Need Help!- Bridgeport Help

[bperfetti]

I have been in the machining business almost 30 years and i'm finally getting a Bridgeport Manual Mill for home. What do I need power wise to hook this up? Never been good with electricity but I do know there is 110, 220, 440 volts. To run a Bridgeport at home do I need 220 and can I just unplug one of the wifes appliances and run a cord to the garage??? Any help would be appreciated... billy in New York

[TOTALLYRC]

Originally Posted by bperfetti I have been in the machining business almost 30 years and i'm finally getting a Bridgeport Manual Mill for home. What do I need power wise to hook this up? Never been good with electricity but I do know there is 110, 220, 440 volts. To run a Bridgeport at home do I need 220 and can I just unplug one of the wifes appliances and run a cord to the garage??? Any help would be appreciated... billy in New York

The answer may shock you!

It depends on if the motor is single phase or 3 phase. It will say it very clearly on the motor name plate. Many bport are 220/440 3 phase in the USA.

I don't know if any were availabe as a single phase machine from the factory, but I wouldn't be suprised.

If it is 3ph there are a couple of options.

1. rotary phase converter. Works well but can be noisy.
2. electronic phase converter. works but will only 2/3 motor power.
3. 1-3phase vfd. This will give variable speed and is very quiet. Probably will cost more than the other 2 but They are worth it in my opinion.



And yes, if it is single phase 220v it will run off an appliance circuit if the amps are available from the plug. Since a bport draws suprisingly little juice, it should work.

Let me know what you have and we can discuss it further.
Mike in CT

[PaladinJimmie]

Your work uses three phase power, while your home uses single phase power. The motor for the Bridgeport is probably three phase. Look on the name plate on the motor to determine if this is true. If the motor is indeed three phase, you have two choices.
One is to replace the motor with a single phase motor.
Two is to hire an electrician to install a phase converter to "change" your home power to a useable three phase power that will run the Bridgeport.

[Dagon]

Is this a manual mill, or a cnc type?
If just an old manual miller, then check out Lenz Technologies, their AC Tech ac inverters will convert single phase household current to three phase. The one I got for my 2 hp bridgeport only ran me $150.00 or so and was easy to connect. (Easy maybe cause I'm an electrician.)