Yet Another 3ph, Rpc, Vfd Question -

[middle.road]

HeyO all. Need to power the recently acquired Bridgeport.
I have this gathering dust in the garage:
What else do I need? Or is VFD better suited for the Bridgeport?
Been browsing through threads but too foggy with allergies to comprehend much.

Thanks, _Dan

 

[middle.road]

??? 98 views and no replies... Was it something I said?
Anyway in further developments, an engineer at the Electrical Utility here is going to work up an estimate for bringing 3PH in to the garage.
I'm holding my breath to see how much it will be. A friend of mine who's been in industrial HVAC for years says that he'll bring over all the
load centers and hardware that would be needed. Everything but wire.
This could work out well all the way around. We could eliminate the drop from the pole to the house (which passes right through a tall conifer pine),
and put everything underground.

 

[JimDawson]

You must have gotten lost in the fog. I like the VFD idea, much less expensive than bringing in 3 phase power. I run my equipment on VFDs.

 

[mksj]

I would say the quandary of the request was the 15 Hp motor and what type/motor was already on the Bridgeport/ machine requirements. If you have a single machine, or need variable speed, than a VFD would be the way to go and probably the least expensive (~$150-300). Alternate option would be to build yourself an RPC or purchase one (used/new) if you do not need variable speed and have multiple machines requiring 3 phase. The VFD option is fairly straight forward, and not too difficult to install. You could use single phase 230V (50-100A) sub panel in the garage, or possibly a 30A dedicated line depending on the motor size.

 

[jim18655]

You might also have a minimum monthly usage that one or two part time machines won't be able to meet.

 

[aeroHAWK]

Unless you have some real need for 3 phase, I think a VFD is the best choice. I converted my Bridgeport clone to a VFD and removed all the mechanical speed control stuff in favor of the electronic speed control. I LOVE IT. I wish I did it years ago.

 

[middle.road]

Finally got some time this weekend to start working on getting power to the BP.
The 15HP RPC that I have needs 4GA wire ran to it, and pricing that - took my breath away.
A buddy scored me 80' of 6GA/4wire SO Rubber line from a salvage job.
Since I don't have any other 3PH equipment and about the only other piece I would want that I
can think of is a surface grinder, I'm thinking of selling off the RPC and getting a VFD.
I'm going to go dig through some posts and figure out which VFD would be best for the BP.
If anyone has any suggestions please post them.

Thanks,
_Dan

 

[JimDawson]

I'm going to go dig through some posts and figure out which VFD would be best for the BP.
If anyone has any suggestions please post them.

Thanks,
_Dan

Teco, Hitachi, Automation Direct, Yaskawa are all good VFDs and are well documented and supported. Having a readable manual is important. I would stay away from the Chinese stuff on Ebay not because the units are bad, but because the manuals are difficult to read at best, and in some cases difficult to even find.

 

[LEEQ]

I like the jnev teco on my bport. I like the manual also.

 

[mksj]

The Teco JNEV series is discontinued and replaced with the L510 series available in July 2015. The Teco FM50 is pretty much a bare bones VFD, and has a number of limitations. I would probably look at the Teco CV7300 or MA7200 series which have sensorless vector control with motor auto-tune, external braking module built in (allows external braking resistor) and 3 wire control using momentary switches to control start/stop/direction. They have a removable front panel that can be relocated to the machine with an extension cable (about $30). http://factorymation.info/catalog/fmcat_acdrives.pdf

The Automation Direct drives, I would probably look at the GS3 DuraPulse series, something like the GS3-22P0. The GS2 series does not offer sensorless vector control which provide tighter motor control, and the GS3 is only slightly more expensive. http://www.automationdirect.com/static/specs/driveselection.pdf

Real boils down to how fancy you want to get and the quality of the VFD. If you want a bare bones unit with a manual that is readable, tech support and a warranty, you are looking at around $150-200. If you are looking at the next level up with better motor control and improved braking, probably looking at the $240-280 range for the CF7300, GS3 or similar like the Hitachi WJ200 in a 2Hp range. In the simplest installation you could remote mount the keypad to the front of your machine and add a E-Stop button, or you could build/buy a simple control box with a few buttons and a speed pot. There are also very inexpensive spindle induction RPM meters on eBay for ~$20, you need a low voltage power supply to run them. You would not need a power start relay (to prevent the motor from restarting) in a 3 wire control using momentary switches for the run/stop. The next step-up in VFD drives would probably be Allen Bradley, ABB, Danfos and Yaskawa which are geared more toward the business end.