I am limited to 110v/15A in my garage. I have a 1hp dust collector that I run along side my table saw and other shop tools. I know I won’t be able to get a spindle running off that same breaker with the controller and dust collector.
Does anyone have experence running the spindle (1.5kw) off a generator (diesel,gas,propane?)
Aside from my power limitations, I’m ready to purchase the foreman.
Because of the sensitivity of the electronics involved in the CNC machine, I would be very hesitant to use a generator. It needs to have a very clean output, not pulse in frequency (Hz), and have a very stable voltage. I am not an electrical engineer at all, but I worked on generators in the service for our mountain-top radio communications and also some 400 Hz specialized generators.
If using a generator you’d need to be very careful as @Tazmo indicates.
That being said, if you were to purchase an inverter generator, they generate ‘clean’ power that would likely be acceptable in your use case.
Here’s a brief article that explains both what @Tazmo is concerned about with ‘traditional’ generators and the more modern inverter generators that I’m speaking about:
If you’re garage isn’t to far from the house could you use a extension cord connected to a different branch circuit? If you were traveling any distance you’d want a heavy gauge cord. There are calculators available online that will suggest the proper gauge/aught for long running cords/cables based on expected max load. Essentially the longer the run and the number of conductors in the cord/cable (i.e. - there’s more heat with 240v versus 120v cord due to close proximity of the conductors). The way to get over that is to use a bigger conductor to lower the resistance/foot, allowing longer runs.
If a extension cord wouldn’t work you’d probably want to look at generator that is capable of 2500w (this is roughly 20/21 amps at 120v in ideal situations) to give you plenty of head room.
Something like this:
I don’t have a Harbor Freight generator and you might be better served to purchase something from Honda or another manufacturer, though from what I’ve read Harbor Freights generators are generally well regarded, but I don’t know that anyone has using them for long running constant duty cycles.
My Gen2 Forman (2.2kw Redline Spindle) spends substantial amounts of time running off a Honda inverter generator. So far no problems that I can perceive with that configuration.
Could you tell me the model.
I have an outdoor outlet maybe 15-20 ft from the garage. It’s in the samw switch with my porch light. I’d have to make sure no one switches it off while in use. Very duable though
Sorry for the delayed reply. Running a Honda Eu7000.