Need Help! Kent Knee Mill Single Phase Options

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Thread: Kent Knee Mill Single Phase Options

  1. #1
    Member tylerdc's Avatar
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    Default Kent Knee Mill Single Phase Options

    Hello,

    This is my first time posting, so let me know if this isn't the right place for this.

    I recently purchased a Kent knee mill, built around 2005.
    This is primarily a hobby machine, in my garage.
    It has an Anilam 3000m control which seems to be working as intended, so far as I can tell so far.

    My question though, is about powering the spindle motor.
    I have been doing quite a bit of reading on the topic of phase converters and VFD's, but I am very far from an expert.

    It's a 3hp motor which, in it's current state, is powered by a 3hp 3 phase rated VFD, I believe.
    It's a Parker Hannifin drive, discontinued, but I was able to find some documentation on it, attached.

    I have 220 volt single phase to the garage.
    From what I understand, the VFD needs to be derated to be used with single phase, so I would need a 7.5 or so VFD to replace the existing?
    Can a VFD be run off of a phase converter? What are the pros/cons in this situation?
    Here's the other thing- if you check out the manual, my drive actually has a "high capacitance" capacitor bank, which explicitly states for use with single phase. But it doesn't technically say that it can be used with single phase without being derated - less than the 3 hp 3 phase it's labeled as.
    Could I possibly upgrade the wires from 12 gage to 8, and just run as is? Could it be harmful to try?

    If I were to get a higher power rated vfd, could I use the existing control panel? It's pretty well integrated, and looks nice, so I would prefer to keep it.

    Can a VFD run off of a phase converter? It's odd how didfficult it seems to be to find information on this exact situation - already have a vfd, but need single phase.

    Thank you so much in advance for any help to get me going in the right direction.

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    Community Moderator Jim Dawson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Kent Knee Mill Single Phase Options

    After a quick browse through the manual, it looks like that VFD is rated for both single phase and 3 phase with no derating. Can you provide the exact part number or a better picture from the data tag on it?

    Jim Dawson
    Sandy, Oregon, USA


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    Member machinehop5's Avatar
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    Default Re: Kent Knee Mill Single Phase Options

    ...the Coolant pump may also be a 3phase motor.



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    Default Re: Kent Knee Mill Single Phase Options

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Dawson View Post
    After a quick browse through the manual, it looks like that VFD is rated for both single phase and 3 phase with no derating. Can you provide the exact part number or a better picture from the data tag on it?
    Jim, that's what I was hoping, but I wansn't trying to get my hopes up too much.
    The part number is SDM1003DCHWC00S.

    The CH capacitor block for "High, 1-phase inputs".
    That, and the table on page 15 seem to indicate single phase might be a possibility, but that's about it.
    From what I've seen, it looks like if a vfd is rated for x horsepower on single phase, it's usually clearly marketed like that.

    Quote Originally Posted by machinehop5 View Post
    ...the Coolant pump may also be a 3phase motor.
    No coolant, so this shouldn't be a worry. Thank you though.



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    Default Re: Kent Knee Mill Single Phase Options

    Quote Originally Posted by tylerdc View Post
    Jim, that's what I was hoping, but I wansn't trying to get my hopes up too much.
    The part number is SDM1003DCHWC00S.

    The CH capacitor block for "High, 1-phase inputs".
    That, and the table on page 15 seem to indicate single phase might be a possibility, but that's about it.
    From what I've seen, it looks like if a vfd is rated for x horsepower on single phase, it's usually clearly marketed like that.



    No coolant, so this shouldn't be a worry. Thank you though.
    All 3ph VFD Drives can be run with Single Phase power it just depends on the Hp rating. so no you would not want to use a RPC to run your machine, your 240v Single Phase supply will be fine as long as it is at least a 25A to 30A circuit

    If you have a problem with the VFD missing a Phase this is easy to solve, just try it first, L1 and L2 would be the feed to R and S on your VFD Drive

    You also have a 120 / 240v single phase supply if you live in NA

    Mactec54


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    Community Moderator Jim Dawson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Kent Knee Mill Single Phase Options

    After looking at your part number, it looks like that drive is rated for single phase input so no derating is required. I would use a 30 amp breaker and #10 wire to feed it, same as my machine.

    Jim Dawson
    Sandy, Oregon, USA


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    Default Re: Kent Knee Mill Single Phase Options

    Thank you guys, so much, for the help.


    Quote Originally Posted by mactec54 View Post
    All 3ph VFD Drives can be run with Single Phase power it just depends on the Hp rating. so no you would not want to use a RPC to run your machine, your 240v Single Phase supply will be fine as long as it is at least a 25A to 30A circuit

    If you have a problem with the VFD missing a Phase this is easy to solve, just try it first, L1 and L2 would be the feed to R and S on your VFD Drive

    You also have a 120 / 240v single phase supply if you live in NA
    You're right, my mistake - 240V


    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Dawson View Post
    After looking at your part number, it looks like that drive is rated for single phase input so no derating is required. I would use a 30 amp breaker and #10 wire to feed it, same as my machine.
    It looks like the manual recommends a 40A breaker with 8 gage wire, for single phase 3hp.

    I do have a 40 amp ciruit available.
    Currently there is a 30A breaker for the power coming into the box, and I think 12 gage wire going from there to the drive, but I will have to double check that. Maybe it's 10 amp?

    If it is #10 wire, is there any risk in going for it as is? If it's not enough for the current draw, the worst that would happen is the breaker would trip, correct?

    Thanks again.



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    Community Moderator Jim Dawson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Kent Knee Mill Single Phase Options

    On my 3hp machine, I have if fed with a 30 amp breaker and #10 wire from the shop panel. Then #12 from the VFD to the motor. I've had no problems.

    #12 from the machine panel breaker to the VFD is probably OK because it's a short run. You're not going to get much voltage drop on a couple feet of wire. But, code would require #10 wire for a 30 amp breaker. If you choose to supply your machine from a 40 amp breaker, then you would need to use #8 wire from the shop breaker panel to meet code.

    The wire size is dictated by the breaker amps, the breaker is supposed to trip before the wire can heat enough to cause a fire. I think the code is based on 100 foot runs of wire, but I'm not sure about that.

    Jim Dawson
    Sandy, Oregon, USA


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    Default Re: Kent Knee Mill Single Phase Options

    Quote Originally Posted by tylerdc View Post
    Thank you guys, so much, for the help.




    You're right, my mistake - 240V




    It looks like the manual recommends a 40A breaker with 8 gage wire, for single phase 3hp.

    I do have a 40 amp ciruit available.
    Currently there is a 30A breaker for the power coming into the box, and I think 12 gage wire going from there to the drive, but I will have to double check that. Maybe it's 10 amp?

    If it is #10 wire, is there any risk in going for it as is? If it's not enough for the current draw, the worst that would happen is the breaker would trip, correct?

    Thanks again.
    Look at the main motor FLA then add up the rest of the machine 40A would be ok but seems a little high for a 3hp machine using single phase, the main spindle motor will be less than 10A so around 17.3A for single phase so you will be fine with what ever you use Breakers are not designed to trip like that, they are best looked at as protecting a circuit from a dead short more so than current draw, Breakers must be sized to suit the wire /cable gauge being used, so a Breaker being sized to the load so if you have a 30A circuit the Breaker can be sized 125% to 150% larger depending on what the circuit is being used for, this is code requirement, so for your VFD Drive Circuit 17.3A x125%=21.6 so the next closest size Breaker would be 25A for the main spindle motor Breaker, without knowing all the specs of your machine this would be a safe Breaker size for that part of your machine

    Mactec54


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