Vfd Issues With Grizzly 12x36 Belt Drive

seanb

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I have recently installed a 2 HP 3 phase motor on my lathe along with a 2 HP TECO VFD from automation direct.

The lathe slows down under all but the lightest cuts.

for example at 46 hz took a light facing cut lathe slowed to a crawl.

Is this a normal result of not running it a 60 HZ? It does the same thing at 60hz just not as bad.
 
Did you set the VFD parameters to match the motor nameplate values? The VFD should maintain the motor speed up to the rated output of the motor or the VFD.

Is the VFD a TECO or Automation Direct? They are not the same. What is the model number on the VFD?

Also, I assume you are running on 230 Volts, is the motor wired correctly for low voltage?
 
What is the full part number on your VFD? It looks like the FM50 won't run a 2 HP motor. EDIT: In reading a bit more, I was wrong there, the FM50-202x will run a 2 HP motor

I looked through the manual and I agree, there is no way to set the motor parameters. Never seen that before, looks like there is a reason that VFD was discontinued.
 
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The FM50 is an early design, it is NOT a sensorless vector VFD. It became popular because it was one of the first affordable VFD's. I personally don't think it is a good choice for any machine you wish to control the speed of. I do have one on a wood shaper but I run that at 60hz all the time. It was my first VFD. It's ok for that application. You really only have two parameters of significance that might help. F_18 (Motor rated current) and F_5 (V/F Pattern). I believe F_18 is actually only used for overload protection in this VFD. F_5 allows you to select different curves for Frequency vs. Voltage. I think you may want to set F_5 to "5".
 
Hello, seanb -
Just this last summer I converted my Grizzly 12 x 24 lathe (DF1224G/G1003) to use a 1.5HP three phase motor and a Teco FM50-202-C VFD. It's worked very well, with no glitches.

I've listed the parameters in the PDF below. As best I can tell, you should be able to set yours the same way, with the exception of P02, P18, and possibly P03, P04, and P29.

Unless you have a braking resistor, your P02 should be left at something like the factory setting of 5 (seconds)
Your start/stop, forward/reverse controls may differ from mine, so set P03 and P04 accordingly.
You should set P18 to 100 for your 2HP motor. I set mine to 75 (%) for the 1.5HP.
P29 is factory set, and may differ for your VFD.

Rich -
Hadn't heard that the FM50 was obsolete. I just bought mine this summer from Dealer's Electric.
 

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I'm not the one who said they were discontinued, I believe you can still buy them from several sources. I just don't think they are a good choice for machines with varying loads that you wish to control the speed of. There are better choices available for those applications.

There is one other parameter on the FM50 you can change that may help with slower speeds. F_13 "Torque Compensation Gain" controls the shape of the curve that F_5 uses. The documentation for this is a bit vague. The default is 0 and the maximum is 100 (0.0 -> 10.0 %), what this really means is not perfectly clear to me. I believe the higher the number the more voltage it will supply at lower frequencies (speeds).
 
Thanks hman and others for the replies I will try tweaking it a bit more, I noticed Last night that my link belt was slipping Is it possible to clean it it looks greasy?
If I cant get the motor to run better can anyone reccommend a drive to use of the sensorless vector type thats not $500.

I have the same drive on my mill, but its also a 2hp motor on a RF-31.
 
Don't forget slowing the motor also reduces hp. I learned a little late that people put bigger motors on during these conversions to allow for this. Maybe some day I'll feel froggy and put my 2hp vfd/motor combo on my mill and get a bigger vfd/motor for the lathe.
 
A couple more thoughts: one, Dealers Electric has good deals on motors, vfd's and combos. I have gotten two combos from them and have been very happy. two, think more along the lines of using a lower speed gear setting and increasing motor speed instead of dropping it. (within reason. motor man. can tell you the speed rating for your motor bearings)
 
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