woes, I figured I would let you know how it turned out.
After over a month of waiting for word from the power company as to what
their decision was going to be on my being able to get 3-phase, they
called me back yesterday.
They are willing to supply me with 3-phase power, but since they will need
to put a transformer on the pole, they want me to put a deposit down to
guarantee 5 years of service from them. Over the course of 5 years, they
will credit me for the distribution part of my power bill and at the end
of that time, they will pay me back the portion of the deposit that
actually used. As in if the bill was $200 for one month, about $75 of
that would be the distribution charge. After 5 years, I could get the $75
portion back. And yes, that is what I would have to use each month to get
back the $4500 deposit they wanted.
So, while I was thinking about it, I looked on ebay and found this:
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The 10-17HP seemed weird, so I called Baldor up. Turns out it is a custom
built motor, and from the data package they sent me, it appears that it
actually just a 15 HP single phase motor with long leads and a funny way
of stating it. But it should be able to run continuously at 15 HP, which
is what I need to run the compressor. (For those that weren't paying
attention, my compressor is actually a 20 HP model, but the motor was
replaced with a 15 HP one, which Quincy says will work, but a 10 HP motor
will not.)
Well, for $107.50 + shipping (probably about $200), that seemed a much
better deal than $4500, so I went for it.
I'll have to make some adaptions to fit it, since it is a slightly
different frame and shaft size, but it looks doable.
Thanks again everybody!
Todd