At the previous location I had built and installed a 9HP Rotatory 3 Phase Converter, its size was a little overkill, but I used it with my 2HP Drill Mill. With that much converter power, instant reverse of the Drill Mill was possible, which made tapping small AND large holes a dream.
After moving my Shop to the current location, I have not re-installed the Phase Converter due to the desire to move it to the Pump House where the noise would not be bothersome. In fact, in preparation, I pulled the 75' Pump House 220V supply wires from the conduit, and then re-installed them with two additional wires; one for control, and one for the third phase return for the shop. But still several year later, the converter has not be installed yet, and therefore my Drill Mill has sat in the corner collecting dust.
A couple weeks ago, I viewed Tubalcain's Youtube video at http://goo.gl/FhqyIB where he described a Variable 3 Phase Controller for a Drill Press. After some research, I immediately placed on order a; TECO DRIVE JNEV-202-H1 2HP/7.5A, 230V IN 230V OUT. The price a little higher than I liked, but I got it without shipping costs.
Yesterday I received the Variable Converter, and had started to cobble it together with my Drill Mill to see how it operates (and to learn how to program it). This was before mounting it to the side of the Drill Mill.
My Son walked in with a Prototype Job that needed four 5/16" tapped holes in some 3/4" Stainless Steel bar (a somewhat difficult job). So far, I had not learned how to program the controller for instant reverse or for extremely low speed. I was not sure it could be done. But with a little research (of the small manual), I figured it out. The results, the TECO Drive Controller works much better for Tapping than my Rotatory Phase Controller
I configured the TECO Drive Controller for;
- External Terminal - F04=001
- Freq Signal Source - F05=001
- Control Method - F06=000 (remote PNP Input Signal for Forward and Reverse)
- Stop Method - F09=001 (to avoid forced controller deceleration) Later I will connect this function to a switch, see F11-15 =014
- Freq Lower Limit - F08=02.0
For a quick test, and to help my Son run his Prototype Tapping Job, I configured a SPDT Center-Off switch on end of a cable, and then attached it to pins 3, 4, and 5, as per page 4-11 of the CD manual.
We actually found our cobbled together hand held switch to work great, it was very useful for quick Tap reversing. In fact now I plan to include a hand held remote in my final configuration.
BUT, with both, my Son and I working at the Drill Mill, it became obvious the final configuration will need a large E-Stop switch to avoid accidental operation while another person is changing the bit. For this first test run, I was actually holding the hand held remote, but I was still nervous, while my Son changed the bit. A large real E-Stop switch is needed so the person at the chuck can ensure the Drill Mill will NOT start.
Also, while working with the TECO Drive. I programmed the Max High Freq, I set it to 72Hz which is an over-speed of 20% (60 * 1.2 = 72) for my motor. The belts on the Drill Mill were already set for 1260 RPM of the spindle at a normal 60Hz line frequency. The current belt configuration and the Min and Max TECO Driver frequency setting will provide a spindle speed range of; 40 to 1440 RPM. All I need to remember is to multiply the Displayed Frequency by 20 to get the spindle RPM.
Thanks Tubalcain for creating you video, the TECO Drive will be a great addition to my Shop.
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