Match made in Heaven (FM50 VFD Update)

[David DeCristoforo]

I got the FM50 back from FactoryMation on Wednesday. The 3HP Leeson motor arrived yesterday afternoon. My usual approach would be to throw caution to the wind, "assume" that everything was going to work as expected and go ahead and do all of the work of setting everything up before punching the "go" button. But in light of recent events, I decided that this time I would throw confidence to the wind instead and simply wire the motor up to the VFD and make sure it worked before jumping through any hoops. The motor spun up with no issues and ran smooth and quiet. Being cast iron, the motor is solid and heavy. The one problem… it's green! Totally clashes with my metallic red and gray color scheme! So out comes the paint cans for a quick makeover. Even the mounting holes line up and the pulley, while a slightly loose fit, will mount with no problems. So over the next couple of days, I'll squeeze out enough time to get the whole thing set up again and then I'll post some pics.

[Josh Bowman]

David, that's a good track you're on. Best way to avoid bringing in too many variables and besides you get to play with the new toy quicker. Now you can either connect to the lathe and fool with it. Or start on the remote controls. Then you can tinker with the programming. It's fairly safe, I assure you. But I suggest that when you change a programming variable, to write what you changed, that way you can get back to dry land if the unit starts acting funny. I failed to do that and even though the manual has most of the factory defaults, it did not have all of them. You'll really like the slow spin up feature. It will keep the monster from jerking to a start, but come up and down smooth as silk. Anyway go back to you painting and keep us posted.

[Mike Cruz]

What Josh said, and glad to hear you are on your way!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I am so excited and happy for you David!

[Richard Madden]

Good news. Hope all goes well.

[Sid Matheny]

Now that is great news.

Sid

[David DeCristoforo]

The layout of the low/high voltage terminals is simple as is the connection diagram. But...
what the heck are the two "extra" red wires for? I've never seen these in 3ph motor before. They
go under the terminal block and into the motor somewhere. They do not seem to have any purpose
and the motor operates just fine with them hanging out. Should I just cap them and forget them? Anyone
know what they might be there for? Nothing in the documentation...

272361

[Ken Fitzgerald]

David,

Did the motor arrive with a wiring diagram?

If not, can you give me a manufacturer, model no. and serial number so I can go looking for a wiring diagram?

The wires could possibly be a temperature sensor or a current overload sensor.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

It's about time the winds shifted your way. I was beginning to worry the cement lathe had a jinx or something. Hurry up and begin enjoying the fruits.
faust

[David DeCristoforo]

Here's what I got with it:

272364

I don't see any reference to the two red wires. But a sensor of some king would make sense.

[Josh Bowman]

David, do you have the motors catalog number? If so post it.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

David....a model number and serial number would be a great help. The drawing is a generic drawing.

[David DeCristoforo]

"...do you have the motors catalog number? If so post it...."

193301.60

I already did a search and only came up with the diagram I posted. I don't think this is a big issue because the motor runs fine without these wires. I am curious though...

[Ken Fitzgerald]

David,

I am quite certain those two wires are to a thermal sensor for use with a relay to disconnect the incoming ac in the event of the motors temperature getting too warm. Obviously it would be to protect the motor from getting too warm and damaging the insulation of the motor windings. From Leesons website: http://www.leeson.com/TechnicalInformation/electrical.html

It is possible that there are connections for such a thing on your motor controller. I will see if I can find the drawings for your motor controller and determine if that is possible.

[Josh Bowman]

I came up with no more than you did. Maybe an RTD to measure winding temperatures or a winding heater. Both of these options we have on our motors where I use to work. In you case, it is of no real use and since the motor runs well, I'd just cap 'em.


"...do you have the motors catalog number? If so post it...."

193301.60

I already did a search and only came up with the diagram I posted. I don't think this is a big issue because the motor runs fine without these wires. I am curious though...

[Ken Fitzgerald]

David,

I am quite certain the two wires are for a thermal sensor. In a normal motor functioning mode, a control relay would apply the incoming 3-phase ac to the motor. These two wires would be hooked in series with the control voltage to the relay. Thus, if the sensor was activated due to a high temperature condition within the motor, the sensor would open, removing the control voltage from the relay which in turn would remove the 3-phase input from the motor protecting it.

Your motor controller uses a different method to protect the motor. Programmable parameter F-18 is used to set the maximum current the motor uses and this provides the thermal overload protection by limiting the current to the motor.

You don't need the wires. As Josh suggested, I would cut the wires so no bare wire was extending beyond the insulation and cap them.

[Harry Robinette]

DD glad things are turning to the good side. Can't wait to see yours up and running turning big is a whole new game. That first one at 24" to 30" range really gives ya a little boost to the speed of your heart. I have a VFD on order for my Union Graduate I got the motor last week.

[Curt Fuller]

Sheeesh! It's about time! I was afraid I wasn't going to live long enough to hear the end of this story. ;);)

Seriously, I'm glad you finally found the right combination. I'm looking forward to seeing pics of the lathe, but more I'm looking forward to seeing some new DD work.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I'm looking forward to seeing pics of the lathe, but more I'm looking forward to seeing some new DD work.

I concur!!!!!

[Thom Sturgill]

+1 on new DD turnings! I have followed the concrete lathe for quite a while now, and hope the saga settles down to just producing good turnings!