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SOURCING A VFD - WHERE DO YOU GO ?

KeeponDragon

KeeponDragon

no problems... just challenges
I'm just walking the cart out front of the horse, in regards to the new Induma mill.
The motor on it is rated at 1-1/2hp, is a 3 phase, and I'm not sure of it's amperage at the moment (double dipping at work while researching)

There are a lot of places to buy a VFD, and most of them seem like competitive resellers all flogging the same units.
That said, does anyone have positive experiences to go off of to recommend a certain seller or brand?

As the purchase of the mill more or less wiped out my piggy bank, I'm trying to be frugal...

I'm looking through emotorsdirect at the moment. The pricing is higher than the jungle store offerings, but my thoughts are it may be better to deal with them than a reseller that won't answer emails.

thanks in advance
-Mike
 
KeeponDragon said:
I'm just walking the cart out front of the horse, in regards to the new Induma mill.
The motor on it is rated at 1-1/2hp, is a 3 phase, and I'm not sure of it's amperage at the moment (double dipping at work while researching)

There are a lot of places to buy a VFD, and most of them seem like competitive resellers all flogging the same units.
That said, does anyone have positive experiences to go off of to recommend a certain seller or brand?

As the purchase of the mill more or less wiped out my piggy bank, I'm trying to be frugal...

I'm looking through emotorsdirect at the moment. The pricing is higher than the jungle store offerings, but my thoughts are it may be better to deal with them than a reseller that won't answer emails.

thanks in advance
-Mike
Click to expand...
Teco westinghouse

EmotorsDirect

You can't go wrong with them, and much better product than the chinese crap
 
KeeponDragon said:
I'm just walking the cart out front of the horse, in regards to the new Induma mill.
The motor on it is rated at 1-1/2hp, is a 3 phase, and I'm not sure of it's amperage at the moment (double dipping at work while researching)

There are a lot of places to buy a VFD, and most of them seem like competitive resellers all flogging the same units.
That said, does anyone have positive experiences to go off of to recommend a certain seller or brand?

As the purchase of the mill more or less wiped out my piggy bank, I'm trying to be frugal...

I'm looking through emotorsdirect at the moment. The pricing is higher than the jungle store offerings, but my thoughts are it may be better to deal with them than a reseller that won't answer emails.

thanks in advance
-Mike
Click to expand...
I bought a motor from emotors and was pleased with their knowledge and selection, I suspect vfd from them would be similar.
I bought 3 vfds from Amazon, all because of the very low price. I have 2 of them in service and have the third as backup should one fail. They have worked perfectly for me so far. As you said I also think many (but not all) of the vfds on the jungle store are essentially the same from different sellers.

Here's the one I bought
2.2KW Drive Inverter AC220V Single Phase to 3 Phase Variable Frequency Drive Inverter High Wide Speed Regulating Range Speed Controller Inverter for 3 Phase Motor https://a.co/d/cmWkYq5

They have more than doubled in price in the three years since I bought mine, but I do remember back then prices were all over the place then also.
 
DPittman said:
I bought a motor from emotors and was pleased with their knowledge and selection, I suspect vfd from them would be similar.
I bought 3 vfds from Amazon, all because of the very low price. I have 2 of them in service and have the third as backup should one fail. They have worked perfectly for me so far. As you said I also think many (but not all) of the vfds on the jungle store are essentially the same from different sellers.

Here's the one I bought
2.2KW Drive Inverter AC220V Single Phase to 3 Phase Variable Frequency Drive Inverter High Wide Speed Regulating Range Speed Controller Inverter for 3 Phase Motor https://a.co/d/cmWkYq5

They have more than doubled in price in the three years since I bought mine, but I do remember back then prices were all over the place then also.
Click to expand...
I have one of those sitting on a shelf waiting for lathe conversion. Paid $55 before Covid :)
 
i have 3 different china special's from amazon, they all work just fine, a 1.5kw (2hp) is about 100$ and a 2.2kw (3hp) is ~125$
 
As @JustaDB mentioned, my vote for a frugal yet still CSA approved option from a reliable trust worthy vendor with a great warranty option is the Automation Direct Durapuls line up.

They are running motors all over the place in segments of industry, and they are good to deal with. They also ship free to Canada over a certain amount, and pay for import duties.

They have a solid almost no questions asked warranty period and they will ship you out a new one asap if something goes wrong.

They also have great tech support. In America.

A 1.5hp option is probably like 250$ with single phase input…..

They can however be a little tricky to program.
 
I also have a VFD from automation direct. It's performance has been flawless. I have a second VFD that I bought from Amazon. It works but has issues. I don't recommend buying a random VFD from Amazon.
 
I'm the cheapskate outlier, I buy used (good brands with vector flux control and external brake terminals ) from eBay zero failures so far an usually about $50. The only VFD failure I have experienced is a new MIC one I purchased from Amazon that failed probably after 10 hours of actual use. Others seem to have no issues with the generic MIC type ones, so perhaps I just got a bad one?
 
+1 on eMotors and Teco. I have 3 of them. They are beautiful. SLV mode is a must have.

However, the units I bought don't have external resistor braking and I'd like that on my lathe so I may get a Hitachi VFD for it instead. Other members have them and like them.
 
Amazon cheapos. They work. The last two I installed I put in cabinets with power being turned on by a contractor with latching on/off switches ..... I agree the worst of the offshore cheapo stuff should not be left plugged in.
 
www.aliexpress.com

3KW VFD Inverter 2.2KW 5.5KW Frequency Inverter 3PH 220V 380V Output Frequency Converter Variable Frequency Drive 320 - AliExpress 13

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
www.aliexpress.com www.aliexpress.com

I've bought 3 off this seller on AliExpress no issues as of yet it's around 75$ for there small VFDs

I got there .75kw , 2.2kw , and 7.5kw

There small ones are nice cause the fit in pretty small cabinets like this 4"
17309957936064228586907824214778.jpg


Another option that can be fairly cheap if your resourceful are rotary phase converters

I built this 7.5 HP converter for around 300$ and most of that cost was 600v transformer. You would probly need 3hp motor to run 1.5hp.

They can be as simple as pull start. Or can add caps and push button. Can even slap on transformer and run pesky but cheaper 600v equipment.

You can even get real fancy with them and practical machinist forums has a forum dedicated to just rotary phase converters and other phase converters

17309960142055290090636520245906.jpg
 
Susquatch said:
+1 on eMotors and Teco. I have 3 of them. They are beautiful. SLV mode is a must have.

However, the units I bought don't have external resistor braking and I'd like that on my lathe so I may get a Hitachi VFD for it instead. Other members have them and like them.
Click to expand...
I spoke at length to a tech at emotors direct about braking resisters, particularly external braking resisters. I got a quote for a VFD and resister but the reality in a smaller lathe they're not needed. The internal VFD circuit provides excellent breaking capacity without overload danger.

As to amazon vfds, NONE worked at providing any dc injection braking. That said I have a few amazon VFDs... cutter grinder, surface grinder, bridgeport, and soon to be belt grinder. But for the lathe get a decent VFD always
 
I've had a vevor cheapo die on me. I won't detail their approach to customer service except to quote "we will pay up to $80 for a local technician to repair your device". I paid $110. And ain't no way a "local technician" will even look at it for under $300. Just getting the replacement IGBTs was going to coat as much as a new unit.
Less trouble with the replacement, for which I doubled the rating.
Buy a bigger one than your motor claims it needs.
 
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