Wiring the VFD and Spindle
 

OK, I took the plunge and bought the Chinese 3 hp spindle. It came with a VFD, and is water cooled. From apperance, it seems very solid and much beefier than my Porter Cable.

My question is, what sort of wiring should I use between the Mach 3 controller and the VFD, and between the VFD and the spindle?

I see from the diagrams in the manual that I should use shielded cables, but nothing about the gauge of wire.

I assume that the voltage of the wires between my controller and the VFD will be around 5-10V, with less than .5 amps. This is what I expect from control or digital circuits.

I also expect that the volts and currents to the spindle will be considerably higher. At 220 V 3 phase, the spindle will need good sized wire to carry the current without heating up. Would 12 gauge wire be adequate?

I got my CNC4PC voltage control interface today, so I'm ready to start wiring up things this weekend.

Gotta go read the manual again. But if any of you know what size wire I should use, please let me know.

Thanks as always. I'll take some pics and post them this weekend. I'm sure there are others interested in these lower cost spindles.

Wayne from White Salmon

Because you are getting the VFD and spindle as a set, the actual voltage and current between the VFD and spindle are unknown to us. Your supplier will have to tell you the wire gauge, or failing that, you should find a plate on the spindle showing max current in Amps.

(my gut feel is that 12 gauge is almost too thick (definitely "adequate"), but needs to be confirmed with hard facts)

Ya Wayne - a lot of us are interested!

do post pics - where did ya get it from and what price?, may be you can reply for this on teh eastern spindle at lower price thread. :)

G' delete this post after a day pls.

Also you need a step and direction pulse from the parallel port - are there enough outputs with you now?

Wayne from White Salmon,

May I ask what the watt rating on your spindle? Is it 2200W spindle? Thanks