Buddy in Australia

[penman]

Hi Bob,
I am not that far away, New Zealand. I am not familiar with power, switch it on and it goes or it does not.I ordered a BT32 from Shopbot approx 3 years ago, last of the aluminium table model, with a spindle. I just told them where I was for power and they sorted it out. I have just had a look at the spindle, the tag says SEV HSP Spindle
220 Volt
300Hz
1.7 KW
all run through a Yaskawa V7-4X Controller.

As I said, just told them where I was, what I wanted, and it needed to work here. It arrived and virtually plugged it in and away it went.
It went good, the big part, for me was learning how to use it.
Great machine which I have never regretted buying for a minute, and a great forum with very helpful unselfish members.

Cheers,

Roger.

[Bob Eustace]

Hi Garry

A million thanks I will resend my enquiries to "support".

Best wishes

Bob

[Bob Eustace]

Hi Roger

Agree there is no contest that Shopbot is simply the best plus they are not a me too start up company learning from their customers. To me the website says it all!

Is your set up three phase though! Like you I'm not into power hence all my daft questions.

Many thanks

Bob

[penman]

Hi Bob,

yes single phase power. Never had a problem with the electricity. Can not say the same about my ability though. To be honest, I was pretty thick to start with. I know that I've improved though, but still learning. You are limited by your imagination only.
Take the plunge, you will not regret it.

Cheers,

Roger.

[Bob Eustace]

Hi Roger

Thanks for the prompt reply as I'm trying to buy whilst one USD is worth AUD 1.07!

Could you kindly take a peek and tell me the size of the circuit breaker you have yours connected too. Do you have it on a plug or is it permanently wired.

A million thanks

Bob

[tlempicke]

The company was started in the '90's by Ted Hall. He wanted to build a boat and that led to a hobby machine which now has us working on a very serious CNC machine. He can be reached on this forum but I would think you can get him on the phone also.

Keep in mind that the power standard you have is used in far more places in the world than what we use in the USA. Having SB install and set up your spindle will make it truly a "Plug and Play" experience.

Here is another tip if you are setting up a new installation.

But a cheap laptop computer. Use it ONLY for the shopbot. Do not connect to the internet with it unless you are downloading software from Shopbot. i actually don't even do that. I download what I need at home and carry it to the computer at my shop. Windows is written by a bunch of paranoid geeks who have it loaded down with so much unnecessary **** (Like the Registry!) that it will get slower and slower over time and you will get mysterious errors which will ruin material and cause you to pull you hair out. Also if it is not plugged in to the internet virus problems are non existant unless you carry one in on your thumb drive.

I bought an Acer for les than $500 from Sam's and have never had the slightest problem.

[penman]

Hi Bob,

The machine has a plug on the end of the cable, similar to a three phase plug, but it is single phase. When the machine arrived I had to get a sparky to wire it up. He just ran a cable from the control box, fitted the plug and then hooked up the female end to my power supply and plugged it in. He added another breaker to my existing breakers to run it through, the other breakers say c10 c20 etc, this one says c32. Hope that is some help. I presume it is 32amp.

Cheers,

Roger.

[Bob Eustace]

Hi Roger
Thanks for that very positive info. Will pester the local sparkie today.

Hi Tom
Thanks for the fascinating background on Ted. I thought it would be something like that. Could be a bit paranoid as ouur first CNC was from the States and I got the feeling the owner was feeling his way and learning as sales were made as getting the thing to communicate was a nightmare.

I got worried with Shopbot when I read on page 11 of the EXCELLENT manual 2.2-3HP spindles 240 volt single phase need a 60amp circuit as house supplies out here are only 60amp. Also my wife runs a big CNC quilter and would kill me if I stuffed up her power!

Many thanks

Bob

[Bob Eustace]

Many thanks to all who kindly contributed to this thread. Looks like its sorted and we wired over the dosh today. Got through to Frank and have his assurance that the spindle is OK on 240 volt. Couldn't get a staight answer though on the control box so will run a step down auto tansformer as we are rural and the power often hits 249.

Again, many thanks from Austalia!

Bob