suggestion needed for fwd/reverse/ on/off + speed switch for TECO VFD

Can someone point me in the right direction for a remote switch that provides on/off forward/reverse and speed control knob? This will mate with the 1HP Teco VFD that I will locate away from the grinders.

thanks
 
You can pick these items up at radio shack.

Speed dial is a 10K potentiometer.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062354

Switch - SPDT Single pole dual toggle like this-

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062515

Wiring on the VFD end-
VFDwiring_zpsaf26adff.jpg


Wiring on the control box end-
controlbox_zps6ac00d1b.jpg


-Josh
 
two suggestions
one would be try Radio Shack. they will have the switches you need and they may have the variable resistor you need to hook up for speed control. make sure the variable resistor has the correct power rating, should be 2 watt or bigger, couldn't find wattage rating my manual, but that is the size we use for VFD speed control at the office. If they don't have one, try Newark (http://www.newark.com/honeywell-s-c-clarostat/rv4laysa103a/pot-cond-plastic-10kohm-10-2w/dp/01F2659), $10 plus shipping.
 
I have built several unsealed VFDs into IP66/NEMA 4x panels and used homebuilt remote control boxes for them.

Diagram:



I have found this works with most VFDs that can be configured for 3-wire control, but not all. Check the manual for your drive carefully.

The switch and potentiometer wiring:




The front of the box.



The green start button is flush and needs to be pressed with a finger. The red stop button is raised and can be pressed with an open hand, etc. The switched selector is for forward/reverse and the key can only be removed in the forward position, allowing reverse to be disabled when used with a machine that should not be reversed.



The VFD is intended for use with several machines by plugging the appropriate cable into the blue socket and the remote control box moves to the machine in use. The remote box in the last photo has an industrial single-turn pot (scrounged) instead of the 10-turn on the other remote. Single-turn is probably better (less fiddly) but the industrial ones to match industrial pushbuttons are way too expensive for me.

The resistance value of the potentiometer is not usually critical. Where a 5K pot is usually called for, I've found anything between 2.2K and 10K works fine. I tend to buy off ebay. The buttons and switches I use are cheap Chinese industrial ones.
 
This is a great and timely topic for me. Solves my next issue in the new shop. Josh's solution will work for me. Off to Radio Shack this afternoon!


You can pick these items up at radio shack.

Speed dial is a 10K potentiometer.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062354

Switch - SPDT Single pole dual toggle like this-

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062515

Wiring on the VFD end-
VFDwiring_zpsaf26adff.jpg


Wiring on the control box end-
controlbox_zps6ac00d1b.jpg


-Josh
 
rps20140804_163125.jpg

Back from Radio Shack, trapped in the shop by South Florida daily afternoon rain with no soldering iron. I knew I left something important when moving my stuff into the new work place! LOL
 
You may already have what you need, but when I built my grinder I first had it setup like you're describing. I made up my own little switch panel with the potentiometer, stop, fwd, rev, etc. I used it for a while like that, but a couple times I'd go to change a belt and forget to zero my pot and shoot a belt off due to different tracking. I started looking at the instructions for the vsd and tried a different control scheme that I kind of like.

My drive can be setup to have ACCEL and DECEL buttons, instead of a pot. You press the FWD button, and then hold down ACCEL to ramp up to the speed you want. When you hit stop, the speed command is automatically zero'd each time, so you always start off slow. You can program the RAMP rate of the accel too, so you can tweak it just like you want it.

I've had it this way for a while now, and I think it'll stay this way. You only have to buy a few momentary push buttons, pretty simple to hook up. Just a thought.
 
if your teco is like mine, all the functions are on front panel. with the exception of a remote on/off switch, the rest is nice to do if you enjoy wiring and making switch boxes, but no required to operate. i probably work on this stuff too much at the office to want to do it at home. these VFDs are rugged enough, they really don't need to put inside a box inside a box. just keep em dry and they will work for years. just changed one at the office that had started to fault for overheat. blew out about 3 ounces of graphite dust, tightened the connections and now it is ready for another 5 years.
 
Last edited:
I put mine in a storage box because another knife maker friend of mine got metal dust in his and it burned out.

If you do it like Josh (fairly easy and low cost) you will need to program the unit to run from the remote. This is a video I found on how to program a TECO:

http://youtu.be/xBxqwU48JOI

Mine is up and working like a charm!

Thank you and Josh for this timely and very good topic.
 
Back
Top