SRSG phse controller

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Gregory Peters by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <s371034-at-student.uq.edu.au>

Hello all,

I finally made a phase controller for my SRSG. It required only 58uF, 
which is much less than I expected. The motor is a 1hp, 3000RPM (now) 
unit. It is a 240 volt motor and uses separate caps for starting and 
running. I get absolutely no braking action at all when power is 
removed, though I haven't shut it off with the variac set at anything 
but ~0 inductance. I fine tuned the cap size with a few MOT caps. I 
get a perfect 5v resonant rise in the variacs range, and quite a nice 
variation in the phase of the motor. Now some questions:

1. Is it OK to use MOT caps for this purpose (fine tuning).

2. Is it OK to start/stop the motor with the variac set to the 
optimal position, or do I need to set it every time I use it. Could 
this cause self braking on turn off?

3. My motor will not sync unless it is loaded slightly (it has a 
small fan built in for cooling, which when removed, seems to prevent 
the motor from staying in sync). Is this normal?



Cheers,


Greg.