> According to the way I take what you are saying about the meter spin
 > backwards when you open the throttle on your engine hooked to an
 > induction motor then its not only going to spin backwards because of
 > the fact of power going into it from the "wrong" direction but it's
 > rate of spin is also going to be determined by whatever the 
 > frequency
 > of the voltage might be. In otherwords, if it gets fed 60 cycle then
Bill,
 The frequency is determined by the grid. Remember that an induction motor 
"slips", running slower than its synchronous speed. IE: a 4-pole motor 
(nominally 1800 RPM in the US) is rated at 1750 RPM or somesuch at nameplate 
load. It works the same way in reverse; if the engine is running slower than 
synchronous speed, the motor will draw current from the line, and vice-versa. 
At speeds above 1800 RPM, it'll make the meter spin backwards because it's 
putting power INTO the grid. The more "slip", the more power generated, up to 
the nameplate rating of the motor.
The upside to this is the extreme low cost of induction motors, especially 
3-phase units. The downside is that they only work if the grid is 
operational; you cannot generate power on your own. (with some rare 
exceptions)
--- FLAME v1.1
---------------