I had made a post in the past asking a similar question and got some very helpful replies, but I am still confused and don't understand fully what phase voltage actually means, this is my understanding of it so far:
3 wires come down from the power station which are 3 phases which are then stepped down, there are in total 4 wires 1 being neutral other 3 being phases, each phase is 120v and is used accordingly? I mean if two phases are used then it would become 240v and if 3 phases are used it would me 360v? I am totally confused please help me understand this?
Also another question, how many amps does each phase have?
3 wires come down from the power station which are 3 phases which are then stepped down, there are in total 4 wires 1 being neutral other 3 being phases, each phase is 120v and is used accordingly? I mean if two phases are used then it would become 240v and if 3 phases are used it would me 360v? I am totally confused please help me understand this?
Also another question, how many amps does each phase have?
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Multiple phases are "interleaved" and do not add in a linear fashion. A single phase load can directly connect to a 3-phase source by connecting phase to phase (240 volts in your example) or phase to neutral (120 volts in your example). Connecting all three phases to a 3-phase load gives 240 volts, in 3-phase configuration.
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Look at the symbol for a Mercedes car: a Y in the centre of a circle.
Now, pretend the radius of the circle is 120. Pretend the units are volts, millimetres, mils, or whatever you like, to make it more concrete, and less abstract.
The distance from each point of the Y to center is 120. From each point to another point, is not 240, because of the angles between them. It will be (120 < 0) + (120 < 120) = (120 cos 0 + 120 cos 120, 120 sin 0 + 120 sin 120) = ( 60, 104) = 120 < 60.
If you add all 3 phases together, you'd get 0 V.
In order to make 240V, you need to feed 120V (single phase to ground) into the primary side of a 2:1 step up transformer, and then extract 240 single phase from the secondary. If you prefer, you could use a center tap on the secondary, to get 120, two phase. (180 degrees apart).
How many amps per phase? That all depends on how big a resistor you put between phase and ground.
Now, pretend the radius of the circle is 120. Pretend the units are volts, millimetres, mils, or whatever you like, to make it more concrete, and less abstract.
The distance from each point of the Y to center is 120. From each point to another point, is not 240, because of the angles between them. It will be (120 < 0) + (120 < 120) = (120 cos 0 + 120 cos 120, 120 sin 0 + 120 sin 120) = ( 60, 104) = 120 < 60.
If you add all 3 phases together, you'd get 0 V.
In order to make 240V, you need to feed 120V (single phase to ground) into the primary side of a 2:1 step up transformer, and then extract 240 single phase from the secondary. If you prefer, you could use a center tap on the secondary, to get 120, two phase. (180 degrees apart).
How many amps per phase? That all depends on how big a resistor you put between phase and ground.