VFD help please

notqwik · May 3, 2013

Hello,
Trying to set up a VFD with a new Baldor motor and a old Hardinge cataract lathe.

Is it best to set the pulley sizes so at 60 Hz on the VFD the lathe spins at the middle of the range of lathe spindle speed? Then vary the frequency to vary the upper and lower speed of the lathe?

What is the typical range of rpms I can expect from a 1740 rpm motor w/ a TECO FM50-101-C? at 120 Hz is the speed double? What are the limitations of a motor typically? i.e. I would guess it would not be a good thing to make them spin twice as fast as they are rated to, or is there a limit on how slow you should make them spin?

If any one can help that would be great. Or point me at a thread that can answer these concerns. Thanks.

CalG · May 4, 2013

Search this forum for more info on VFD application than you can shake a stick at. IT really is worth a read.

A comment about motor speed. There does not "appear" to be any significant mechanical design difference between 1725 and 3450 rpm motors (other than pole count). That is, same shaft size, same bearings, same winding method and construction. So "safe speed" for a 1725 motor would certainly allow 3450 rpm operation. The output power would be down at motor plate voltage and 120hz however. (There are ways around that limitation ;-)

notqwik · May 19, 2013

Still having a bit of trouble with the install of this VFD .... after much searching I found the following:

Wired and programed as described. Works as advertised, no problems. Next step was adding a 10k pot between terminals 8,9 and 10 with 9 being the wiper .... no joy with remote frequency adjust. Power and ground on each side of pot. I've searched this site, the wood workers sites and still no luck. Any ideas on what may be wrong? My guess is some function needs to be set, but if you have ever looked at the manual, there is room for improvement. This really shouldn't be that hard, seems like there really needs to be a sticky made for this TECO model since it seems to be a very common solution to the 3phase issue. Any help is appreciated.

Chrisw · May 19, 2013

Mr. Qwik

What does the VFD panel show as the frequency when you start the lathe? Are you using a linear pot or logarithmic pot (audio)? Disconnect the pot leads from the VFD and check the leads for varying resistance as the pot is rotated to see if the wiring is OK. Check Function 6 (upper frequency limit) and Function 7 (lower frequency limit) to make sure they are not restricting the frequency control.

Chris

jim rozen · May 19, 2013

If you have not done so (and it sounds like not) then you need to set a parameter in the programming
setup to tell the drive "take your speed orders from the pot." If you go though the manual it'll
tell you which one to set and what to set it to, to achieve that.

Another fine point on the teco units is, the paper manual is missing some key items. Don't use it.
Look at the manual file on the CD that came with the drive. It's complete.

notqwik · May 19, 2013

Chris, The VFD panel is adjustable via the keypad currently and can be set to what ever you wish. From what I have read tonight I did not realize it is an either adjust via the front panel OR remotely. To answer the rest of your questions, I believe the pot to be a log pot, came from Factorymation. Did disconnect the pot and the voltages on the unit are correct and the resistance across and to the wiper of the pot are reasonable. From Jim's post above, I will next see if I can figure out which function he is referring to. Thank you very much for responding.

notqwik · May 19, 2013

Jim, DVD/CD? Seems like these are as rare as hens teeth. But you are correct I have not set to accept frequency adjustment from an external source. I will see if I can figure which function key is appropriate. Thanks.

notqwik · May 19, 2013

All,
F11 setting to 1 was the key. Works perfectly now. Thanks for the clues.

jim rozen · May 19, 2013

Glad that helped - my teco unit came with the cd rom manual as well as the paper one.
Some of the setup specs for various control situations were only in the cd manual.

If you are using a logrithmic taper pot, you'll find peculiar behavior I think. Better to
replace with a linear taper variable resistor.

The log taper pots are reserved for audio use as a rule.

notqwik · May 25, 2013

Here are a couple of pic's of my set up .... almost finished. Need to figure out the tach wiring and it should be ready to use.

Probably a little over kill on the cooling, but I ran the fan at 5v instead of 12v to slow it down. Used an old ethernet cable to connect the on/off/freq adj. box to the main box. Used some ethernet panel mount connectors and fanned them out inside both boxes. Used an old dual voltage power supply to power both the fan and the tach.

ZMB KLR · Sep 10, 2016

I know this is a bit old, but this is a very well laid out design in many ways. I'll be borrowing heavily from this. Thanks for sharing.

notqwik said:
Here are a couple of pic's of my set up .... almost finished. Need to figure out the tach wiring and it should be ready to use.

Probably a little over kill on the cooling, but I ran the fan at 5v instead of 12v to slow it down. Used an old ethernet cable to connect the on/off/freq adj. box to the main box. Used some ethernet panel mount connectors and fanned them out inside both boxes. Used an old dual voltage power supply to power both the fan and the tach.

View attachment 77508 View attachment 77507 View attachment 77509 View attachment 77510

Search

Largest Manufacturing Technology Community on the Web

Search

VFD help please

notqwik

Plastic

CalG

Diamond

notqwik

Plastic

Chrisw

Aluminum

jim rozen

Diamond

notqwik

Plastic

notqwik

Plastic

notqwik

Plastic

jim rozen

Diamond

notqwik

Plastic

ZMB KLR

Plastic

Similar threads