Good day,

I have a question.

Most of our offices has 3 phase incoming power from Eskom

Only equipment running on 3 phase are the borehole and the diesel tank.

I don't want to install a 3 phase inverter as the whole building is basically single phase.

Is there a conversion I can do to convert the 3 phase motor to run on single phase?

Thanks in advance.

12 minutes ago, Scabanshi said:

Good day,

I have a question.

Most of our offices has 3 phase incoming power from Eskom

Only equipment running on 3 phase are the borehole and the diesel tank.

I don't want to install a 3 phase inverter as the whole building is basically single phase.

Is there a conversion I can do to convert the 3 phase motor to run on single phase?

Thanks in advance.

You can install a single phase 220vac to 3 phase  ac motor drive to handle the borehole  pump. It will cost you, but it will solve your problem. 

@Scorp007  might be able to shed more light on this for you. 

Edited June 19, 20233 yr by BritishRacingGreen

Hi @Scabanshi

 

Can definitely be done, you are looking for a VSD drive,

Speak to Neels at https://cfptechnologies.co.za/product-category/variable-frequency-drives/ and he will advise you which one to get. 

You will need to know the specifications of the motors that you are wanting to run. 

I would also suggest the VSD/VFD route and stick to 3-phase motors as suggested by @BritishRacingGreen and @Sc00bs. Just one thing to mention regarding VFDs and long cable runs like to your borehole pump; the power created by VFDs can cause harmonics in long cable runs (over 20m) that can cause spikes of up to double the voltage causing damage to the motor windings. This is apparently dependent on the speed of the gate drivers. You should look in to adding a choke (aka. dV/dT filter) to clean the power or at least ask the supplier if it is necessary for the VFD you do buy.

1 hour ago, Scabanshi said:

Good day,

I have a question.

Most of our offices has 3 phase incoming power from Eskom

Only equipment running on 3 phase are the borehole and the diesel tank.

I don't want to install a 3 phase inverter as the whole building is basically single phase.

Is there a conversion I can do to convert the 3 phase motor to run on single phase?

Thanks in advance.

For me the key is what are the motor sizes and at times the design of the machine is such that one can also fit a single phase motor as an option. 

VFD would be OK with taking into account what @jumper

mentioned. 

Thank you guys for the info.

really appreciate the help. I will definitely phone cfptegnologies and ask for the best solutions. 

@jumper Is there any difference between a VSD and a VFD or are they the same thing? 

Veichi have a Veichi Si23 Solar Pump Inverter which is designed for Borehole pumps, I would assume that it has the necessary electronics to operate over a longer cable

 

2 minutes ago, Sc00bs said:

@jumper Is there any difference between a VSD and a VFD or are they the same thing? 

Veichi have a Veichi Si23 Solar Pump Inverter which is designed for Borehole pumps, I would assume that it has the necessary electronics to operate over a longer cable

 

Variable speed drive, variable frequency drive... same thing yeah... you have variable speed of the motor by changing the frequency of the supply. The solar version is sometimes called a solar drive. Helps to search with different terms online because you get different results sometimes even though it's the same thing.

I was looking at those VSDs and they look really nice, the thing is they are called "solar pump inverters", but that doesn't necessarily mean they are made for borehole pumps with long cables, unless you have other information, I can't see anything on the site. I made the mistake when buying my "solar pump controller" to assume they are designed for boreholes, but realized later they can be used for any surface pumps too, like swimming pool pumps etc. so they are not necessarily all designed to deal with the harmonics in long cables. I think it would at least be worth asking them, just to be sure.