FDDI, was: Re: [rescue] u2 drive trays

[vance at neurotica.com]

On Wed, 20 Aug 2003, Michael Schiller wrote:

> > The damned power company doesn't want to run an additional phase to
> > the house so that I can run your S/390, though. :(
>
> Have you considered getting a phase converter? The better ones of these
> are actually generators attached to an electric motor (that runs on
> either 110 or 220 single phase) to generate the 220 3phase power.
> They're fairly common in smaller machine shops, as lots of machinery
> comes setup for 3ph and it's usually cheaper for a small shop to make
> their own 3ph than to get the electric company to supply it.

Phase converters rated for constant operation that are big enough to run
an S/390 and a full load of peripherals are *very* **very** expensive.
Even used.

> Having said that just gave me an idea. I wonder how hard it would be to
> take a small gas generator (on that can do 3ph as well as single phase)
> and modify it to use an electric motor in such a way that it can
> function as both a phase converter & backup power supply (so the
> generator portion can be run from either an electric motor, or the
> original gas engine).

This is actually a better idea.  You should be able to pick up a used
tow-behind three-phase generator for less than a big phase converter.
It'll likely require repair work before it can be used, though.

Peace...  Sridhar