German Optimil BF 46Vario

[earlgo]

A friend is considering buying one of the above and before writing a check needs to verify that all the electronics will function with a single to 3 phase converter. The installed motor is a 3 HP 3Phase unit.
Do any of you have any experience with this bench top mill and can answer this from experience.

TIA
--earlgo

[pete]

At best all I can do is repeat what the industrial electrical company told me when I bought and had them hook up my Baldor 5 hp VFD to the Taiwan built OEM 3 hp 3 ph motor Earl. "Most motors work just fine with a VFD", but sometimes and it's apparently quite rare "that once in awhile one will let the magic smoke out". Afaik there's no real way to tell ahead of time if it will or won't. As standard operating practice any switching and electrical controls of any type for the motor have to either be hooked into the low voltage side of the VFD and the VFD then controls those functions or there disconnected. Nothing should be between the VFD and the motor.

I know zero about that mill and it's motor. I do know there's at least 3 current internationally recognized standards for motor size / frame type. Imperial dimensions, metric, and the Asian made motors are built to there own separate dimensions and frame sizes. Because of that the exact mounting dimensions vary from those imperial or metric standards. For example with my Tai. made BP clone and it's motor, nothing off the shelf that's built or sold in North America would be a direct replacement for what I currently have. If the motor was to go I either have to order another from the far east, build an adapter plate that will allow a N.A. made motor to mount to the mills head, or have an electrical motor company rewind it. If so it would then be best to have the rewind done as an inverter duty motor. I can't say if that's true or not for that mill and it being built to the Asian dimensions and standards, but it's probably something worth knowing about. There's more than a few other members here that should be able to add a whole lot more than the little I have.

[Bill Shields]

is this a FIXED SPEED 3 phase motor or does it have electronics IN THE MILL to adjust speed?

the chance that you will fry the MOTOR just because you connect it to a VFD is nil...a 3 phase motor is a 3 phase motor and running at 60 cycles it will not know the difference between VFD output or power from the 'poles'.

however, if there is electronics there, you really should NOT feed it with anything other than 60 cycle power...because that electronics is EXPECTING 60 (or 50) cycle power coming in to function..

this does NOT mean that you cannot use a VFD...just that you should leave the VFD @ at 100% setting....and be prepared for the

reality...if there is electronics in the mill, and you connect a VFD and fry the electronics...well...you just rip out the old electronics IN THE MILL and connect the VFD directly to the 3 phase motor and you are off to the races...since what is in the mill is in reality...a VFD running on 3 phase in / 3 phase variable out..

[earlgo]

Turns out my friend found out it will run on US power. It has its own electronics, but no DROs.
My friend found a good Bridgeport with DROs installed so this issue is dead.
--earlgo

[Bill Shields]

good call...Bridgeport much better choice...