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3 phase - was Wiring up my "new" compressor

To: prubrew@ix.netcom.com, friedman@leland.stanford.edu, worsley@ebicom.net, triumphs@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: 3 phase - was Wiring up my "new" compressor
From: DANMAS@aol.com
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 20:46:59 -0500 (EST)
Chris:

A few folks have written, either to the list or to me privately, suggesting
that you may have a three phase motor. I certainly won't deny that
possibility, but I don't believe that to be the case, and I will explain why
I don't. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me.

Another short tutorial, if I may.

Three phase motors come in two types, "Delta" and "Wye" connections. In the
Delta configuration, the three windings are connected in a triangular
arrangement, with the three power leads connecting to the windings at the
apexes of the triangle. There is no neutral lead in this configuration, so
the four wires involved would be the green ground wire, one red, one black,
and one of some other color, other than white. White is always reserved for
neutral.

In a Wye configuration, the three windings are connected in the shape, as the
name implies, of a "Y". The power leads connect to the windings at the
extremeties of the "Y," with a neutral connection at the center of the Wye.
This requires five wires - Green ground wire, red, black, another color other
than white, and the white neutral wire.

Based on that, I came to the conclusion that the motor was a single phase
motor. I am not aware of any place where a two phase motor is used. Of
course, it is always possible that the white wire is incorrectly colored, or
perhaps the motor came directly from Japan, where they may or may not use the
same color code we do here.

If you know the person you bought the compressor from, it wouldn't hurt to
ask. If he ran it on three phase, he should be aware of it, as three phase is
fairly rare except in industrial applications.

Dan Masters,
Alcoa, TN

'71 TR6---------3000mile/year driver, fully restored
'71 TR6---------undergoing full restoration and Ford 5.0 V8 insertion - see:
                    http://www.sky.net/~boballen/mg/Masters/
'74 MGBGT---3000mile/year driver, original condition
'68 MGBGT---organ donor for the '74

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