Got My First Machine!

Sorry to revive an old thread but I just recently got the ole Bridgeport up and running and had to chime in and give a big thanks to everyone that helped! I used a 5hp RPC into a 9KVA 220-440 transformer. I wired 120vac directly from the breaker panel to the control side if the machine and everything works! More or less. I found out that my motor controller was bad and changed that out @vista_joe the motor controller in the last picture you posted is the updated version. Now I believe my feed motor is no good. And unfortunately the quill feed motor is no good either but I kinda knew that before I powered it as the motor is cracked right in half.
I've taken some cuts with it boy does it ever hog some metal! But I'm concerned I may have bad spindle bearing or something of the like. However I've never ran one of these specifically so I'm not sure how loud these are supposed to be. I have a woble on my cutter that I measured to be about .003" the bearing top plate was at about 60°C after an hour of heavy cuts and that seems normal to me. I checked the speeds with a laser tach and my lowest speed in high gear is about 1000 and it should go down to about 450 I don't know if the 2 problems are related. And finally the spindle load meter doesn't seem right it free spins at about 85% then when I take a cute it goes down to about 65%. Thanks again for all the help guys!
 
Izzy,
I'm glad to hear that you have the machine running. That is a huge step.
What did you finally do regarding your spindle motor? Replace? Rewire? Ignore?
Where did you find the replacement motor controller / cost?

I have not made any progress on my Series II machines. The head butt I did with the tail end of the ram disabled me for about 4 or 5 months and I couldn't really do anything. I had severe dizzy spells - even went to a neurologist for tests.
I also had my gall bladder removed later in 1017 which was another few months recovery.

My shop was so hot/cold I couldn't work much of the time. I finally just jumped off the deep end and had closed cell foam sprayed under my roof. I still need to add insulation to the garage doors and seal under them. At least I can now control the temperature to a 'reasonable' working environment. While I have the shop 'cleared out' I am going to install LED lights to replace the current fluorescent lighting. Too many projects...

Hopefully I'll eventually get around to working on the Series II again.

However - as usual - I have some new toys to work with that make priority over the Series II efforts.
I bought a Series I BOSS 5 CNC machine - can run Mach 3. So learning CNC / Fusion 360 is in my future.
I also bought a Grizzly G0602 lathe and plan to convert it to CNC. I found a very good conversion example that I'm going to follow:
I will use both the BOSS 5 and the working Series II to manufacture some of the required parts for the conversion.

I think the BOSS 5 improvements and the G0602 efforts will be higher priority than the Series II.
I still want the Series II done - but have to prioritize my efforts. I don't have the energy that I used to have.
 
All I did was wire up an rpc Into a transformer and I just gave the machine the original 440 3phase it used to run on. I'm just curious about the condition of my spindle bearings. You said you had one running? Could you post a video of that one starting up and winding down?
 
I think this should have what you want. Let me know if not... I cut this from existing video to make it small enough to upload to this site.
 

Attachments

  • BridgeportSeriesIIStartStop2.mp4
    34.4 MB · Views: 5
Sounds like yours starts up faster than mine. What's the spindle load meter at when it just free spinning? Mines up around 80-85%...
 
Ok - I just checked and when up to speed (idling ~1500 - 2000 rpm) the load meter was in the middle of the red section - above 100%. I don't know what it is supposed to be but that does not sound like a useful value.
 
I had asked one other person who has a series 2 and thiers sits at around 20% just free spinning. The load meter is supposed to tell you how much power the motor is drawing. Mine actually dips down to about 60% when I take a cut which seems odd to me
 
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