Spot the connection

That's really useful Mark, thanks. I think most of the settings are the same, but I need to check PDO 26 as I have set 14 and 15 to 10 seconds. One thing that I didn't check on my first test was 143 and 144 - I have now changed them to suit my 2880 motor but they were set for a 1440 4 pole. Strangely it made no difference (checked with a hand held tacho) but at least it is now correct for the motor.

PD142 is set at 11A - as it was originally a star motor it doesn't have the delta info on the plate of course, and I have no real idea what the current should be now except that it will be higher than the 5.8A shown.

Neil mentioned that the control inputs are configurable for either latching or non-latching switches (I guess he may have been thinking of his own IMO inverter) and I can find no reference to this in the manual or with a Google search. I already have a 3 position 4 pole rotary switch on the lathe, but my tests with a multi meter indicate that it is not making very good contact on any of the 4 poles so I may have to buy another one. If someone can confirm that I can use a latching switch, and if there are settings relating to this on the inverter I would be very grateful. I would also like to get a nice big chunky 10k linear pot (or one that will accept a big chunky operating knob in true Harrison style) so again, any recommendations will be welcome.

Steve,

You can set the digital inputs in a number of modes but to answer your specific question, if you have the inputs wired and configured like mine you can't use a latching start switch otherwise the machine will start up when you turn off the stop button (or release it if it is momentary). The direction switch can be latching (mine are).

If you are using a rotary switch you can wire it such that turning it one direction provides both the stop signal (which is inverted - no signal = motor off) and the run signal with a separate contact for forward and reverse (no signal = forward). Turning it the other direction gives the run and stop signals and also a signal on the reverse input to make it rotate in reverse.

I have my Boxford VSL wired like this on the original rotary switch but I have a spring return "start" position in forward and reverse directions and have the start input wired to the momentary positions. In other words, my rotary switch has a central "off" position and two forward positions (direction forward and start) along with two reverse positions (direction reverse and start) so a five position switch with the two "end" positions being spring return "momentary" positions.

Mark

Fwiw,

I have my HY inverter wired like this:

Three position switch wired so that it is FWD-OFF-REV, then my speed pot has a switch wired such that when turned anti clockwise to the off position the m/c stops....

I could if I chose to, with direction sw set FWD, then set speed, the use the direction sw to stop start....

I prefer to set the direction, then stop/start ramp up/ down as needed...,

Just to complicate matters further, if you want to you might set up a forward, off, reverse switch as John above and then set the pot to have a mid point bias so that in the middle of its range you get 0 revs (stop) and twiddling the pot forward or reverse gives motor speed proportional to forward or reverse rotation position.... you might want a positive detent for the pot so you can easily find the off point!

Mark

Steve,

I noticed you did not know what the amperage was as you converted from star to delta. You can work it out by dividing the original voltage (380V) by the single phase voltage (240V) and multiplying the original amperage by the result.

so: (380/240) x 5.8A = 9.18 amps in your case.

Mark

Up and running successfully at last. I've tidied up the wiring into the inverter, adding the screened cables for the controls and routing all the cables properly. I removed all the old wiring from the control panel on the lathe cabinet, along with the old duff fwd/rev switch and welded up all the mounting holes, drilling new ones for the new switches and buttons. Final touch was to make a control knob for the 10k potentiometer in the style of the existing (give or take - I had to use what bits and pieces I had lying around). I've now had the lathe running for an hour or two, with everything working as it should and better than I expected, given my complete ignorance about VFD's before this little project.

Edit - I still have to find a tiny brush and a splash of red paint to touch in the symbols on the panel, which will probably take a few months to get round to!

Edited By Steve Pavey on 19/10/2015 21:21:18

Steve,

Can I take a guess that your new red button is possibly an e stop? If it is, you really want to change it for the type that sticks out rather than a "shrouded" type so if you have to press it you can strike it effectively without taking to much of an aim with a digit!

Mark

I was rather hoping that no-one would notice that - unfortunately I was seduced by the quality of these switches (from RS) and they don't do a mushroom version. If I can find a bit of red plastic rod of some sort I will turn up an appropriately shaped button and superglue it to the top of the existing.

Steve,

If you pop into your local CEF (city electrical factors) they should have one like that with the correct business end - probably a less than a tenner especially if it is a standard fit back.

I always hate getting switches from RS, no matter how hard I try to get all the bits I always seem to be missing something important or order too many bits etc. Why they cant simply list all the bits needed for a simple switch configuration (a switch configurator, like the systems pneumatic companies use) is beyond me. The cynic in me thinks it is so they can make more money from me having to order lots more stuff than I originally thought - goes along the lines of;

"ok this is the right price, I will get some of these switches" - parcel arrives, "oh bugger, there are no locking rings/contacts or whatever else is needed in the box....."

Mark

Hi Steve,

Would you mind letting me know the sequence of your switch gear ( it looks an excellent setup ), is it isolator, DOL then VFD, or can you put the DOL between the VFD and Motor ? Any help you can give would be greately apreciated,

Mick

As a general rule you shouldn't have any switching between inverter and motor.

Neil

Mick, the connections from a VFD must be direct to motor without any switching, you may put the DOL before the VFD.

Hi Chaps, thanks for the replies, can I ask why you would need a DOL before the VFD, what would this achieve ?

Sorry for been thick, I am but a lowly Plumber.

regards Mick

Sorry for nor replying sooner - yes, the supply is from a 16a commando socket to the DOL starter, then to the inverter. You don't actually need a starter, but because commando sockets are unswitched, and commando plugs are unfused I decided that the simplest method of isolating everything was using a dol starter. I could have used an industrial isolater, but they are just as expensive.

Since the last photo I have restored the LoVo light and fitted it with a 12v led lamp. This operates from a seperate 13 amp socket outlet, which also provides the supply to the coolant pump (or it will do when I get round to sorting the coolant pump out).

I have just bought a little Boxford shaper, also 3 phase, so I'm just about to repeat the process (when I find a suitable vfd in the classifieds). Hopefully I won't have to ask questions this time, but I will try to take some photos and post some details in case anyone is interested.

Hi Steve,

Thanks you very much for getting back to me on this one, I am just wiring an elliott m10 shaper so am following what you have done.

I will add a low volt light some time as I have some spare 12v halogen bulbs spare at the moment.

The plan is to mount my VFD on the wall and then add a commando socket which I can then plug an extension lead into and then run my different 3 phase eqipment. I have already got a the 240v power terminated in a separate consumer unit and then going to feed the VFD via a 3 pole issolator. I just need to think how I am going to wire up the sockets for the VFD remote pendant as I will also need to be able to move this around as well.

Regards Mick

If I read your post properly it sounds as though you're going to use the vfd for more than one machine. It might depend which vfd you get, but that could be difficult as they need to be set up for each motor (rpm, current, kW etc). Perhaps someone else on here has done it successfully and I'm talking nonsense (it has been known)..

That was the plan, not sure on how it will work out, it is a 2kw VFD and all of the other motors are smaller, I have not realy looked into it as yet, It was part of my harrison 140 lathe setup when I purchased it, it has a drives direct sticker on the motor and VFD, its a bonfiglioni vectron sysn10 220 07 af, just downloaded the manual and for me its as clear as mud.

Yes that is the one, good pictures and if you want to run the coolant pump on 240 volts then a 4 micro farad capacitor with a 400 working voltage is required. Pump motor starts up quickly and runs as normal. John