3-phase converters "interference"

[Open Neutral]

I hang out in a local hobby machinist's forum. (It's a good way to find someone to mill that widget you need...)

A member is building a shop in a rural location, and alas, 3ph is miles away. He was talking to the PoCo rep and mentioned ordering a 1->-3 rotary converter. The rep said he would need to provide filtering because it would create "interference" that would hurt his neighbors.

I've been pondering this to little avail. I could see a VFD diode rectification causing harmonics, but is there something about a rotary converter that I'm overlooking? (Beside PF, and droop at startup....)

 

[GoldDigger]

IMHO, a rotary converter would not have any way of creating "interference". A static converter, involving active electronics, on the other hand, could well be a source of repetitive harmonics and/or transients on the POCO service wiring.

 

[Jraef]

Most likely he said “phase converter” to them, then said “rotary converter” later to the forum. Details matter.