Electrical Considerations
I am not an electrician. If you have any questions, my first recommendation is to hire a qualified electrician to scope out and wire your building for the new hammer.
All of the hammers except for the 242 lb. hammer are pre-wired with a switch, extension cord and plug. All you have to do is provide an appropriate service for the plug.
The 33, 55, and 88 lb. hammers come standard with a WEG 220V single phase motor. It may take a 220V line run from your breaker box if you don't have an outlet. You can find the electrical specifications on the "hammers" page for each hammer size.
The 120 and 165 lb. hammers now come standard with a WEG 10 HP 3 phase motor.
If you do not have 3 phase power in your shop, it's not a problem. You can install a rotary converter that will convert your single phase input to 3 phase output. The real advantage of this is that if you size it properly, you can purchase other 3 phase equipment in the future and the converter can supply 3 phase power to your entire shop. This is what I have done in my shop. It gives you tremendous flexibility for the future. It is important to size the rotary converter correctly. The power hammer is considered "hard start" like air compressors. Rotary Converters will give you a lot of flexibility for the future. The initial cost is a little higher but long term, this is a great option.
Another option is to purchase a Variable Frequency Drive (VFD). It also converts single phase input to 3 phase output. We have worked with WEG USA in designing and sizing both the motors and switch gear. WEG also sells VFD's however, they have suggested that we recommend a rotary converter over a VFD. VFD's have sensitive electronics that are susceptible to failure in high heat or dirty conditions. They did not recommend VFD's for typical blacksmith or knifemaking shops.
We are also an American Rotary dealer and can help you with your 3 phase conversion needs. For more information on American Rotary converters, check out their website. https://www.americanrotary.com/
Now a little electrical theory... Work (watts) equals voltage times amperage. Think of voltage as "pressure" and amperage as "volume" To do the same amount of work it is a combination of voltage and amperage. If you have lower voltage, to do the same work, you will need more amperage. If you have low voltage into your building, you will either need a larger amperage motor to do the same work or reduce the work load. If you run wire that is too small or too long, you lose voltage, and to do the same work, you will draw more amps. That is why you want to make sure you have good strong voltage into your building, minimize the length of wire and to make sure that your wire is sized for the amperage and distance. If you make a mistake, make the wire larger than you need. If you are having a problem with breakers tripping, check out the building voltage, length of wire run, and the size of the wire, then check out the machine. If it is a press, you might have the pressure too high.
