Need CNC power solution

[bherr]

Gentlemen I need some help. I'm running a BP Series II Interact 4 using a 15HP rotary phase converter. I'm having problems with the spindle shutting down during cycle runs. Now this problem is very pronounced during the day light hours and evenings as well. My electric company stated that the power in my area is very poor. If I mill during the very early morning hours 4 am to 6 am the problem is almost a non issue, however I really don;t want to get up that early if I can find a solution. I've looked into voltage stabilizer, but they are very expensive and to get 3 phase power to my shop is out of the realm of my finances. so I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and how did they fit it. I have found a diesel powered generator that will handle the power, but sure if that is stable enough to overcome the Contraves controller which controls the spindle. I can pick it up at a very low price, but not sure it will work. Any ideas out there???

thanks,
Ben

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[keebler303]

It would be a real pain to have to run off a diesel generator. I would start by bugging the electric company, it would be nice if they just fixed the problem, probably not going to happen though. I might try a big AC motor hooked to another AC motor. This would be like an AC to AC motor-generator set. The momentary dips and brown outs would be somewhat suppressed by the inertia of the two large motors. A flywheel would help matters even more but then you need to pay attention to balancing and other safety issues.

Good Luck
Matt

[klxrcr]

isn't a rotary converter basically a single phase motor connected to a 3 phase generator just all in the same enclosure?

Does the power flicker, dim or just shutoff?

Would it be possible to build some sort of battery system kinda like a home with solar panels that uses some power from the line and some from the solar panels?

I'm just throwing things out here.

[Geof]

isn't a rotary converter basically a single phase motor connected to a 3 phase....Would it be possible to build some sort of battery system kinda like a home with solar panels that uses some power from the line and some from the solar panels?

I'm just throwing things out here.

I looked into this idea. It is possible; Telecom companies use big battery systems also IT companies, to maintain power this way. Actually they use the battery system to provide power during brief blips or until backup generators can come online.

Problem is they cost a lot; multi thousand dollars for something that could run a ten hp motor.

[gus]

I really doubt this is an AC power issue.

[Al_The_Man]

isn't a rotary converter basically a single phase motor connected to a 3 phase generator just all in the same enclosure?

.

It could be, but generally now a RPC it refers to a three phase motor run off of 1 phase to produce a third out of phase conductor, between the three this equates to 3 phase.

I'm running a BP Series II problems with the spindle shutting down during cycle runs.
Ben

You did not mention if you have a 3 phase spindle fed direct or a spindle controller between the supply and the motor.
If you have the former, I would not think you should expect it to drop out of run if the artificial phase is slightly low, if a variable speed spindle controller is used, depending on the type, 2 of the phases maybe designated for the control board, in that case it would be best to put the main 1 ph pair in this input.
Al.

[gus]

He has been dealing with this for some time, it is a DC spindle drive. I think if it was ac power issue, it would affect the control first, and give a flashing error[EMO] not just pause the spindle.

If it were a power problem, I would expect it to show other symptoms and be more reliably bad. I would expect that it would fail if it were just left running without the program running, which it does not IIRC

I think it is most likely that it is a failure of the signal output to the control, the wiring thereof or the control's dealing with that signal

[Doug Schwochert]

Hi All A static 3 phase converter more or less turns a 3 Phase motor into a capacitor start single phase motor. once the motor is started the 3 third phase does nothing. the motor is only running at about 2/3 of its rated power because you are missing one phase.

if you add a idler motor to the circut the converter will start the idler motor first and your machine once the idler is up and running or both togeather depending how you have it wired. my system starts the idler first then I start the machine.
once the idler motor is up and running it will actully generate a 3rd phase to start and run the machines 3 phase motor. with the idler motor your machine motor will almost have its rated power. the generated phase is usually not the full 220volts mine generates about 185 VAC.
On my Bridge port L1 and L2 have 220 line voltage on them L3 has the generated 3rd phase. L3 only is used to power the spindle motor.
L1 and L2 go to the machine controls . You do not want the generated 3rd phase going to the machine controlls. the capacitors "kick" to start the motor could damage the machine controlls.
I built a rotary 3 phase converter years back using a single and a 3 phase motor coupled end to end using the single to spin the 3 phase motor up to speed to generate the 3rd phase to start the machines 3 phase motor. it worked fine.now its just eaiser to buy a converter.

I am not an expert this is my un educated opinion.

Doug S

[Al_The_Man]

The RPC's I have built, I used capacitive P.B. start to the 3 phase motor, this way you do not need the 1ph idler, with proper tuning the third phase can be made pretty close to the main pair, especially if you tune for a slightly higher off-load voltage.
Any 3 phase motor run direct off of a RPC actually assists in the 3 phase production as it is in parallel to the RPC motor.
This is why you can generally have twice the 3 phase motor load to your RPC, as long as the largest motor is no larger than your RPC.
Al.