I recently purchased an EMCO Meier Maximat V13 for my son, photo attached. It quickly became obvious that setting it up for 3 phase power with a VFD was beyond my skills: it has a 2 speed, Austrian motor (2.9 and 3.2 hp) with an engine brake energized off the winding: no power, no release of brake, motor doesn't start. Photo motor plate attached. I consulted a local electrician who recommend that I investigate RPC as it would be simpler and retain all the controls of the native machine which look quite nice. OK, I called North American Phase Converter who told me that I needed a 7.5 hp RPC but that I really needed their fancier "Smart phase" converter @ 10 hp and that the two speed motor required double the sum of the two windings in hp and the ability to balance them. This seems odd, since the motor would run at one speed or the other, not both at once. The price shot up from something like $700 to more than double that. Leaving aside that a smarter person than myself (or a smarter electrician ) could get the VFD that I have, an Automation Direct, to work, is the salesman selling me overkill? My preferred approach would be to get a 7.5hp 3 phase used motor and buy the appropriate controls @ about $370 from North American where I would get out of this for maybe $500 dollars or less for a 7,5 hp system without all the smarts. I will be pursuing the VFD with another electrician, bit would like your thoughts on the Rotary Phase Converter appropriate for this machine.
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