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Powermatic 3520 inverter

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Jan 23, 2008
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Lorena Texas
has any one had any luck with an after market VFD for the Powermatic 3520
had mine for about 5 years just went out. Talked to the drive maker and they said the life spand on that type of drive is about 5 years or so.
Just looking for a little less expensive than the Powermatic.
Thanks
 

Bill Boehme

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The Delta drive on the Powermatic is probably about as reliable as most other drives although it may be slightly older technology. I know several people who have Powermatic 3520's and none of them have had a drive go south.

If you wish to try a newer design, I can recommend the Toshiba "Tosvert series" drive on my Robust lathe. In my casual observation of my lathe to the Powermatic, it seems that the speed regulation especially at low speed is better with the Toshiba. I don't know how the prices compare.
 

john lucas

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My Drive on my powermatic 3520A is about 9 or 10 years old and still going strong. I've heard of very few Drives going bad on the Powermatic. Most that I hear about have been lightening or some other abuse. Only rarely have I heard of one dying. Sure it's bound to happen eventually.
 
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My Drive on my powermatic 3520A is about 9 or 10 years old and still going strong. I've heard of very few Drives going bad on the Powermatic. Most that I hear about have been lightening or some other abuse. Only rarely have I heard of one dying. Sure it's bound to happen eventually.

John's explanation may be correct. Last summer when my 3520A's inverter. went south I figured it was the luck of the draw. Tolerances in production runs being the true culprit. Prior to ordering a new inverter, I checked all my voltages, etc. starting at the breaker and continuing down stream to the machine.

After ordering and receiving my new replacement inverter I installed it. Before powering up I decided to go back and make sure all connections were tight and secure. There is a 2 pole fused switch ahead of the receptacle. After pulling the fuse on one leg it became obvious that there had been some arcing between the fuse holder and the fuse. I'm pretty sure this was what caused the inverter to fail. I have since replaced the switch and fuse type.:eek:
 
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I do not want to hijack the thread, but try and add a bit too it if I can.

Is there a place to lookup how to replace these and spec's needed? I have to replace the DC controller on my lathe (220V 2hp Brushless DC 1500watts, variable speed with reverse) and the retailer will not sell the controller by itself, but the link Doug supplied sells a DC controller that looks like it would work. The price is 1/3 the lathe retailers asking price.

To replace an AC or DC controller, is there a place to learn more about doing this?

Lloyd
 
Joined
Jan 20, 2011
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Location
Traverse City, MI
Did you unlock it and rest the defaults? I thought mine was trashed so I played around with it and it works better than ever. (although it's still 2hp VFD for a 3hp motor :mad: Powermatic's deceptive advertising)

I thought mine was trashed (seemed to be no output to motor) and bought a cheap replacement on eBay. It wasn't smooth or quiet. It would run the motor, but there was a notchyness to it and made a whining sound at lower RPMs.

I put on the old one after reading about the unlock code and reset everything. It runs great and even has a very low (8 RPM) minimum speed.

My 4224 has the same 2 hp inverter as the 3520

Don't tell anyone, ;) but the secret code is 506 to unlock it and change the settings.

The manual for the inverter is www.delta.com.tw/product/em/drive/ac_motor/download/manual/VFD-B_manual_en.pdf in pdf format. A short keypad programming instruction starts on page 54 and the parameter descriptions and settings follow.
 
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