WHAT A BUMMER

[walnutman]

Well after all the set up, leveling, aligining,adjusting,wiring, etc. I finally got to the part of hooking up my 4-HP 1-phase HSD spindle I got with the tool. A soon I got ready to hook up the VFD, I noticed they sent me a 7.5 HP 3-phase Drive. I am not happy. I was really hoping to spend some time with the tool before the Janboree this week. Man, how could they miss this. they even pre-wired everything so you'd figure someone would check that the VFD and spinlde match up!!

[steve4460]

Call SB I bett they will overnight you the right one.

Bot on

[walnutman]

I raced to the phone once I found out, but they were closed. I will call first thing in the morning. Im sure they will take care of it. I did alot of due dilligence before I purchased a bot, and their customer service seemd to be top notch. Im sure it will work out, I was just excited to fire it up,and got let down.

[evan]

Jeff,

I also have the 4-HP 1-phase HSD spindle, the drive I have is a Yaskawa V74X, model # CIMR V7CU25P5; which as you state is a 7.5 HP 3-phase Drive, but it's the right one since I've been using it almost a year now. Better to be safe than sorry and talk to SB but I'm pretty sure you'll be making sawdust tomorrow.

[walnutman]

Hmm, well thats good news. Not sure why it states in manual its a 3-phase unit, But if it works for you, it must be right.

Quick question. Do you have a Standard or an Alpha? If a Standard, did you have to make any special wiring changes to the VFD or just connect directly to the power source?

Thanks for the good news

[dirk]

All Spindles are 3 phase. In order to run on single phase the size of the VFD needs to be increased to compensate for the missing 3rd leg. The oversized VFD will supply 3 phase to the spindle even though you are connecting single phase. So you are all set and ready to run.
Dirk

[walnutman]

Thanks a bunch guys. You gave me the nerve to wire it up and turn it on. It works great. First time hearing a spindle. Man im glad I got it. Compared to a router, its just a gentle humm.

One thing though. I did notice a slight rattle when the spindle is running. It intermintant, Kind of sounds like a loose screw. after running a while the rattle was much less. Is this normal?

Thanks again guys.

[harryball]

Mine made a rattle/buzzing sound on occasion too. Generally when first starting up and cold. It turned out in my case to be the cooling fan running. SB sent me a new DC fan and it's not done it since. Not sure if it is the same sound but SB should be able to listen on the phone and advise.

Robert

[weslambe]

PDS Colombo gave me start up instructions on my spindle. I have a 5hp but what does that matter.

They said that I should set the vfd to around 9000 rpm and let the spindle run for about 10 minutes to warm up the bearings before cutting to increase their life.

Every morning when I was getting ready to start the day I did the warm up.

[knight_toolworks]

I sometimes forget to cool mine down I go logner then planned between cutting but I always remember to warm it up. I love how quiet it is. when v carvign and such you can hardly hear it. make a quite fan and man that thing would drive you nuts wondering if it is running (G)

[bcammack]

I'd actually like the option of a small amber strobe light atop the spindle carriage that blinks when the spindle is running.

[billp]

Brett,
Here's a setup used by Mike Snowden in Northern California. His two PRT's are both equipped with these amber strobe lights as he runs the machines in a high school workshop environment, and there is always a lot going on. This way people know that the machine in is operation.
3127

[bcammack]

That's perfect. We have instances where the operator hits "OK" when prompted to start the spindle w/out actually starting the spindle. Then he can't figure out why the thing doesn't plunge into the material and stalls instead...

[joelschuman]

Sometimes a sudden break in power will let the spindle "coast" instead of bringing it to a quick, controlled stop. If that happened and you were relying on a strobe that only showed power state, you could get a nasty surprise. I put alternating dots of red and white paint on the collet nut to make it easier to see when the spindle is turning.

[bcammack]

Our bit and collet are completely obscured by the custom dust collection skirt. At present, the primary concern is the safety of the bit, collet, spindle and material from the actions of the operator instead of the norm.


Our operators never touch the business end of the machine. The supervisor is called to check/change a bit, etc. He gets paid to be careful.

Even the Z-Zero is automated. I laminated a 3"x3" square of unetched printed circuit board near the 0,0 point and modified the zeroing program to pick a random point in that area and run completely automatically. No user intervention at all.

[handh]

Does anyone know Mike's email, I would love to add the strobe light to our bot and was wondering if he might give us some pointers.

Jeff

[billp]

Jeff,
I've sent you the address off line, but since Mike is a school teacher he may not have access to that in box until school is back in session in a few weeks...

[beacon14]

That depends on where one lives...school started today here in the South