New member here…. I recently bought a 110 2.2 spindle from Huanyang and am having problems with it. I have not yet wired it to the control box and am going directly to the 110 outlet. Each time I plug it it in it trips my breaker…. Any suggestions?
Kg
Hey Kenneth,
What is usually called a spindle is an asynchronous motor that uses 3-phase current. You cannot directly connect it to 1-phase Mains electricity. A Spindle’s speed is controlled by frequencies often up to 400 Hz which are not delivered by mains electricity. A Spindle is usually controlled by a VFD which you first must get and connect. How did you wire your spindle to the 110 outlet? Doesn’t your spindle have 4 pins?
Yes sir… I wired it the same way Ben Myers did from his video on Myers Wood Shop. Same spindle with the four pins
Hey Kenneth,
first please don’t call me sir!
So you connected it to your VFD as in Ben Myers’s video?
How To Install A CNC Spindle - Part 1
How To Install A CNC Spindle - Part 2
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So if I understand you, I need to complete the hook up meaning going through the control unit…
Yes…the same way…… the one I bought is the 110v 2.2 …. I think Ben has the small spindle.
What do you mean with control unit, you mean the Onefinity Controller?
No, you don’t need the controller, a functional test should be possible with just the VFD and the spindle.
First of all, if you say it trips your breaker you should be aware that if you use 110 Volts with a 2.2 kW consumer, that means according to Ohm’s Law you want to suck 20 Amperes (!) out of your mains wall outlet. What is your fuse Circuit Breaker rated for?
20 Amp
What I did was I wired the four pin connector that goes to the spindle with a # 16 extension cord. Before I completed the hook up to the inverter I plugged it in the the wall recep to test the motor. That’s when it trips the breaker.
Hey Kenneth,
do I understand you right, you connected it to the wall outlet, without the VFD?
If yes, it is the best way to destroy it. As I said, the mains electricity is not able to drive your spindle.
Thank you, hopefully I didn’t destroy it. 
My advice, stop. You are risking damaging it beyond repair. The spindle has to be connected to a 3 phase power source. Your house out let is only single phase. Post a picture or link of what you are calling a “control box”. It should be a VFD (variable frequency drive). It’s not the controller that comes with the 1F. The job of the VFD is to turn single phase power into 3 phases. It also adjusts the frequency from the standard 60hz that’s used in North America to change the speed of the spindle.
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Got it….thank you…. Connected spindle to VFD then from VFD to power source and she peers like a kitten. Again I really appreciate the help from everyone.
Hey Kenneth,
glad to hear that your spindle is still alive. Thank your circuit breaker for this.
What tripped the circuit breaker, first of all, was the inrush current of the spindle.
Asynchronous motors have a high inrush current; if this is not known, eight times the nominal current is assumed.
In your case, that would have been 160 Amperes (!).
And then, with only on single phase, the spindle would have been unable to achieve rotating operation, hence would have wanted to suck 160 Amperes constantly.
In order to protect the network and connected gears, as well as to avoid the triggering of upstream fuses, special starting procedures are used with asynchronous motors.
Self-starting polyphase induction motors produce torque even at standstill. Available squirrel-cage induction motor starting methods include direct-on-line starting, reduced-voltage reactor or auto-transformer starting, star-delta starting or, increasingly, new solid-state soft assemblies and, of course, variable frequency drives (VFDs).
The most common method is the star-delta connection. When starting in star connection, power and torque are reduced by a third. After the run-up time, the contactors are reversed to switch to delta operation.
With the appropriate configuration or programming, frequency converters can start up asynchronous motors gently and according to the load. In the case of more powerful engines, the respective starting procedure must be coordinated with the Transmission system operator.
Sources:
Drehstrom-Asynchrommaschine - Wikipedia (DE) (translated)
Induction Motor - Wikipedia (EN),
I learned something today…. I have two close friends that have ordered the same spindle and would have had the same problem. Thank you again.
There’s a few things that you need to know when it comes to a spindle and VFD. First never disconnect the power between the spindle and VFD when it’s powered on. Secondly there’s a lot of settings that should be checked in the VFD. The spindle has 4 electrical contacts, 3 are the power (phases) and the 4th is a ground. Mine came with the ground pin connected to the spindle but others have reported that the ground wire is missing. A multimeter can check it. If you don’t have one then you can simply remove the screws holding the connector to the spindle and pull it out a little way to see if there’s 4 wires connected to the connector. If not you’ll want to add one. Once you get past the extra work with a spindle you’ll find it’s worth it.
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Thanks Alex…. I’m beginning to see that there’s a lot more to the spindle/VFD than I thought. I do have four pins…. I used pin 1-2-3 so I guess #4 would be the ground. If I should be using the ground I’ll have to rewire the power chord…. Mine chord is a 3 conductor. Thanks again
Kg
Hey Kenneth,
Yes!
Please do not be mad at me, I believe I have to second Alex @Dr-Al with the advice: Please better stop. The fact that you handle with things like electricity and powerful machines without having acquired enough knowledge can damage your physical integrity, the integrity of your equipment and of your house.
Before you connect your spindle or something else, you have to acquire enough knowledge. Didn’t you at least read the User’s manual of your VFD, and the user’s manual of your spindle. If yes, you would know that you shoudn’t have done the things that you did (i.e. take some cable that you have at home and connect the spindle without knowing what’s its pin assignment and without knowing to what you can connect it).
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My VFD’s User’s Manual has 418 pages, and I’m still discovering it.
Did you read yours completely? -
My spindle’s User’s manual has 22 pages.
Did you read yours completely? -
And you need a good part of the knowledge of an electrician first, before attempting things like this.
Did you acquire this?
Buying and setting up a CNC Machine is not a simple thing at all. Onefinity gives the opportunity to enter the world of CNC to many hobbyists and ordinary consumers. But it achieves this by keeping things simple, therefore not supporting spindles. And even if you manage acquiring the necessary knowledge to install and use it, a CNC Machine remains a machine which can not only destroy the workpiece, but also destroy the machine itself as well, just by a mistake when operating it. It is in no way a foolproof device like most consumer devices are.
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New member here as well. I am familiar with VFD’s and spindles. I would like to get a 65mm 800W, 110V water cooled spindle and a 1.5KW 110Volt VFD. What are some places that I could purchase these. I see some on Amazon from Huanyang. Any help is appreciated.
Jeff, I bought mine through Amazon. No problems. My only problem was that I was new to VFD’s
Thanks Kenneth.
I see that now on the Amazon USA site. I can’t seem to find that exact one on the Amazon Canada site. There is a 220V model.
Not a problem. I just need to pay a small import fee and exchange rate.