Ok, I've read hundreds of messages on VFD drives and am trying to
decide upon a unit. I'm a bit confused about the relative merits of
the different models being advertised and was hoping somebody 'in the
know' could help.

what's the diff? Why the big price differentials? I don't see whether
some are vector drives or not. the information is pretty spartan.

All are 3HP, 220V 3-phase output
TECO FM100-203-N1, $295
TECO FM50-203-N4, $407
TECO FM50-203-C, $245
Hitachi L100-022NFU, $300
LG PS-C21030, $309
Hitachi SJ100-022NFU, $385 (sensorless vector control)

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I'm looking at driving a Mill and a
Lathe off of it, not at the same time. Very different load types,
minimal heavy work will be done.

[posted and mailed]

(T.Inoue) wrote in
om:

Ok, I've read hundreds of messages on VFD drives and am trying to
decide upon a unit. I'm a bit confused about the relative merits of
the different models being advertised and was hoping somebody 'in the
know' could help.

what's the diff? Why the big price differentials? I don't see whether
some are vector drives or not. the information is pretty spartan.

All are 3HP, 220V 3-phase output
TECO FM100-203-N1, $295
TECO FM50-203-N4, $407
TECO FM50-203-C, $245
Hitachi L100-022NFU, $300
LG PS-C21030, $309
Hitachi SJ100-022NFU, $385 (sensorless vector control)

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I'm looking at driving a Mill and a
Lathe off of it, not at the same time. Very different load types,
minimal heavy work will be done.


I like the Teco-Westinghouse units. Simple to program. Hitachi's are good
too, little tougher to program.
I like the folks at Dealer's Electric.
http://www.dealerselectric.com

My .02
Marty

All are 3HP, 220V 3-phase output
TECO FM100-203-N1, $295
TECO FM50-203-N4, $407
TECO FM50-203-C, $245

I have two Teco units and they work fine. I have a 1HP unit on my
surface grinder and a 2HP unit on my rockwell lathe.
I bought both from Dealers electric and the support has been fine too.

I don't have any experience with others such as Hatachi, but I chose
the Teco over the Hatachi because I thought teco had a better enclosure.
Not sure this is really the case though.
I also found it easy to order them from dealers electric.

chuck

I have had an Hitachi SJ100 on my 13x36 lathe for about 3 years. It works
very well. The sensorless vector feature means that you will almost never
have to change the mechanical drive ratio between your motor and spindle.
It has a host of features that you will never use in a manual machine
application as it is really aimed at industrial/remote control applications.
That is the main reason it is expensive.

Automation Direct sells the Hitachi line and they also sell their house
brand called the GS series. I have had a GS2 on my Bridgeport for 2 years
and it works very well also. The GS line is not sensorless vector, has
fewer features and a less robust enclosure than the Hitachi and sells for
less.

You can see full specs and the instruction manuals for both drive lines at
www.automationdirect . They are easy to deal with and have very good tech
support. I have no connection with them other than being a satisfied
customer.

Randy




"T.Inoue" wrote in message
om...
Ok, I've read hundreds of messages on VFD drives and am trying to
decide upon a unit. I'm a bit confused about the relative merits of
the different models being advertised and was hoping somebody 'in the
know' could help.

what's the diff? Why the big price differentials? I don't see whether
some are vector drives or not. the information is pretty spartan.

All are 3HP, 220V 3-phase output
TECO FM100-203-N1, $295
TECO FM50-203-N4, $407
TECO FM50-203-C, $245
Hitachi L100-022NFU, $300
LG PS-C21030, $309
Hitachi SJ100-022NFU, $385 (sensorless vector control)

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I'm looking at driving a Mill and a
Lathe off of it, not at the same time. Very different load types,
minimal heavy work will be done.

The difference is in the features.

Glancing at the FM50 and FM100 spec sheets at

http://www.tecowestinghouse.com

I noticed that the FM50 is goes up to 120 Hertz and the FM100 goes up
to 400 Hertz. Also the FM100 has programmable digital inputs and
outputs, etc.

The bottom line is you don't want to run your motor much over 60 Hertz
anyway unless you know its maximum rated RPM or you don't care if the
armature flies apart. Also for your application digital I/O is a
waste. I would get the simplest model.

Spending money on sensorless vector might be worth considering for
your application, though, because you get a much wider speed range
without loosing torque at the low end.

If you use more than one motor with the same drive, make sure the
drive cannot be disconnected from the motor while the motor is
running. This is bad for your drive the way missing a shift while
drag racing is bad for your car engine.

(T.Inoue) wrote in message . com...
Ok, I've read hundreds of messages on VFD drives and am trying to
decide upon a unit. I'm a bit confused about the relative merits of
the different models being advertised and was hoping somebody 'in the
know' could help.

what's the diff? Why the big price differentials? I don't see whether
some are vector drives or not. the information is pretty spartan.

All are 3HP, 220V 3-phase output
TECO FM100-203-N1, $295
TECO FM50-203-N4, $407
TECO FM50-203-C, $245
Hitachi L100-022NFU, $300
LG PS-C21030, $309
Hitachi SJ100-022NFU, $385 (sensorless vector control)

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I'm looking at driving a Mill and a
Lathe off of it, not at the same time. Very different load types,
minimal heavy work will be done.