2.2kw 220V water-cooled spindle/VFD problem

Spindles and ATCs PwnCNC Spindle System
1

I just built a Onefinity Foreman Elite and I opted for the 2.2kw 220V water-cooled spindle from PWNCNC. The machine is built and I could not get the VFD to come on. I did everything I could and it wouldn’t work. I figured I got a clinker and they sent me a new one. The new one is doing exactly the same thing!

I was told I have to force the power plug into place because it’s hard to do. He said, “Force it, you’re not going to break it”. I did, and I did! Am I wrong to think the display should light up when powered on?

Everything is plugged in as it should be and there is 220 power at the plug.

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You’re not wrong in that the keypad should illuminate when powered on. Might take a
couple of seconds, but it’ll happen.

Is the keypad by chance plugged into the vfd and fully seated, or did you use a crossover or home made cable to extend it out?

3

No, it didn’t power up before removing the keypad. I removed and reinstalled it several times, but still nothing. On the replacement, I used the supplied extension cable. I feel like an idiot, I know how to plug in a device and turn it on.

4

I figured it out. It looks like Sparky used a TANDEM breaker, not a 2-pople. I’m off to Home Depot. I think I’m going to demand some of my $2700 back!

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That is a 2 pole breaker not a tandem breaker unless I’m not seeing something.

Why a 15a I don’t know, and I’d get a 20a one instead.

I doubt that’s the problem. It’s best to have the outlet/receptical rating match the breaker rating, and the wire guage for both equal or greater.

6

I talked to an electrician buddy of mine and checked a few things. It sounds like they charged me top dollar and he took the lazy/shoddy route. I will be having a serious discussion with them tomorrow. I don’t know exactly why it’s causing a problem, but my buddy says he was lazy and only tapped one side of the main panel to feed the subpanel and that’s the problem. In the subpanel, I read 117V between the ground and each leg, but zero between the legs.

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Now that I have opened the new sub-panel and original service panel to discover what kind of a hack-job was done, I have a bargaining chip to insist that they take care of a few things that I suggested but they didn’t want to do. I suggested moving just a few of the circuits from the filled-up service panel to the sub-panel to ease the space in there a bit. I’m going to insist on a different tech also. I don’t want that hack touching that panel again!

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