apostolakisl Posted December 19, 2011 Posted December 19, 2011 I have now also identified that my well pump is noisy. It's on a 240v on a 40amp breaker. How would you go about filtering that? I see nothing sold above 20amps.
Brian H Posted December 19, 2011 Posted December 19, 2011 240 Volts and a 40 Amp Breaker. That sounds more like one for a Electric Stove or a Dryer. I have seen reports of some new Stoves, Washing Machines, Refrigerators and Dryers with electronic controls messing things up. How big is the pump? Can you measure the actual current being used? Maybe a clamp-on meter.
apostolakisl Posted December 19, 2011 Author Posted December 19, 2011 The installation manual actually calls for a 50amp breaker. I don't know the exact consumption, but I would like not to cheat it below 40 since technically it is already too small. It has single phase to 3 phase controller. The motor is 3 phase 5hp 240v. I am sure noise is created in the process of turning the single phase into 3 phase with whatever electrical trickery goes on.
Brian H Posted December 19, 2011 Posted December 19, 2011 OK now it is clear to me. A single phase to three phase converter. Running a three phase well pump. It also make sense that its electronics are messing up the power line signals. It either has a large AC cap on the input to kill internal noise from getting back on the power lines or it isn't filtered and making all kinds of power line noise. Finding a filter heavy enough for that maybe a challenge. They probably make a 50 amp line filter but not being made for X10 or Insteon. Would absorb all the power line signals.
apostolakisl Posted December 20, 2011 Author Posted December 20, 2011 OK now it is clear to me.A single phase to three phase converter. Running a three phase well pump. It also make sense that its electronics are messing up the power line signals. It either has a large AC cap on the input to kill internal noise from getting back on the power lines or it isn't filtered and making all kinds of power line noise. Finding a filter heavy enough for that maybe a challenge. They probably make a 50 amp line filter but not being made for X10 or Insteon. Would absorb all the power line signals. And the truth is, it might be a signal sucker, I don't know. I just know that when it is on, I have some issues with one program that needs perfect comm.
ELA Posted December 20, 2011 Posted December 20, 2011 Stinks when you have a heavy load that needs filtering. My refrigerator is a large signal sucker. I was going to use a 20A filter but hated the idea of having to do that. I used a dual band device to get around it as there is only one Insteon device on that circuit, and that Insteon lamp load is not critical. If you are serious you can use an isolation transformer (expensive in that size) or look for reactors that are sold for variable frequency drives. You would have to search for the a good value reactor to isolate the Insteon freq. Sounds like a lot of design work/expense. Saw your other (thread) posts about it being 3-phase, using a VFD? The link you provided in the other thread did not work for me. If it is a VFD some drive allow for a DC choke to be installed internally (as opposed to a Line Reactor). If your drive allows for one, and does not have it installed that could help.
ergodic Posted January 1, 2012 Posted January 1, 2012 As something of a thought experiment I'm wondering if just the Stupid Approach: three 20A filters in parallel, would do this job? These are entirely passive devices. Even allowing for tolerance differences between individual units, three in parallel I should think would be able to distribute this load evenly enough. I don't think multiple bandstop or LP filters in parallel should affect their overall filtering f/q significantly with a low source impedance like an AC line. Possibly somebody here knows for certain. I'd be tempted to take the guts of three 20A filters and mount them in a box paralleled, with a 20A breaker or slow-blow on each leg and see how it performs. There's very little true power dissipation in these things. Probably loses the UL approval though
apostolakisl Posted January 3, 2012 Author Posted January 3, 2012 I have considered that, but it makes me nervous. If the load doesn't balance and one of them fries, I worry about odd things happening with the electricity which could damage the pump controller. The controller is $1500.
IndyMike Posted January 3, 2012 Posted January 3, 2012 Lou, The following is a selection guide for reactors for use on single phase input VFD's: http://www.mtecorp.com/appnotes/an0102rev2.pdf. As ELA indicated, these should be quite a bit less expensive than an Isolation transformer in that load range.
apostolakisl Posted January 3, 2012 Author Posted January 3, 2012 Lou, The following is a selection guide for reactors for use on single phase input VFD's: http://www.mtecorp.com/appnotes/an0102rev2.pdf. As ELA indicated, these should be quite a bit less expensive than an Isolation transformer in that load range. Thanks Mike. Truth is, since the latest firmware fixed all of the communication issues I was having, my system now works perfectly. I am sort of losing interest! Other projects are taking precedent.
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