There are about as many uses for the single phase motor as a prime power source as there are applications for small horsepower type motors. The single phase motor is one of the most useful types of motors for all kinds of tools used in every day life.
In terms of electrical engineering, the single phase motor distributes alternating current electric power in a system wherein all of the voltages of the electrical supply vary in unison. They also need additional circuits for starting, such as a capacitor start motor.
Motors for farm work, such as in an electric irrigation pump and most irrigation systems motors in general, are mostly single-phase motor types. These types of motors can last for a very long time with little maintenance issues. Occasionally, a defect will cause a motor to fail, but if a single phase motor does fail, it is likely due to poor application. This basically means using it improperly.
Depending on what tool you are using, the motor used to run it needs to be the correct specifications for that particular application. You do not want a motor with too little horsepower to take on the task at hand. You will burn out the motor when you ask it to do more than it is capable of.
On the other hand, you don’t want a single phase motor that is too small and has too little horsepower for the application. In this case, the application will not function properly either. Finding the correct specifications for your motor is crucial in making sure it does the job and does that job consistently for years on end.
When a machine is built for a specific task and that exact task is being performed by the machine built specifically to do it, the task will get done again and again with little maintenance to the machine equipment along the way. It is using a machine for purposes for which it was not intended that gives you the trouble more often than not.
Perhaps the biggest job single phase power undertakes today is railways. The largest single phase generator in the world has a dedicated traction power network to bring power to a railway system.
