[rob jerico]

i went and looked at a 2001 fadal VMC15XT‏ that is for sale today, it seems to be in good shape, i currently have a 1994 30-16 fadal in my home shop, i run a phaze converter now, was a little surprised to see it was a single phaze machine and not 3, it was in a guys home shop, anyone ever run one on single phaze? does the machine just convert the phaze to 3? any negatives to a machine like this? it has a 7500rpm 15horse motor, only thing that is wrong with it is the "z" makes noise when moving it, the owner said it was the bearings that need replacing, it also has a "probe" installed on it, no idea how to use that, any advice would be great, thanks

[rob jerico]

is this machine that bad? lol

[Al_The_Man]

That is a large spindle to operate on 1phase 220v. I suspect he may have a VFD on it?
The Z axis noise could be anything from minor to big$$$.
What bearings is he referring to?
Hopefully not the B.S. bearings?
I would investigate a bit further unless it is a give away price.
Al.

[Delw]

I thought some fadal machines were shipped with built in phase convertors. you can run them in 3 phase by changing the wire jumpers per te electrical chart inside on the ack of door.
goto fadalcnc.com and look at there manuals they have them all avail for download

[iess525]

Fadal offered a single phase transformer. You will lose 1/3 power running single phase which is about the same amount of power you lose running a phase converter. Benefits of the OEM single phase transformer is that it's a direct replacement to the 3 phase transformer in the back cabinet whereas a phase converter is big/bulky and takes up more space in your shop/garage.

Bearings are most likely the problem...we sell the bearing/seal kit if you'd like to do it yourself.

Any questions, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We're here to help!

-Shelvin
TheFadalParts.com
(818) 678-9456

[rob jerico]

thanks guys, machine is at a good price, has one of those renshaw probes installed too, never ran a probe before, i will get ahold of u jess525 once i get it home

[NismoGT]

Fadal offered a single phase transformer. You will lose 1/3 power running single phase which is about the same amount of power you lose running a phase converter. Benefits of the OEM single phase transformer is that it's a direct replacement to the 3 phase transformer in the back cabinet whereas a phase converter is big/bulky and takes up more space in your shop/garage.

Bearings are most likely the problem...we sell the bearing/seal kit if you'd like to do it yourself.

Any questions, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We're here to help!

-Shelvin
TheFadalParts.com
(818) 678-9456

How would you lose 1/3 power running an appropriately sized RPC? Wouldn't it just use 1/3 more power because of the RPC? I am looking at getting a VMC15 for my basement workshop and would like to figure this out. I have a 100 amp sub panel and RPC that I would be running this VMC from.

[Jim Dawson]

How would you lose 1/3 power running an appropriately sized RPC? Wouldn't it just use 1/3 more power because of the RPC? I am looking at getting a VMC15 for my basement workshop and would like to figure this out. I have a 100 amp sub panel and RPC that I would be running this VMC from.

Your statement is closer than the gentleman you quoted. It will draw more amps from the breaker panel on the single phase line as compared to 3 phase. But you won't lose any power when paired with a properly sized and balanced RCP.

[NismoGT]

Your statement is closer than the gentleman you quoted. It will draw more amps from the breaker panel on the single phase line as compared to 3 phase. But you won't lose any power when paired with a properly sized and balanced RCP.

So I was sort of on track about what I was saying? Single phase power consumption ≈ RPC power consumption

[mactec54]

Your statement is closer than the gentleman you quoted. It will draw more amps from the breaker panel on the single phase line as compared to 3 phase. But you won't lose any power when paired with a properly sized and balanced RCP.

You where both incorrect, iess525 was talking about a normal derating from using the plug and play Fadal Transformer for single phase on that machine, an RPC also is very inefficient, and not advisable for most CNC machine use, although a lot use them with varying results