single in the end.

The split phase element is also interesting, we don't have that here for some reason, its just 230v at every socket.
3 phase here is also 120 degrees apart not 180 which gives 400v (230v*1.72) rather than 480v (240v*2)
Jerry Biehler
Posts: 975
Joined: Tue Nov 24, 2009 3:08 am
Real name:
Location: Beaverton, OR

Re: Outstanding explanation of single and 3 phase electrical power.

Post by Jerry Biehler »

120v (110v) in the US dates back to the old DC systems if I recall. So that's just what we have now. To change would be cost prohibitive. So one extra wire from the distribution transformer splits it to 240/120 center tapped.

Three phase here is 120 degrees apart just like everywhere else. The main 3 phase power we have is 240/120 high leg delta, where one output of the mains transformer has a center tap for 120, 240 or 480 delta, 480/277Y and 208/120Y. Y is probably the most common setup. 277v is most often used for lighting. There is 600v as well but outside of heavy industrial industries it is pretty rare.
Post Reply

Return to “Books & References”