Low amperage single phase quartz flash?

[jvanick]

I wonder if the flashbacks on stands could be used on a manual. Do they have foot pedal or optical eye activation?

the old ones don't have any kind of activation other than the signals that come from the press...

to make it work, you'd need:

24vdc power supply
 foot pedal (which you'd have to hold while the flash travels outwards I believe -- can't remember how the solenoids and relays inside the flashback are wired).

you'd also need an air compressor to run the band cylinder... (likely 4-5cfm)

[jvanick]

something you could look into would be finding a Quartz Express QE1600 (it would only be about a 14x16 flash area tho).. but it does run at 30amps and after a potential bit of re-wiring and swapping out the cheap components found in some of them would work just fine.

I had one on our manual which I then moved to our Javelin before we got a flashback, and it worked well enough.

[Doug S]

You are kind of asking for something that can't physically exist.  "Large" Flash that uses "Little amps" and is "single phase".  All of those things are going against each other.

Single phase raises the "amperage", and making it large also increases the amperage.

Flash back would probably be the only thing I could see that would make sense.  Fewer bulbs so less amperage.

I know that was really a dumb question but I'm electrically illiterate.  I was just wondering in case I wanted to upgrade presses and go with quartz flashes.  Right now we are all single-phase with the capability to go to 3 phase.  Most of the presses above what I have are 3 phase. 

[Gilligan]

What is your question Doug?

3 phase really helps when it comes to motors.

It helps "reduce" the amperage, but you don't really reduce, you just spread it around.  So you end up having to run more copper which might negate any savings on a larger breaker you might have.

I like 3 phase for Air conditioners and compressors... other than that it doesn't REALLY matter to me, though I'm often not given a choice with some equipment.

[Doug S]

What is your question Doug?

3 phase really helps when it comes to motors.

It helps "reduce" the amperage, but you don't really reduce, you just spread it around.  So you end up having to run more copper which might negate any savings on a larger breaker you might have.

I like 3 phase for Air conditioners and compressors... other than that it doesn't REALLY matter to me, though I'm often not given a choice with some equipment.

I currently have a sportsman, infrared flashes, chiller, compressor and a gas dryer that are all wired single-phase because that is all we have in the building.  I called the electric company and they told me that I could go 3 ph at my location.  I was just wondering if I went ahead with the transition in advance of getting a new press, dryer and flashes, would I have to have my existing press and other equipment rewired to have them work or would they operate without rewiring for the 3 phase?  Sorry for the confusion.

[Gilligan]

In MOST cases no.  I don't know your particular equipment.

Also in MY case my 220v is technically 208v when run single phase.  This just means more amp draw for 220v stuff... not all gear will like that voltage difference though.

[jvanick]

adding 3 phase only adds capability to your shop. -- pre-existing equipment should not need to be rewired, although sometimes the electricians like to do a balancing of the circuits, depending on how loaded the current panel is.

3 phase and single phase equipment can peacefully co-exist in the same panel even....

The only thing to be concerned with is if you get Delta 3-phase power... one of the legs there is 208V or 240V to neutral... however any qualified electrician wiring this in will label the panel as such.  Generally in a panel like this, for standard 110V loads you'll see 2 breakers and then a space as the 3rd leg is usually the 'high' leg.

the 3rd leg can be used for any standard 208 or 240V single phase load that does not require a neutral -- in most standard buildings this is typically FL lights with 'universal' ballasts.

[244]

What is your question Doug?

3 phase really helps when it comes to motors.

It helps "reduce" the amperage, but you don't really reduce, you just spread it around.  So you end up having to run more copper which might negate any savings on a larger breaker you might have.

I like 3 phase for Air conditioners and compressors... other than that it doesn't REALLY matter to me, though I'm often not given a choice with some equipment.

All of the heads on your press run on three phase. We use a frequency drive that converts your single phase to three phase on each head. The only thing running on single phase is the servo for the indexer. Your machine will run fine for years on single or three phase. No real advantage to switch it.

I currently have a sportsman, infrared flashes, chiller, compressor and a gas dryer that are all wired single-phase because that is all we have in the building.  I called the electric company and they told me that I could go 3 ph at my location.  I was just wondering if I went ahead with the transition in advance of getting a new press, dryer and flashes, would I have to have my existing press and other equipment rewired to have them work or would they operate without rewiring for the 3 phase?  Sorry for the confusion.

[Doug S]

[/quote] All of the heads on your press run on three phase. We use a frequency drive that converts your single phase to three phase on each head. The only thing running on single phase is the servo for the indexer. Your machine will run fine for years on single or three phase. No real advantage to switch it.

I currently have a sportsman, infrared flashes, chiller, compressor and a gas dryer that are all wired single-phase because that is all we have in the building.  I called the electric company and they told me that I could go 3 ph at my location.  I was just wondering if I went ahead with the transition in advance of getting a new press, dryer and flashes, would I have to have my existing press and other equipment rewired to have them work or would they operate without rewiring for the 3 phase?  Sorry for the confusion.
[/quote]
[/quote]

My only reason for wanting to switch would be if I wanted to upgrade to a gauntlet 3 and to a larger dryer then the Minisprint.  Are you saying that I could install something like a gauntlet 3 without the upgrade?  I'm not sure if there is an option to have it setup for single-phase but I would imagine if so that the amperage would be quite a bit higher.