Spindle motor upgrade & VFD - who sells this stuff?

[turbostang]

I talked to EMI, it's about 1600$ for the VFD, motor, hardware etc. This was so I could get programmable spindle speed and not have to use 3 phase.

Not sure on the vari-torque or constant torque, but EMI told me that I'd lose quite a bit of power using a 3 phase converter. NOt sure about that part though.

[Ben Colby]

You will only lose horsepower if you use a "Static" phase converter. I'm pretty sure if you use a rotary 3 phase converter, your HP loss will be extremely minor if any. Before I had a three phase drop from the power
pole to the shop, I used a 5 hp rotary converter to power my 2hp bridgeport
manual mill, 5hp manual engine lathe and 5hp milltronics CNC mill. I ran two machines at a time, all the time.

I'm interested in the VFD drives because my Bridgport is a step pulley.
I installed a TECO/Westinghouse VFD on it but it never has worked as well
as a liked. It does manipulate RPM settings like I wanted but it faults out
all the time. The unit does not have auto tuning toward the motor, so it's
been a 3+ year headache. Many setting changes and advice from others
have been futile. Worst thing is, when you blow its fuse, the whole unit has to be disassembled to get at it for replacement.
The Teco FM100 VFD is now a "legacy" product, so I'm looking for a replacememt and possibly a vari-disc kit replacement for an Alliant mill I
also own.
The $1600 isn't that bad for a vari-disc replacement kit. Sharp wants close
to that much to replace my motor and vari-discs just on the rear (motor end)
of my vari-drive.
Not sure which way I'm going to go, but I'm in need of something reliable with
accel/decel performance and breaking.

regards,
Ben

[Ben Colby]

Some questions to anyone.
Should the VFD have a larger Horsepower rating than the motor it's going to
run?
What about a breaking resistor or dynamic breaking? for 2-3 HP manual milling
machine.

Ben

[turbostang]

Originally Posted by Ben Colby You will only lose horsepower if you use a "Static" phase converter. I'm pretty sure if you use a rotary 3 phase converter, your HP loss will be extremely minor if any. Before I had a three phase drop from the power pole to the shop, I used a 5 hp rotary converter to power my 2hp bridgeport manual mill, 5hp manual engine lathe and 5hp milltronics CNC mill. I ran two machines at a time, all the time. I'm interested in the VFD drives because my Bridgport is a step pulley. I installed a TECO/Westinghouse VFD on it but it never has worked as well as a liked. It does manipulate RPM settings like I wanted but it faults out all the time. The unit does not have auto tuning toward the motor, so it's been a 3+ year headache. Many setting changes and advice from others have been futile. Worst thing is, when you blow its fuse, the whole unit has to be disassembled to get at it for replacement. The Teco FM100 VFD is now a "legacy" product, so I'm looking for a replacememt and possibly a vari-disc kit replacement for an Alliant mill I also own. The $1600 isn't that bad for a vari-disc replacement kit. Sharp wants close to that much to replace my motor and vari-discs just on the rear (motor end) of my vari-drive. Not sure which way I'm going to go, but I'm in need of something reliable with accel/decel performance and breaking. regards, Ben

That's encouraging to hear your RPC worked that good. I just cant decide on how I want to attack my project. I can get the RPC and end my problems and be operational immediately OR, I can get the kit from EMI and run single phase. The cost is close to the same but the EMI upgrade will give me the programmable spindle speed, which I don't have now. This will also give me some parts to put on ebay and get some money back off of.

What amperage breaker did you have driving that RPC?

[Ben Colby]

I believe it was a 30 amp breaker on the RPC, but it might have been a 20 amp. The RPC was a Phase-A-Matic brand, and I went with the breaker size that they recommended. When I added more machinery ( 3hp manual mill and
a Brother CNC drill/tapping center ~4hp) I added an additional 5 HP RPC and ran the two RPC's in parallel to a 3-phase panel that ran all the machines.
Two 5HP RPC's in parallel ran 2 handmills, 2 CNC mills and a 5hp geared head
engine lathe. There are only two of us working in the shop, so not all of the machines ran at the same, but we did run both CNC's and handmills all together.
I would have stayed with this setup, but I added a Mazak CNC lathe to the mix. This forced me to add a 3-phase drop from the power company that
cost around $4000.00. Obviously, this option isn't available everywhere.

good luck,
Ben

[stimpsonjcat]

www.automationdirect.com sells a nice series of drives that can do single phase input and 3 phase output up to 3hp.

http://web6.automationdirect.com/adc...V-z-Hz_Control)

These go for less than $300.

Also servos and steppers, drives and motors.