I'd like other people's experience on the reliability of 3-phase 415V converters.
I've had three machines set up for 4 - 7 years on DrivesDirect 240v 1p to 415V 3p converters and they have worked very well, including soft start and rapid stop: a Boley metal lathe, an Arboga miller and a Wadkin AGS10 saw. They were expensive, £400+ but the firm was very helpful in setting everything up. They have had relatively light hobby use.
This week I set up quite a complicated cut on the miller, spending a couple of hours aligning it, switched on the miller and - nothing!
Communication with DrivesDirect elicited that 7 years was a pretty good life for a consumer electronics component these days, it was most likely the output unit that was shot, the components were very hard to get and anyway the unit is obsolete. Buy a new one at £400.
I was a bit shocked at this, especially as I have two others of similar life. A new output board at £50 - £100, fair enough. I know the poor electronics does not have the longevity of logic components, hence the poor lifetime of inverters for solar energy systems, but not making the replacement backwards compatible is sinful!
So before I sign the cheque, what is the general experience of reliability of converters, especially the 415V ones? (I can't rewire this particular motor to delta, before you ask, it's all buried). Two of the machines are in the same workshop. Would it be sensible to think of a rotary converter to drive them both (which you can't do with the electronic models, they are one per machine). Are they any more reliable?
Keith
I've had three machines set up for 4 - 7 years on DrivesDirect 240v 1p to 415V 3p converters and they have worked very well, including soft start and rapid stop: a Boley metal lathe, an Arboga miller and a Wadkin AGS10 saw. They were expensive, £400+ but the firm was very helpful in setting everything up. They have had relatively light hobby use.
This week I set up quite a complicated cut on the miller, spending a couple of hours aligning it, switched on the miller and - nothing!
Communication with DrivesDirect elicited that 7 years was a pretty good life for a consumer electronics component these days, it was most likely the output unit that was shot, the components were very hard to get and anyway the unit is obsolete. Buy a new one at £400.
I was a bit shocked at this, especially as I have two others of similar life. A new output board at £50 - £100, fair enough. I know the poor electronics does not have the longevity of logic components, hence the poor lifetime of inverters for solar energy systems, but not making the replacement backwards compatible is sinful!
So before I sign the cheque, what is the general experience of reliability of converters, especially the 415V ones? (I can't rewire this particular motor to delta, before you ask, it's all buried). Two of the machines are in the same workshop. Would it be sensible to think of a rotary converter to drive them both (which you can't do with the electronic models, they are one per machine). Are they any more reliable?
Keith