There used to be voltage converting devices,that used small electric motors,I dont know or understand the concept,I know they used to use drycell batteries to run the spark box on some early cars(hence the term “ignition batteries”) and also on various stationary engines.
I would probaly mess up big time wiring three phase,I do know its a great deal more efficient and economical,then single phase for a lot of apps.
Maybe there will be a true “Tesla car” one day grabbing its motive power from the ether or zero point(the clues are there)But it will upset the status quo.
There used to be voltage converting devices,that used small electric motors...
Maybe phase converters (rotary type):
DC motors are well suited for heavy loads…like a car starter.
These phase converters are available. I was on the house committee at my church and we had to replace the boiler. The company that contracted the job thought the building has three phase service which it does not have. The circulation pump has a three phase motor, so the company ate the cost of a,phase converrtor. The phase converrtor is an alternator driven by a single phase motor. There is,also a,pulley on the other end of the converter so we could belt it to a gasoline engine and run the pump. Apparently a single phase motor in tbe right frame,size wasn’t available.
One of the responders mentioned arc welding equipment. That got me to thinking about how current is set on an AC arc welding unit (think Lincoln). Does anyone know how the arc current is set on such a unit? I remember long ago either Popular Mechanics or Popular Science had a project for building an arc welder out of a salvaged pole transformer. IIRC, that project had a magnetic shunt between the primary and secondary coils to cause the magnetizing field to bypass the secondary as the welding current reached its set level. This would cause the arc voltage to droop under load. Also, does anyone know what rectifiers are used to convert the AC to DC for use of AC/DC welders?
I am thinking that ability of an automotive alternator to limit current is in the design of the rotating armature i.e. field winding & pole piece structure. As you know that field pole pieces are triangular so that the magnetizing field is not square with the stator poles. As the stator develops opposing magnetizing force the field magnemotive force would bypass the stator path limiting the current. One of the points to consider in an alternator is that the current comes in pulses as the electric voltage rises to cause the diodes to conduct. So the current will be peaked right at and following the peak induced voltage. The conduction would be lagging the voltage and full of harmonics of the rotating field frequency.
Anyway, keep the thoughts and observations coming.
Speaking of arc welding…
( still another segue’ of this thread )
One of my early jobs was in an old movie theater that still had carbon-arc projectors.
Me, the projectionist, had to constantly monitor and adjust the correct distance between the electrodes for maximum brightness. THIS is the reason for the old melting celuloid that you often saw if the movie broke mid scene…it was hot in there !
I’m curious how this thread went from fading to phasing. And I guess Carolyn had all she could handle for a while and took a brake(sic)… Gotta stay automotive, dontchaknow.
No, I don’t believe so. OP question . . is this board fading out? Rocketman
Again when I was a kid back in the 50’s, one of the neighbor’s kid’s dad had a welder mounted on his 49 Ford. I’m pretty sure it was DC though. It ran off the fan belt and had a crank to tighten the belt. It all fit nicely under the hood.
This thread reminds me I need to check my Dilithium Crystals.
about setting the amperage on lincoln arc welders … it s easy
you just turn the dial or selector… 
wow. this thread is jumping. I guess I ll go check out the cow fart thread now…
Speaking of arc welder uses, I was in the printing industry half a century ago at least, and the way to make plates for offsett printing for press was a machine that used arc welder technology, ie 2 rods brought close enough together to produce intense light, to burn the image under a negative on to a plate. The procedure produced cavities in the plate the ink would stick to and then be used for printing. we also used a platten press from the 1800’s for business cards and wedding invitations because the type was made by assembling individual molded letters into a block for printing, and made an impression onto the paper, with clarity and definition not reproducible by any other means. top of the line in the late 60’s
@ken green a long time friend of mine worked as a projectionist at the theater in his younger days when they used those arc rods to provide light for the projectors.
He used to cook food inside the projectors and mangled a movie one night when he was getting the next reel ready and forgot about a large sack of peanuts he had placed in there for roasting.
Next thing he knew the smoke was rolling and the peanuts were blazing away and which was soon followed by grumbling and some shouting from the restless audience who was wondering why it was taking so long to get the movie rolling again…
That theater really got hot about 6 months later when a former disgruntled employee (whom I knew personally but not as a good friend) went to the downtown theater about 11 on a Sunday morning and entered the back door with an extra key. He dumped out a few gallons of gasoline, threw a match on it, and strolled out.
The theater was totally gutted by fire and he was charged with arson.
So much for the afternoon matinee…
Cant some of the Electric cars be used as back up power when the lights go out?I hate fooling with the cranky generators,and most cars arent equipped to give you any back up electricity,as long as we can talk,the board will stay alive,I suggest to anyone that doesnt like the thread,to ignore it.
When the show is revived,the Forum will gain strength.
my key board still doesn t work right on the Cartalk site. ok on all others… skipping letters and letters registering very slowly on screen…
^
That still happens intermittently when I post on this site, but I haven’t experienced it for several days–luckily.
Hmmm not sure how to respond to the comment left by Billy. LOL, It would be a shame and a mistake if I were used as the sexist example from this site. In fact it would be genuinely incorrect. You might want to polish up on the parameters you are using to try and Pigeon Hole nice folks who are trying nothing more than to help other people.
Blackbird
Since this thread doesn’t seem to have a definitive subject line…I’ll segue’ again.
TODAY the Hemmings Motor News Great Race will have a dinner stop here in Gallup New Mexico.
THIS should be some great classic car viewing for all.
But I’ll be stuck here at work till 6.
Should have been at the Back to the 50’s show on the fairgrounds in St. Paul last weekend. Over 11,000 cars 1964 and older. Lots to see but didn’t see a Morris Minor this year or a 59 Pontiac.
I wanted to go to that but obligations prevented me. Instead I ended up helping a friend from out of town put his car back together after he wrecked it.
He drove over to my house, opened the hood, pulled one bolt out of the bumper cover (pulled, not un-bolted, because it wasn’t attached to a nut) and the whole bumper cover crashed to the ground. Then the headlights almost followed it because they weren’t secured either. He’s been driving it like that for around a year now. -blink, blink-
Rumors of this forum’s death have been greatly exagerated… Possibly the result of the odor of dead horses.