3 phase to single?

[imageel]

Hi folks,
I'm looking to purchase a 2nd hand planer thickneser and have found one I like, however it is 3 phase (Wadkin BAOS)
Can anyone advise whether it is viable to convert this to single phase i.e motor & switch change?
Cheers

 

[miles_hot]

have a look at Bob's guide - that will tell you more than you ever thought to know

 

[imageel]

Thanks have read that now! Interesting stuff.. now just to decide what to buy!

 

[JonnyD]

One thing to consider when looking at a 3 phase wadkin or sedwick planer is that there is also a separate feed motor to consider the Sedgwick ones the feed also has a built in gearbox I'm unsure of the wadkin one as I've never owned one. So having to change 2 motors and 2 sets of switchgear the cheap 3 phase machine may not be the bargain it first looked. It may be more sensible to look into an inverter or keep an eye out for a single phase machine.

Cheers

Jon

 

[tjwoodms]

you cant compare a baos to a segdwick its like comparing a lada to a bmw the baos is a far better machine.

the baos does have two motors but as standard only one contactor which feeds the main motor and the feed motor is fed of the same contactor via a rotory speed selector that you wont need to change.

Also you may not need to change the contactor at all as some of the contactor coils are 240v rather than 415v (depending on what stock wadkin had on the shelf at the time) its easy to find out remove the on/off switch box and the coil rating will be written on the contactor. If you cant find it have a look at the contactor itself (if there are links from l1 and l3 then its 415v if theres only 1 link from l1 or l3 then its a 240v coil)

The other thing to consider is the baos was built as a sinlge phase as well but the feed gearbox was different (im not sure why but im guessing there is a good reason)