Thread: Drives Direct VFD arrived

After all the kerfuffle regards sorting out the VAT, my VFD arrived this morning less VAT, delivered to my door, courtesy of Australia Post.

Initially, correspondence with Drives Direct, was sparce, however my patience finally paid off. It is a special unit designated D2-401-IP20-DF Digital Inverter. You won't find another like it.

Input 240V single phase 8A required
Output 415V three phase @ 2.5A per phase range 0-50Hz/0-415V

It's manufactured by Teco Westinghouse, and I believe modified by Drives Direct.

How they convert 240V to 415V is still a mystery. I guess that doesn't really matter, so long as it works. I also ordered the pendant style hand control and cable that remotely allows me to control forward, off and reverse plus speed.

It will probably be a while before I get it all hooked up to my Arboga EM825 mill, I have to finish off my Hercus 9" AR first.

So much to do and so little time.

Ken

Great news Ken

But..............Aust Post delivers to your door on Australia Day?

Great to hear it turned up Ken.
Read the manual a few times, you'll get your head around it.
Forget the old lathe get the mill going lol


"But..............Aust Post delivers to your door on Australia Day?"
Contracters can work today if they choose, so I'm told.

Stuart

Yep, Australia Post delivers on Australia Day. I quized the driver, he reckons if he didn't deliver today, he would have been inundated with deliveries for tomorrow.

To add to his difficulties, the package had the wrong street name on it. Obviously Australia Post figured it out with my surname being the only one in Heidelberg. Pretty clever, eh?

Now a question about wiring. The 6-core cable from the remote Control Pod, contains fairly fine stranded wires. What are those ferrules called that you slip over the cable ends, and crimp on.
I could just solder the cable ends, but want everything to be schmicko.

They are similar to the little tubes on the ends of shoe laces.

"Get the mill going first, who said that?"

Ken

Originally Posted by neksmerj

They are similar to the little tubes on the ends of shoe laces.

Hi Ken,
Believe it or not they are called "bootlace ferrules"

Originally Posted by neksmerj

"Get the mill going first, who said that?"

I second that!... I want to see the mill running too..

Regards
Ray

A question for Stustoys.

As far as I know, you and I are the only one's with the special Drives Direct VFD.

Will these bloody things work straight out of the box? I've tried again and again to read through the 1000 page manual, my god, one needs a magnifying glass and a diploma in electrical engineering.

I'm going to assume that it will run on all the factory presets, guess there's only one way to find out.

Stu, any precautions keeping in mind that the motor must be connected directly to the VFD and that no mechanical speed changes can take place until the VFD is switched off.

The Pod remote control I also purchased has an off position. I wonder whether the off position on it is the same as disconnecting the unit from the wall?

It's a question I should probably ask Drives Direct, and will.

Ken

"Will these bloody things work straight out of the box?"
Maybe, maybe not. (helpful hey). Mine did but I didn't buy the pod. To use the pod you may have to change settings F_10, F_11(unless DD changed them for you)

"one needs a magnifying glass and a diploma in electrical engineering" Did you try reading the PDF instead?

"I'm going to assume that it will run on all the factory presets, guess there's only one way to find out."
Depending on what F10 is set to depends on where you need to turn it on.

"Stu, any precautions keeping in mind that the motor must be connected directly to the VFD and that no mechanical speed changes can take place until the VFD is switched off. "
I wouldn't plug it in until you have the motor wired up. Then I'd check all the settings(page 30 tells you how to check, page 31 tells what the factory settings are, pages after that explain briefly what each setting does)
You cant switch the motor speed switch with the vsd on.(I consider the "mechanical speeds" to be the gear box and you wont like the noise it makes if you change them while its running)

Does your machine need a REV switch?

"The Pod remote control I also purchased has an off position. I wonder whether the off position on it is the same as disconnecting the unit from the wall?"
No its not.

Stuart

Thanks Stu.

Yeh, it dawned on me that a manual might be available on the Teco web site, and it was, so I downloaded it. At least now I can read the writing.

Looks like I need to swat up on what F10 does.

What's all the dramas about an enclosed circuit breaker? What's wrong with switching off at the power point, with an emergency stop button in between?

I don't need a reverse switch on the mill, reverse is incorporated in the remote pod.

FWD/OFF/REV & SPEED

Ken

"What's wrong with switching off at the power point, with an emergency stop button in between?"
I believe thats there are components that "don't like" you doing that. From memory it says something about shortening the life of the inverter.

I'm not sure you need a REV swtich at all. My mill had/has a REV because the 4 lower speed are like the back gear on a lathe. I dont think your mill does that.

Stuart

Have just received an email from Drives Direct.

They say the OFF position on the Pod, does not disconnect the VFD from the mains. This confirms what Stu said.

However, in this position, and providing the motor has stopped rotating, it is safe to change the dual speed motor, or change speeds via the mechanical gearbox.

Ken

Ken
Maybe I haven't be clear. When I've said "you can't switch motor speeds with the VSD on" I've meant "with an output from the VSD" i.e. motor running. Not "The VSD can't be plugged into the wall and turned on"
Maybe I should have said something like "VSD output on"
Sorry for the confusion.
Stuart

Ken, you may want to read what John Stevenson is saying about Arboga mill/drills here on HSM

I have a PDL Xtravert drive that does 230V ->415/440V.
Xtravert
It is a good piece of kit and is running the 3ph 440V motor in my Colchester Chipmaster lathe. The big advantage is the control panel is detachable for easy remote mounting. I have the VFD by the motor in the base, and the speed pot knob and control panel above the top of the lathe.
Worth keeping an eye out for these second hand

Hello GJM, welcome to the Forum.
I have a Chipmaster as well, I am in the process of doing a running restoration on mine but I am still using the standard motor and variator. As well Electrosteam (John) has a Bantam which shares many components with the Chipmaster. Perhaps we could start another thread and compare notes.
Regards, Phillip,

Originally Posted by GJM

I have a PDL Xtravert drive that does 230V ->415/440V.
Xtravert
It is a good piece of kit and is running the 3ph 440V motor in my Colchester Chipmaster lathe. The big advantage is the control panel is detachable for easy remote mounting. I have the VFD by the motor in the base, and the speed pot knob and control panel above the top of the lathe.
Worth keeping an eye out for these second hand

GJM
the specification for your VFD says:
a) 240 (200)V single ph input to I assume 3 ph 250v output
b) 240 (200)V 3ph input to I assume 3ph 250v output
c) 3ph 240v (200) input to I assume 415v (480) 3 ph output


I suspect your motor is actually set up for "a"
most 3 ph small motors can be configured to run on either 240v 3 ph or 415V 3phase

I reckon your setup is in contrast to what the VFD from direct drives is doing..ie 240v single phase input to 3 phase 415 v output