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VF-1 at Home

Henry L.

Plastic
Joined
Feb 22, 2009
Location
Denver, CO.
Anybody out there run a HAAS VF machine on residential single phase service using a VFD (variable frequency drive)?
I'd like to buy a HAAS VF-0 or 1 and run it in my home garage but I'm not sure there's enough juice in the incoming line to do it.
Thanks.
 
I'm running a VF-2ss on a 200A drop with an American Rotary 50HP phase converter. It's been flawless for 1.5 years now.
 
Henry,
Depending on how hard you load the motor, it may not be as bad as you suspect. With the VFD drives on the modern machines, you don't get that huge inrush current when the main motor comes on. So it is a lot more gentle on your breaker panel.

Witness that I need a 70 amp breaker to start the 10hp 26 amp draw 3 phase motors on my manual lathes 'across the line' or else I get nuisance trips of the breaker. But my 15hp VF3 is rated 40 amps input, and it runs on a 40 amp breaker too. You'd be drawing heavier currents on single phase input, but still not as bad of a load as starting a 10hp single phase motor across the line. I think! ;)
 
This has been discussed a little in other threads and the opinion expressed that it is not a good idea because on a VFD overcurrent protection should be on the incoming supply to the VFD and there should be no overcurrent protection between the VFD and the load; naturally on the Haas there is overcurrent protection built into the main breaker on the machine.

There is another question I have about VFDs running CNC machines which I have never seen an answer for and this is the way the AC output of the VFD is synthesized. It is not a true sine wave but is a sort of bumpy approximation made up of square wave pulses and as I understand it a VFD to some extent relies on an inductive load to round off the corners. A CNC machine is not an inductive load it is more of a capacitative load because the biggest current draw goes through a rectifier bridge and charges the capacitors on the DC buss. I wonder if it is possible that there could be an interaction between the synthesized Ac and this type of load leading to harmonic creating voltage spikes that could affect the CNC control circuits.
 
Anybody out there run a HAAS VF machine on residential single phase service using a VFD (variable frequency drive)?
I'd like to buy a HAAS VF-0 or 1 and run it in my home garage but I'm not sure there's enough juice in the incoming line to do it.
Thanks.

Get a VF2. Same size sheet metal, but more capacity.
 








 
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