Dave is absolutely correct. You simply *must* have the 380V step-up transformer, assuming you don't have 380V in your shop (chuckle... who does in America?).
The label on the machine is, albeit, a little misleading. But don't be suckered into thinking you don't need 380V. Here is the reason why.... The spindle on the larger Emco line (i.e. not the Compact 5) is a 400VDC motor. It *must* have 380V in order to run.
You don't mess around with trying to prove me wrong... I will tell you why. You do *not* want to burn out one of your boards or you will be contacting either me or Emco Maier. Well, one way or the other you will contact me because Emco will scare you silly! Their rates have been rising tremendously since the dollar fell (they are an Austrian company). The last person told me that a stepper board is now close to 3K to exchange; I will do it for closer to $400.
But that is the stepper board. Sadly, I have *almost* gotten the spindle board set worked out, but not totally. There are some things I can fix and there are others I cannot. As the volume is almost insignificant (and the time to figure it out seems infitite!), it is a tough thing to work on... but I'm getting there... The point is, however, you don't want to mess around with the power and possibly burn out the board.
WARNING: "you don't want to mess around" means *no* sticking screwdrivers into the spindle board pots! The pot wipers are *hot* and you will absolutely, positively, touch the side of the chassis when you tinker with the pots! The result will be, you guessed it, a call to me (fortunately, my track record on fixing that particular problem is getting better).
Finally, if you have any problems getting the machine running, especially on a rotary converter, let me know. I can help you out with some of the parameters and such. These *may* solve your problems.
Now for the good news. When people get these machines running, they love them. The footprint is small and they are accurate. I know of several people that run these machines near constantly in their businesses. One guy has 3 of them and nothing else. The point is that you may need to be patient (mandatory for any CNC that is cheap enough to be affordable by the home guy... why? because technically it is probably obsolete and hence is generally used).
You can pick-up transformers at several locations as surplus. Check around your home town because the transformers are heavy (hence expensive) to ship. The original transformers supplied by Emco were 4KVA. I would recommend you stick with something like that...
www.phaseperfect.com sells these new, along with an excellent phase converter (the Cadillac of the industry).
Regards,
Alan