Thee phase to single

[steve t]

I'm going to look at a 3 phase generator. Is it just a case of connecting into one phase and neutral to get a single phase supply

 

[Morrisman]

Yes. As far as I remember. Someone more knowledgeable will confirm it shortly. I hope.....

 

[daleyd]

Do 3 phase generators provide a neutral? I thought they could only generate the 3 phases though again I’m far from certain…

 

[GRW]

I'm going to look at a 3 phase generator. Is it just a case of connecting into one phase and neutral to get a single phase supply

Yes it is... with some caveats. You shouldn't (according to the Alternator Mfrs) have more than a 20% phase imbalance (though plenty get away with rather more than that). But you don't want to heavily load any one phase without anything on the other two... you risk alternator damage.

Unless its a very old machine (or cheap and nasty) most 4-pole industrial sets will be brushless rotating diode alternators and 12-wire. This means they can be fully reconfigured from 3ph to single phase if you need only 1ph (though you might well have issues with the controls etc.).

A lot depends on your 1ph load demand as to how far you'd go with it (I work with industrial generators so see a bit of this)

 

[GRW]

Do 3 phase generators provide a neutral? I thought they could only generate the 3 phases though again I’m far from certain…

Yes they do. Most sets though have a Neutral-Earth link on the Star point of the Alternator so that there is always a zero potential between N & E. This avoids any issues with connected load RCD's etc.