In the early 1980's I bought several pieces of surplus computer equipment, which required 3-phase power. If you thought nixies were cool, you ain't seen nothin. The absolute COOLEST gizmo from that era is a vacuum-column tape drive. I had 2 of them and was determined to get them interfaced to my S100 computer. Long-story short, I designed and built my own 10kW 3-phase inverter and got the drives running. Then I got married, moved, and the equipment had to go. But I still have memorable items from them.
I really wish the US had 3-phase residential service. For about 5 years, I lived in a condominium that had 2 of 3 phases (208 line-to-line, 120 line-to-neutral) and using 2 large center-tapped isolation transformers I was able to create 3-phase for the equipment and mothball the inverter. On Sunday, March 23, 2025 at 3:29:47 AM UTC+7 Adam Piórko wrote: > Since 2004, the mains voltage in Poland has been increased from 220V to > 230V, and as far as I know, it's the same across the entire EU. In Europe, > the frequency is 50Hz, while in the US it's 60Hz. > In my apartment, which is in a small block of flats in Poland, I have a > three-phase installation - a legacy from the electric heating system from > the early 2000s. > > > sobota, 22 marca 2025 o 17:56:43 UTC+1 newxito napisał(a): > >> In Switzerland, there are many things that normally run on 3-phase power >> in a private household: oven, steamer, induction cooker, heat pump, washing >> machine, dryer, wall box, and of course, the ventilation system for the >> inevitable nuclear shelter :-) >> >> Alex schrieb am Samstag, 22. März 2025 um 16:31:01 UTC+1: >> >>> Many properties (larger homes and any business premises and abive in the >>> UK) are supplied with three phase electricity, which is 230v phase to >>> neutral and 415v phase to phase. 120 Degree phase offset between the >>> phases. Very potent (and useful!) >>> >>> Our normal supply for residential is 230v phase to neutral, mostly as >>> already mentioned with N&PE joined at the cable entry to the property but >>> some (e.g. pole fed) only have L and N provided and earth is via an earth >>> rod (TT installation). RCD protection is mandatory in these circumstances >>> (and essentially mandatory anyway now as increasingly regulations require >>> more circuits to be protected). 30mA RCD protection for most circuits and >>> 100mA and / or time delay if upstream for discrimination. >>> >>> The rest of Europe is 220v, so a little lower than the UK, but we >>> harmonised by being +6% and -10% tolerance while the rest of the EU is +/- >>> 10%. >>> >>> The US way with 220v centre tapped is quite noval, but 3 phase is great >>> for workshops as it gives great torque in motors, though modern VFD >>> controllers bridge the gap mostly. >>> >>> >>> >>> On Friday, 21 March 2025 at 23:51:21 UTC David Pye wrote: >>> >>> Not just the UK - the whole EU is like that! >>> >>> David >>> >>> On Fri, 21 Mar 2025, 23:40 gregebert wrote: >>> >>> Wow! I had no idea the full 220V was present in the UK; that's a very >>> dangerous voltage to touch. In the US, neutral is connected to GND at the >>> point-of-entry to the building and there is also a grounding rod though the >>> electrical code only requires a maximum of 25 ohms to Earth (it varies due >>> to soil condition), and definitely wont suffice as a redundant neutral. >>> >>> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/846ad223-315d-4205-884c-fd65cf1a4811n%40googlegroups.com.
