In article ,
Ignoramus25738 wrote:

On 2009-08-31, Gunner Asch wrote:
You already have a "remote control" that sets forward/off/reverse and
speed, right?

Yes

A simple Form C toggle switch and a pot in a tiny little box mounted
somewhere on the face of the machine.

Right?

Exactly.

Ive got a number of mills with the VFD mounted in boxes on the wall
Behind the mill, with the simple control device mounted on the head.

Its not rocket science, and it makes the machine safe, secure and
unlikely for the magic smoke to come out.

And its quite easy to simply change the wiring on the existing power
switch to run directly to the VFD and the head switch (I didn't check)
control the VFD, rather than the 3ph power directly.

Well, yes, but it is an on/off switch, and I need a forward/reverse
switch.

Anyway, I did put a cover over the top of the VFD last night, it
should be fine as is.

Chips are far too clever for a simple cover to work for very long,
unless the cover is so tight that airflow is blocked. One can cut the
leakage rate down with some fine-mesh metal screening, but even that
isn't perfect.

Real factories often put the VFDs in a closed metal box, precisely to
protect the VFD from factory dust, dirt, chips, gasses, et al. And from
confused button-pushers, but that's another story.

It's easy to build a remote-control box for a VFD, which is mounted up
high on the wall, behind the mill, out of the chip impact zone. Put the
VFD's displays at eye height and programming (a rare activity) is easy
enough.

Joe Gwinn