Single Phase Motor Conversion

[Dan Jones]

Hi, the three-phase conversion of a Varigear is shown here:

Friday, January 18, 2019 -- Single Phase Motor Conversion

Shown above is my Super Caster with a replacement single-phase motor on the Varigear, instead of the factory-supplied three-phase original. Completed about fifteen years ago, I'm pleased with the result; at least one person thought it was a factory original motor. A more detailed description was included in the ATF Newsletter no. 30 (April, 2005). The condensed version is included below.

I used a "C" face, three-quarter HP TEFC motor. A typical "C" face motor is shown in the lower-right insert; it attaches by face-mounting with four threaded holes, however the motor needs to come apart to install it. The single most important thing to do when disassembling a motor is to scribe a line in the housing to show the alignment of the face plate, main body and rear plate to put it back together correctly. I removed the old motor and aligned just the motor face plate so that it could be bolted on to the Varigear, I used four 5/16" bolts ½" long to do this and had to drill new holes in the motor AND the Varigear to clear obstructions. When drilling holes, keep everything scrupulously clean.

Then I re-assembled the motor, sliding it onto the Vari-gear cone drive that is already positioned in the drive housing. To finish, the only way to tighten the set screw on the cone drive to the now-assembled motor shaft was to use a long Allen key and go through one of the threaded holes used to attach the whole unit to the caster. I have done two drives so far with good results.

From my Flickr: https://flic.kr/p/2ed7Jpj

Let me know if you have any questions. I did it because I don't have three-phase power in my shop, although recently, there have been some nice VFD controls on the market that can convert single to three-phases. I have also attached a scan of the original article.

Dan
Pygment Press
Newmarket, Ont.

[Dave Hughes]

@Ascensius It might be an idea to use the Forum's bookmark feature to save Dan's excellent article for future reference.

That can be done by clicking the green heart icon at the bottom of his post.

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