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Need help with a "Teco-Westinghouse Fluxmaster 100 AC Inverter" (VFD)

Hi folks,

I bought the above inverter to convert my single phase electricity to

3phase for my mill. All I want it to do is to convert 1ph to 3ph. Nothing else. No freq changes.

It has a long list of memory locations with settings in it. I can't seem to put the right things in the right spots to get it to work right. The default settings also don't get it to "Do the right thing!"

I've been told that there is software to use your laptop to communicate with the d#mn thing. They offer RS232 connectors and cables, so it seems reasonable, but I haven't found any mention of the software.

Anybody have any experience with these things? Do I really have to get a computer to talk to it? Is there a web site somewhere, that Google hasn't found for me, that teaches more about these things?

-jim, who wants to cut metal not program

PS. And yup, in hind site I should've built a rotary converter, but I already paid for this POS and I like its potential efficiency

Reply to
jjjjj
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I bought the above inverter to convert my single phase electricity to

3phase for my mill. All I want it to do is to convert 1ph to 3ph. Nothing else. No freq changes.

The Teco manual is complete, but a foreign-written POS.

Get the Bodine manual online, and try that.

Since you want 1-ph to 3-ph only, and no freq change, this shouldn't be much more than setting the voltages on the keypad, and the ramp-up and ramp-down times to some reasonable (perhaps default) values.

Reply to
Peter H.

Don't know about the Teco. AB's of recent vintage include a tuning step in the startup to set the motor parameters for IR drop and something else (don't remember). There's a static tune if you can't remove the load, and a dynamic tune if you can de-couple the motor. Otherwise, it's enter the motor nameplate data, and away she goes. Beyond that, there's about 300 more parameters to fiddle with if you're so inclined (I gather not).

Pete Keillor

Reply to
Peter T. Keillor III

AB's have awesome online documentation. You can't go wrong with a 1305 or

1336 drive. I imagine you could get the same type of documentation from Teco.
Reply to
ATP

You might be getting grief from #11 - Frequency Command Selection. Factory setting is 0 which says your speed is set by whatever the #25 setting is, and that's 5 Hz so you're turning at 1/12 normal.

AFAIK, the only settings you need for basic operation are:

#0 Drive Capacity -- set according to your motor

#1 & #2 Accel & Decel time aka ramp up and ramp down -- factory setting is 10 sec for both and you'll probably want them less.

#11 Frequency Command Selection -- set to 1 so the Freq Set pot on the front panel controls speed

#30 Power Voltage -- probably set to 230 but I'd check.

And if things are really messed up, see #123 -- Return to Factory Settings. (That isn't the function of the reset button.)

There are a couple more that you need if you want to wire up remote switches and speed control, not to mention emergency stop.

And yeah, there's a better manual - not much better - somewhere on the net as a pdf file. (I can't remember where I put mine or I'd give you the url.) What no-one provides is a one page sheet that's just the basics, exactly the minimum you need to know to use the thing.

Regards, Tove

Reply to
Tove Momerathsson

I sympathize with you. I've had a little experience with electricity and electronics. I have a unit that's identical to yours and when I first read the manual I was thoroughly confused. Gradually, it started sinking in.

If I picked up the manual, now, I'd probably be back to square one and have to figure it out all over, again.

Orrin

Reply to
Orrin Iseminger

Super! Thank you very much - this gives me a place to start. By the way, do I NEED the braking resistor? Is it just there for controlled ramp down braking or is it always required. I couldn't really pull that out of the manual either.

Do you know if there is set-up software for these things? The TECO website is of no use. They tell you that there is a RS232 cable available for them, implying that there is software control but never mention a specific program that I can see.

Regards,

-jim, looking forward to making swarf

Reply to
jjjjj

I'm not really sure about the braking resistor. I'd guess that you'd need it more with frequent stops/starts especially if you have a short decel time. I've got one but haven't hooked it up yet, mostly because I haven't finished the panel that holds VFD, resistor, junction boxes and whatnot. (Multiply everything by two, actually, because I've got a VFD for the lathe, another for the mill/drill.)

Absolutely no idea about software.

Tove

Reply to
Tove Momerathsson

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