Setting up a VFD?

[lazylathe]

Hi UNI,

I am thinking of removing the GFCI's and replacing with regular receptacles.
If the one trips, they all trip.

The circuit is fed from a 20 amp breaker.
The ground wire is securely connected to the panel along with all the grounds for the house.
It is then fed to each receptacle and connected to the green screw on the back of the box
and that in turn is connected to the receptacle.
So i think it is ground well.

The receptacle i was testing it with last night did not have a GFCI on it, only connected to a
20 amp breaker in the panel and it worked perfectly.

Do you think the way it is set up now is okay?
20 amp breaker to grounded receptacle to VFD.

Or should i put an extra 20 amp fuse just before power enters the VFD?

Thanks,

Andrew

PS- Karma for you too!!!

 

[lazylathe]

Just a update.... ;D

I removed the GFCI's and replaced them with regular receptacles.
Had it up and running last night!
First job was to mill some slots in a bit of angle iron so that the VFD can be attached to the motor mount.
Milling went very nicely!!!
A lot faster and smoother than the Sieg, so i am happy!

I have just done a precursory setup and everything is kind of square...
Perfect for milling some loose slots for bolts!

I am going to install a breaker box before the VFD so that i can turn it on and off.
If it is plugged directly into the receptacle i have to unplug it every time.

Once it is done and in it's final resting place i will upload some pics!!!

Thanks to everyone for their help and input!
It was much appreciated!!!

Andrew

 

[rhankey]

Andrew, Does your VFD use magnetic switches to turn on the motor? If not, rather than installing a breaker between the panel and the VFD, a magnetic switch might be a much wiser choice. That way should you have a power outage while using the machine and forget to turn the VFD off, you don't have the machine randomly coming back to life at the end of the power failure while you aren't there, or worse while you have your hand on the spindle.

Robin

 

[JorgensenSteam]

Andrew-

The circuit breaker in your panelboard is all you need for protection of the circuit.

If you want to add a device for disconnecting the drive, you can always use a 20 amp or 30 amp, single-pole light switch in a junction box.
The switch only opens the black "hot" wire, which is the wire connected to the breaker in the panelboard. The neutral wire is never switched.

Just be sure the drive is not operating when you open the switch.

A breaker would work just as the switch would, but would cost more.

Good luck.

 

[Don1966]

Andrew I agree with UNIcasting you do not need any thing fancy. A simple switch will do like he said make sure you don't turn it off while the drive is running.

Don