How difficult is it to convert a 440v Hardinge to 220v? I've found some great deals this year on 440v machines but only have 220 with a RPC in my shop. Wasn't sure what was entailed with swapping one over. Do you have to source a new motor, etc.? Thanks for any advice. I'm pretty terrible at electrical stuff
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Quick Hardinge question
- Thread starter JMBrewer
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Better option is using a rotary converter ! I have a Harding DSM59 and looked into converting the servo-motors, it was not cost effective ! I bought a rotary phase converter and am very happy with the results ! I did try the solid state converter with negative results, so went with the rotary.
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Worst case is you get a rotary phase converter and a 230/460 transformer and run the machine on 460 (440). Normally I would expect that the machine is convertable between 460 and 230 with some simple rewiring. This is not always the case, but is very common.
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Jim is right, most all of the Harding Turret lathes are dual voltage. Not many are without ability to run on both 440 & 220. If you need schematics you can down load them from the Harding web site. That’s what I did.
So should be able to buy a 440 machine and just rewire to 220? I've got a 10hp phase converter so three phase power is not a problem. I found a nice HSL for sale but was scared due to being 440v. May be why it hasn't sold yet.
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In general, to rewire from 440 to 220, you need to redo the motor connections, then you need to go through the control circuitry. The motor will draw roughly twice the current on 220 as 440, so you will probably need new heaters (motor overloads) and you may need new contactors if the originals were not rated for the higher current (sometimes they are, depending on what the manufacturer did). You may also need a new transformer, or need to change leads on the existing transformer for the controls voltage.