Variable speed controller box thing

[briquette_seller]

I've bought a conveyor with a 3 phase 16 amp ac motor on it.

All I have is a cable sticking out of the motor, no switch or control gear.

 

Where do I find, or what do I need, to make the belt variable speed?

 

Any help much appreciated 

 

[eggsarascal]

I've used these plenty of times on pump motors, can't see why it or something similar wouldn't do the job.

 

https://www.xylem.com/en-uk/products-services/pumps--packaged-pump-systems/monitoring--control-equipment/control/speed-control/hydrovar-hvl-2.015--4.220

 

Failing that somewhere like RS Components will probably have something to suit.

 

[spudulike]

This is a blast from my past, we once had a rotary machine with carriages and had to control ramp up, ramp down and maximum speed. The box of tricks you need is a motor inverter. I used to enjoy tweaking the thing to give the pest performance whilst keeping the machine smooth.

I guess you will need a 3 Phase AC motor Inverter, google it and am sure a number will pop up. These are the sort of things needed on supermarket conveyors to smooth out the first kick of power that sends all your bottles flying It should be programmable for ramp up, slow down and min/max speed!

Edited January 20, 2019 by spudulike

[Dan Maynard]

Spot on as above, motor inverter. You can get them powered by single phase supply or 3 phase, but 16A motor is quite big and in the larger sizes the 3phase ones are cheaper so if you can then go that way.

I've built factory automation, these things tend to have a list price and then deep discount for machine builders, unfortunately RS tend to be the upper end of range as you pay for convenience. I have a pillar drill and lathe running off inverters which came from eBay, there are quite a few resellers who dismantle old machines and flog the bits so I would definitely look there.

I would also suggest a big red isolator switch in a box, you can buy these lots of places even Screwfix.

[briquette_seller]

Thanks for all your replies. 

 

All I could find on Google was cheap Chinese tat.

 

 

[Dan Maynard]

Let me know if you need more help/advice.

[wills-mill]

In the woodworking world, quite a few people rate Drives Direct. I've not used them myself but they seem to have the knowledge and gear.

https://www.drivesdirect.co.uk/index.html

Most of the suppliers now call inverters 'VFDs' or Variable Frequency Drives. They can be specced to run three phase straight from a 240v supply, and include soft start, variable speed and a motor braking function when stopping as well, so very handy for workshop use.
 

[Kevm]

I am not an electronics expert but is it not the case that a variable frequency device will allow you to reduce the frequency and the speed or increase for faster but in either case if you run the motor to slow or too fast it will overheat, so I would suggest altering the gearing mechanically first and then you can tweak the speed with a VFD after.

[briquette_seller]

On 20/01/2019 at 21:47, Dan Maynard said:

Let me know if you need more help/advice.

Well, it turned out the AC motor was actually a DC motor, and it didn't take very kindly being wired straight into the generator............

 

I had another motor on an old defunct conveyor, so managed to swap it over without to much trouble.

 

Lesson learnt the hard way ?

[Ratman]

You ever get that engine sorted / running yet?