Running a three phase router/mill on a generator?

[gavztheouch]

Has anyone ever ran their machiney off a 3 phase diesel generator? I remember seeing a grand designs on channel 4 where they had a big router inside a shipping container to build a house. I reckon they must have had a generator powwering it, unless they had three phase in a domestic site?

[John S]

I could understand a big mill on 3 phase but a router ?
Control gear can be run off single phase as it usually transforms down to 50 - 80 volts and the only large user of power is the spindle and you get easily get 4HP motors to run off a single phase inverter.

[m_c]

You can get 3 phase wherever if you want, provided you're willing to pay for it, however if you need to ask the price....

Anything will run of a generator, provided the generator is big enough. If you're powering motors, then you need to oversize quite a bit to allow for the startup surge, and you may need to run the controls through an active UPS so it's not affected by surges/interference.

[i2i]

i was advised a few years ago that a generator would run a cnc machine ok, and would be far better than a phase converter, but nothing is as good as the real thing.