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Question: wiring Hardinge HLV-H to a rotary phase converter (RPC)

Long Tom

Stainless
Joined
Aug 21, 2011
Location
Fiddlefart, Oregon
Hi folks. Getting my new-to-me Feeler HLV clone installed and have hit a point of confusion.

My RPC, a new 5-hp American Rotary, has three output terminals. Two are bussed together with the 240V single phase input terminals. Measured between ground, these read ~ 120VAC each. The third is the “manufactured“ leg and measures ~ 240V to ground.

The seller of the lathe tells me that “L2 needs to connect to that “hot” leg of the 3-phase“. However, within the electronics panel of the lathe, I don’t have an L2 labeled terminal where the cable comes in. I have four wires, labeled left-right R, S, T, and E. E has the green wire and I assume that’s Earth/ground.

Not sure how relevant it is, but the cable/plug installed on the machine (which had been running off utility pole 3-phase) interfaces as follows:

R = white
S = black
T = red
E = green

Google so far has not helped.

I tried to post a pic but it was too large. I will post this then try to resize the pic and load it.

Thank you for any help. Much appreciated. :)

A0FA8190-6E84-4518-9A2B-D2AF953DE6F6.jpg
 
You are confusing me. If you have 3 phase on the pole why the rotary convertor? If you have single phase with 110 to ground and need the convertor, your 2 110 to ground wires (220 across them)to the control circuit probably R and S your generated phase will go probably T. If spindle rotation is not correct swap the 2 native lines. Do not hit the speed change if the spindle rotation is not correct.
 
It was running off utility pole 3-phase when I went to check it out last week. I can’t get 3-phase here at my rural property, or rather, my utility wants $30k to do it. So, I just saw it run off utility pole power and everything was working.

Cutting to the chase, I’m afraid I might’ve done exactly what you said not to do and screwed something up. I was talking to my buddy on the phone late at night when I fired it up off the RPC a couple nights ago. Without noticing the spindle was going backwards I did indeed try to speed up the lathe. Instead it slowed down. Now it’s stuck on the lowest speeds- about 140 rpm on LOW and 425 rpm on HIGH.

I was going to start a different thread to ask about this but since you are here... if you care to help me debug what horrifying thing(s) I did to the machine, I’d be grateful. It was, well, horrifying. Prickly cold sweat horrifying.

My cluster of symptoms is that (1) the Slower/Faster switch now has no effect; (2) the spindle only turns (correct direction now, IE forward) with the brake switch set to REV. In “Off” the spindle doesn’t come on and run, and with the brake switch set to FWD I get a horrible buzzing sound from the motor cabinet area. And (3), the leadscrew engage lever now has no effect.

Could this all be related to hitting that speed switch with the spindle going backwards? Hooo jeez. :(
 
Cutting to the chase, I’m afraid I might’ve done exactly what you said not to do and screwed something up. I was talking to my buddy on the phone late at night when I fired it up off the RPC a couple nights ago. Without noticing the spindle was going backwards I did indeed try to speed up the lathe. Instead it slowed down. Now it’s stuck on the lowest speeds- about 140 rpm on LOW and 425 rpm on HIGH.

(

Mine did that, from what I remember (20+ years ago) the speed change leadscrew had jammed. So I turned it a turn or two to free it up and it has been ok ever since
 
Triump406 got it. The screw was jammed. Turn it manually a turn or so to get it off the limit switch, which will keep it from operating. Fix the phase direction by swapping the 2 wires that are powering the controls, probably R&S.

When your phases are correct direction you can change speeds with the spindle in reverse. You just can not change speed with the little varidrive 3 phase motor running the wrong direction.
 
Never mind! Your post gave me enough of a hint that I tried some new searches and found other discussions of exactly this... I’d fallen prey to a) hubris, a constant personal foe and b) The dreaded swapped-leads speed-change syndrome on a HLV.

To elaborate for future readers: if you hook up your RPC such that the spindle rotation is opposite what the levers says, and are blithely trucking along not paying attention and chatting with your buddy because you are SO SURE you did everything right, and you hit that speed change button, the speed change motor (which is NOT reversed) will go to the wrong end of its travel, as defined by limit switches, and stick there. The fix is to manually turn the big leadscrew the speed change motor drives to get clear of the limit switch. I used Channel-Locks (copiously taped up to prevent marring) to turn the screw.
 
I’ll say this. Due to the cascading nature of things failing that night, in other words, things that were working stopping working, it was truly horrifying. Like watching something you love die horribly, haha. Man did I think I’d screwed the big pooch. But, after getting to know them a bit (forgot to mention above, I did find a blown 10A fuse also that needed replaced), the electronics in general on a Feeler are ROBUST. Very high quality components, everything has resets and trips and breakers, and exceptionally cleanly executed. I *probably* couldn’t achieve what I had feared- frying a bunch of stuff- if I tried.
 








 
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