[NintendoKD]

Originally Posted by dragonsgate

I think what you are talking about is also called a chopper. That is a pretty antiquated way to go now days. I have heard if you are running below 50 volts it will work fairly well but higher voltage will cause problems. It is a struggle for me to get a grasp on some of the technology available now days but I do know enough to go with the newer stuff. In the long run it saves time and money not to mention being more efficient.

you and I are talking about two totally different things here.

[dragonsgate]

I am ready to be enlightened. What is the difference? I am not being snide. I would really be interested in knowing. However even in my ignorance of which is what I still think either one would be a step backwards. Protecting my butt here I will add that there is nothing wrong with going ahead with the project to sate your curiosity.

[NintendoKD]

To be perfectly honest, I AM sure of what you are talking about, however, I am not positive of what the name of what I am talking about is called. I have only heard of this called a rotary gap. A disc with a single contact, right after the cap tank. the other side is a non rotating disc, however, this can be done in reverse, where the single contact is stationary and the three recieving contacts are rotating. or in varying order, ex. vice versa. the idea is that the rotating disc is controlled by a small motor, and by controlling the motors speed you can controll the frequency at which the recieving coils get their power. you can use this to go from 0hz to the limits of the motor, and a varying degree of advance, due to the limit of the surface area of the contacts, similar in design to a distributor. I must also add that I am not the best with words. I have a fairly difficult time getting what is inside of my head onto paper either drawn or written, It is frustrating to say the least. I apologize if I offended anyone, my object is not to be hostile.

[Tesseract]

Do less typing and more searching:

Mechanical controller thread #1

Mechanical controller thread #2

Mechanical controller thread #3

Mechanical controller thread #4

[dragonsgate]

Here is sort of what I remember about the chopper / speed control. The idea was to take a starter motor and gut the windings and attach some of the bars from the com to copper strips attached to the armature. Then attach a 12 volt electric motor to the modified starter motor using the original brushes and housing. This is not my design so from here I am lost. In the 80’s Mother Earth sold plans for a hybrid electric car. I bought a set and never did anything but look at them a few times and then stash them away. I know they are still around somewhere. If I find them I will give some more info it you want but I remember the plans and directions as being a little vague.

[dragonsgate]

I found the plans. If anyone is interested I will share some more about them. It is an interesting contraption for the time but way out dated now.

[few2many]

Whats amazing to me, Is how much I am seeing 3phase vfds in everyday equipment! Ice makers, fan motors, ac units and even large Ice dispensers, all have little 220v single phase, to 3phase vfds.

[NintendoKD]

Originally Posted by Tesseract

Do less typing and more searching:

Mechanical controller thread #1

Mechanical controller thread #2

Mechanical controller thread #3

Mechanical controller thread #4

that one is a big DUH! yeah, probably should have tried the search feature first, thanks tess.

[Woodsmith]

I had a go at making one.


I wouldn't use it, except for a bit of fun.

One snag is that if the controller drive motor failed then the controller itself can fail in one of two modes, fully off or fully on and there is no way of determining where it will stop.

[onegreenev]

Why do something that is old and will give you marginal results. It will be a major undertaking to reproduce that sort of thing. It is not as simple as one might expect. Spend your time elsewhere that will really do some good.