VFD Vevor vs Mollom on my lathe

[MashingMetal]

I am about to switch out the single phase 5hp motor on my Colchester Triumph to 3 phase + VFD.
I just bought a Mollom for the mill/drill and it works well. But the Vevor seems like a better way to go for the lathe. 10hp and cheaper than the Mollom 7.5hp.
Anyone have a Vevor and can give me your opinion?
Thanks!

 

[Dan Dubeau]

I bought a 3hp Vevor VFD of that similar design for my belt grinder and so far so good. Basically plug and play, and I love the built in knob for speed control. My previous trial at a Vevor VFD went up in smoke, so I'm batting .500 now, and would buy another if I needed to without hesitation.

 

[MashingMetal]

Thanks @Dan Dubeau. That gives me some confidence. Hopefully buying a bigger one by 50 percent will help longevity.
Definitely the speed control is what I am after as I am missing the high and low lathe speed when the previous owner switched out the 2 speed 3 phase for a single phase.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

Ya, you will love the integrated speed control. I have a TECO VFD on my mill, and while it has push button speed controll It takes forever to go up and down so I never use it. I bought some pots, switches (for fwd/rev) and a Braking resistor for it to make a control box for it, but haven't got around to it yet. It's been very tempting to just buy another vevor one for ~$110 instead.....I should really get on it though, as I miss power tapping.

One great use I'd love about having a VFD on a lathe, especially a geared head with fix speed ranges is to subtly change the speed when experience harmonics/chatter while turning and boring. I've done it on a Hardinge and it works, but a vfd would make it much easier.

 

[Susquatch]

TECO VFD on my mill, and while it has push button speed controll It takes forever to go up and down so I never use it. I bought some pots, switches (for fwd/rev) and a Braking resistor for it to make a control box for it, but haven't got around to it yet.

My teco doesn't support a braking resistor. What model is that?

Push buttons? You must have done that custom somehow. Easily done but wondering how you did it. I just use the variable resistor method.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

FM50 The "push buttons" are just the ^ v buttons. They change the frequency, but are very slow to make meaningful big changes. Don't ask me to remember the details about the resistor. I dug into it months ago, figured out what I needed, ordered it, and have forgotten everything about it already 😀. Once I dig in again to finish it, I'll relearn what I need to lol.

 

[Susquatch]

FM50 The "push buttons" are just the ^ v buttons. They change the frequency, but are very slow to make meaningful big changes. Don't ask me to remember the details about the resistor. I dug into it months ago, figured out what I needed, ordered it, and have forgotten everything about it already 😀

Thanks Dan. I regularly do the same thing. 😕

 

[kstrauss]

I have had a Teco FM50 on my Myford for years and love it. For speed control I use an external 5-turn pot (rather than the usual 270-degree or 10 turn). The 5-turn allows small changes for vibration control but large speed changes aren't especially onerous.