- Joined
- Feb 7, 2013
- Messages
- 2,485
Cathead,
Glad to hear I can run a VFD, I was thinking I may have to go to a RPC. I got it off the trailer today and positioned where it's going to sit in the shop. I did it by myself which didn't go to bad, just took my time and planned the moves carefully.
I didn't get any manuals or schematics with the mill so I may need some help identifying which set of motor leads to use when I hook up the VFD. I did take a few pictures of the ordeal and will post some in a few days. Just glad to have it sitting on my shop floor.
I was checking EBay for VFD's and was wondering what horsepower rating you used?
Thanks
My mill has a 2HP motor and I used a 3HP TECO FM50 VFD. I have wired up a Chinese VFD unit but the instruction
book leaves a bit to be desired so went with the TECO. They can be had quite cheaply though so maybe worth consideration.
The hard part comes with the programming because the Chinese units are written in a dialect of english some call "Chinglish".
I'm glad to hear you have the mill on firm footing. I remember when I unloaded my mill off the trailer by myself. I knew one rafter
probably wouldn't support the mill so laid a log between 3 rafters and lifted against that. It worked out fine.
Your motor will have 6 wires coming out of it I would think. Three are for low speed and three are for high speed. If in
doubt, you can use an ohm meter or continuity tester to determine which wires belong to which speed. I taped off the
high speed wires and ran the 3 low speed wires to the VFD. Your mill speed can be determined quite easily by using
the frequency reading on the VFD. Sixty cycles would result in the speed your belt chart reads. Thirty cycles would
be half the belt speed and 120 cycles would be twice the belt speed ETC so quite easy to know what speed your mill is
turning.
Hopefully this is useful information for you.
Cathead