Over the years people have told me 3 HP is 3HP.

Ive said my SCM 3 HP is stronger the past General Leeson motored (1981 new) 3 HP planer. I had a few questions to a compressor guy about compressors and below was his answer as I said im not sure i see a 5HP compressor on a rotophase compared to single phase as its a machine that cycles on and off rather than machines you run constant.

There can be other things going on I know like flywheels etc in the planer but the feed rate is faster and it just had more power even with that.




Response: I personally would recommend 3 phase power for compressors over 3 HP as a 3 phase motor has a much higher starting and running torque which reduces load on the motor in the long term. Newer single phase motors are not made to the same quality as they did a few generations back and are prone to capacitor failures on frequent start/stop situations.