208 volt 3 phase doesnt work well for my plasma cutters. Somedays they work then they don’t. Can a buck boost transformer putting me at 240 volt 3 phase still work?
Call your electric company. They can change the taps on the existing transformers to increase your voltage.
There are limitations that might effect your 120v circuits. I use 208 three phase in my shop without any issues. How many plasma cutter are you using at once?
Check with the utility company to see if there tranformer are utilizing a high leg.
Yes you could use a series of buck and boost transformers. The cost could more expensive than the plasma cutter…
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Only using one at a time. It ran before but not now. Ran the 30 and 45 amp plasma cutters. My friend took my 45 amp home plugged it in to single phase 240 and it worked great. The 30 he took home tonight, fan was running but won’t trigger. Not sure what is going on?
You could have other issues with that circuit. Bad connection, voltage drop if the wire is the wrong size and is extremely long run from circuit box. You can put a meter on the legs while using the plasma cutter to see if your voltage is falling off under a load.
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I am unsure if this would apply or not but I used to run 3phase mobile mri machines and it was possible for the wiring to be out of phase and cause issues. All that was necessary was swapping any two hot legs position. I know most things might be insensitive to the phasing but some things at least it is important.
Now the 45amp is running off 208.
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Check for loose connection at both ends. Just one phase could be loose to cause major issue.
Please use extreme caution when inside electrical panel.
not the surpising considering the manual outlines that 208 is in the acceptable voltage range for the razerweld 45.
230 +/- 15 %
15% of 230 is 34.5 volts
so the range is 195.5-264.5 volts.
I am wondering if during the day when you and your neighbors are using power for Air Conditioning and other reasons. see If the voltage drops below 200v ?
have you ever check the voltage at that plug after it does not work to see if the voltage has drop ?
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It’s very unlikely your neighbors are on 3 phase power unless the house is very large.
Or his neighbors are other industrial and commercial buildings.
unlikely he has 3 phase at his personal home .
Very true. It really sound like a wiring or connection issue. Who Knows?
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I agree it could be voltage drop from a loose connection and/or voltage drop from usage external to the outlet.
checking for voltage drop with a meter would be a good start .
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Working on electric steam generators at hospitals for 30 years, I rather work on 480V, 3 phase than 208V, 3 phase. Lower amperage on the 480V so it doesn’t heat up as much and the wire feed is smaller. In older hospitals that I work in, don’t really have a choice but 208V. I find 208V is unstable at times especially if chillers and such are drawing more amperage during the summer.
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Got my curiosity up on this topic. Is this a Razorcut 45? If so, I did go online and the specs say 240V, single phase only. 208V, 3 phase would be a 4 or 5-wire setup with a neutral for your 120V control circuit and ground. I’ve seen dual-voltage plasma cutters but it’s unusual to see it configured for single or 3 phase.
I assume he is running it on two legs and getting 208v.
A lot of commercial building electrical designs like 3 phase 208v. They get an entire additional leg for use with 120 volt circuits.
Yes, that’s true for commercial wiring. Checking for voltage drop while the equipment is running is a good start. Curious if there is other 240V single-phase equipment he has and if they running fine? Or, if he has equipment that is 208V, 3-phase are they operating fine?
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Just buy a $100 phase converter.
Using it at my work. They let me bring my table in, so I make signs while the cnc mill runs.
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