1100MX Conversion to 200V 50HZ Possible?

Mill
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Long story short I am moving to Japan which uses 200V 50HZ in my region. I know the 1100MX suffers when voltage drops below 240V (per tech support) and that the weird VFD they use to drive the spindle needs the 60HZ to get her spun up to 10,000rpm (Edit: Norman says this is not true, it runs 10k RPM just fine on 50HZ) … BUT, if I change/upgrade the VFD? Or change the motor? Can I make the mill work over there? Any ideas suggestions? Or anyone NOT in the USA who has purchased and uses this mill on non-standard voltages/frequencies? Thank you!!!

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P.S. Yes, the PC will work, PC’s run on DC voltage and nearly all AC to DC converters are globally-compatible with 100-250V 50/60HZ frequencies. If not, its a very easy swapout for a better Industrial Power Supply and all the PC and Servo components will work just fine.

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It’s going to be rough. There might be some kind of power supply that can plug in to 200v 50hz and then output 240v 60hz but at 30 amps it’s probably cheaper to buy a new mill. I lived there for 10 years and unless you are Japanese or have some serious local connections you will need to rent or buy a machine shop type place that is for industrial use. They don’t do “it should be fine” and if you have to wire in some large electrical stuff it’s all going to have to be done by rule abiding certified technicians. It might be easier to just get a mill there.
The good news is that used Japanese equipment is probably better than most brand new machines.
Japan is tough they follow every rule but they are super friendly and helpful. If you can find someone like you, there you would be set. The hard part is finding someone like you because everyone is working.
If your going to be in Tokyo I could hook you up with some people that have free time and are not the normal salary man type workers.

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Yeah, power converters are very expensive. :sob:

I’m planning to build a large shop next to the Akiya that I buy, so i’d just have them run me a couple 200V outlets (CNC, Welder, Air Compressor). Right now I am looking in Fukushima area, but I will keep ya updated whenever I finally finish up the contracts and etc. :slight_smile:

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I’m not sure where the idea of “the weird VFD they use to drive the spindle needs the 60HZ to get her spun up to 10,000rpm” came from but there are plenty of customers using 1100MX’s in Europe and Australia with 50Hz with no issues or modifications. Yes, the spindle power is reduced some compared to 60Hz operation.

Why not look into a buck boost transformer?

Thank you,

Norman

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Also I now live in the uk with my 1100mx that runs in 220 50hz. It cuts good. I’ve never actually measured the rpm, but the readout says 10,000

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Wow, Norman I didn’t even realize you guys actually looked through the forums. Very impressive and nice to see. Thank you for your support!

Every VFD that I’ve installed at work (which is 3-phase 480 volt) won’t drive the motor any faster than the frequency of the incoming voltage. When I first got the mill, I looked inside the cabinet and I was just like, I don’t recognize what this weird VFD is at all, and I’m not going to touch it. lol.

Knowing that the machine will function correctly on 50HZ is excellent news!!! However, I am concerned about the power loss.

https://www.larsonelectronics.com/product/224198/1-phase-buck-boost-step-up-transformer-200v-primary-240v-secondary-31-25-amps-50-60hz?srsltid=AfmBOopkO8qpnVpiyMRNXWO-iXJfOnIxdjPbvJQedZJeD1Vm17y6Hax5

This one is 200V to 240V at 30A, so assuming I am being supplied a perfect 200 volt then the machine will still run 10 volts lower than it currently is in my shop in the USA. I’m so close to a substation that I’m getting almost 250 volts very reliably. So, doing some extremely quick “math” I would have to reduce all of my roughing feedrates by 4%. So, for example, the 40-hour job I’m working on right now would take 41.6 hours in Japan. :thinking::thinking::thinking: That really isn’t bad at all. It probably wouldn’t even be worth trying to special-order one that runs it up to 250 volt.

And then let’s include that I’m worried about the cost of electricity, as it is technically four times more expensive over there. That linked transformer loses 6 amps when at 30A full load, so let’s say I’m somehow running roughing operations 40 hours a week, that comes out to about 48kWh lost per week, or about $86/month assuming $0.45/kWh cost. if my “math” is correct.

You guys all probably think I’m crazy, but this mill puts food on my table, so I can’t make this decision lightly. Selling it would be a huge massive hassle, it would be cheaper to take it to Japan based on these calculations. :thinking:

Thank you again Norman for chiming in and correcting my misunderstanding of how your VFD works! You might have saved this Mill from being pawned off. :ok_hand:

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I don’t really have a way to measure torque or rpm on my mill but we could do a comparison. Buy the same end mill and run a program that is designed to ramp up a cut until it breaks the cutter. I have noticed that some people’s example cuts in posts posts seem wildly higher than mine but there are a thousand variables. I have no problem breaking a couple carbides for science.

You know there was a nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, shouldn’t they be giving free electricity or something.

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