Spindle Problems???

[Barry Jenicek]

Several years ago when I purchased my Gerber Sabre 408, I opted for the Porter Cable router rather than the Spindle.

I chose the Router over the Spindle because of the following…

· I do not have 3 phase power in the area so I had to install a converter (single to triple phase) to supply the 3 phase needed to run the vacuum table. I also wanted the converter in place should I decide to run a spindle in the future.

· I had heard that using an installed converter tended to blow the motherboard in the black box all to many times.

· My rep could not guarantee that this would not happen and really did not want to try it.

· I could not get a definitive answer from Gerber.​

So, my questions are…

· If you have an installed converter, have you had any problems with blown boards?

· Did the Gerber Rep do the install of your Sabre or did you do it yourself after your converter was installed?

· Is there a proper “Cycle Up” procedure so the boards will not blow?

· Are you using the Spindle supplied by Gerber or a third party?

· Do you have the recommended 3 phase vacuum unit?​

I am itching to upgrade to a spindle but really do not want to be replacing motherboards every time I turn it on. I am especially hesitant during the testing after I hook up the spindle. Can anyone offer me any type of assurances that this configuration works??

Thanks for your input.

Bj

 

[ksc]

I have a gerber 408 with a phase converter,7.5 hp router head ,10hp vac ,the boards are fine...but i can only get 17000 rpms out of the spindle....im working with gerber to fix the problem.....

 

[Ian Stewart-Koster]

We bought a 4 HP rotary phase converter recently- it is great.
Neither the PC, nor the router motherboard & joystick control the spindle though- its speed is set via a separate manual on-the-wall control knob & switch. We don't use the Vac. motor which was a 7 hp one.

 

[k.a.s.]

We have a 5hp phase converter on our MultiCam that we had built locally the rep installed everything, I will not pretend to know much other than it has worked great for almost 7 yrs with no problems. I will try and answer any questions.

Kevin

 

[CharliefromTechno]

You should be able to get a phase converter with the spindle as a set. Industrial Spindles are speed controlled by an inverter which will also convert single phase to three phase. It just needs to be over rated. Typically we supply a 10 HP inverter to run a 5HP spindle on single phase. It does not cause any problems or limit the motor in any way.

 

[Just Another Sign Guy]

great reply Charlie. i have encountered many cnc router operators recently that have similar questions as they consider changing from router to spindle.

you may want to send this guy an email because this thread is pretty old..hopefully he has it figured out by now.