2x72 grinder 220v to 110v

M

MKSknives88

Joined
Sep 28, 2012
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13
A while back I bought a cheap 2x72 belt grinder off amazon. I did not pay attention. My garage only has 110v outlets but the machine runs off 220v. I am not good with electrical work so I was wondering if anyone could tell me how I can run a 220v machine with only 110v outlets? Someone suggested a step up transformer, someone else suggested a variable frequency drive. I got an estimate once from an electrician on how much itd be to have a 220v outlet installed and he came up with 3000...so that option is out. Any help is appreciated
 
You need to talk to a different electrician.

Questions:
1) Where is your fuse box?
2) Is there an electric dryer near the garage?

Best solution is to use a dual input 110/220 VFD. To use a VFD you will have to change the motor to 220V 3-phase. That will make your grinder variable speed, which will change your life as far as knifemaking. If you get 220 available at a later time, you just switch the power cord and and it will be even more powerful.

Second choice is to change the motor to a DC motor and 110V drive. This is pretty much the same as the above 3-ph option

You could also change the motor to 110V, but why do that if you could change it to 3-ph and add a VFD.
 
I had an electrician install a 220V outlet in the garage (fuse panel is located in the garage) and it cost $275 and was don e in less than an hour. $3K seems excessive.
 
I've been running a welder off of the 220 V outlet that my dryer uses. It works quite well that way, with a couple of minor caveats. Firstly you need an extension cord designed for 220 V and it will need to match your dryer outlet socket. Secondly is distance. 220V extension cords are quite expensive compared to regular extension cords, but still very reasonable compared to a new 220 V install.
Honestly though, if I wasn't going to move later this summer I would probably bite the bullet and install 220 V. I have a friend who is an electrical engineer who could certainly do the job. Though it's probably best to hire a qualified electrician if you go that route.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
You need to talk to a different electrician.

Questions:
1) Where is your fuse box?
2) Is there an electric dryer near the garage?

Best solution is to use a dual input 110/220 VFD. To use a VFD you will have to change the motor to 220V 3-phase. That will make your grinder variable speed, which will change your life as far as knifemaking. If you get 220 available at a later time, you just switch the power cord and and it will be even more powerful.

Second choice is to change the motor to a DC motor and 110V drive. This is pretty much the same as the above 3-ph option

You could also change the motor to 110V, but why do that if you could change it to 3-ph and add a VFD.
Click to expand...
Fuse box is in the house. The dryer is kind of in the middle of the house. No where near the garage
 
navman said:
I had an electrician install a 220V outlet in the garage (fuse panel is located in the garage) and it cost $275 and was don e in less than an hour. $3K seems excessive.
Click to expand...
My fuse box is in the house. He said they'd have to dig a trench to the garage
 
What's the power it uses ? (must say on it, in VAC or W, or current in A).

Also, is it American 2 phase 220V, or German 1 phase 220V, since you bought it from Amazon ?

It should say the AC frequency somewhere, either 60 (US) or 50 Hz (German).
 
How long a trench? How hard is the ground? Would you feel comfortable using a rented trencher?

$3000 is a boatload for an otherwise sub $1000 job. Maybe sub $500.

I'd call a local dirt moving / excavation company and ask them about it. Maybe even find some high school kids that would like some cash..
 
Whisperstealth said:
How long a trench? How hard is the ground? Would you feel comfortable using a rented trencher?

$3000 is a boatload for an otherwise sub $1000 job. Maybe sub $500.

I'd call a local dirt moving / excavation company and ask them about it. Maybe even find some high school kids that would like some cash..
Click to expand...
Ive never used a trenches but itd be fun as hell to use.
 
Whatever you do with or with out a permit make sure it's up to code. if something bad were to happen down the road your insurance company may look at your wiring.
 
I would use a 120v input, 240v output vfd. They are around $130 on Amazon and use a 240v 3 phase motor. A 2 hp motor maxes out at 1.5 hp run this way. I ran a KBAC27D for a few years this way until I sold it.

I mount my Chinese cheap vfd away from the belt sander on the other side of a plastic curtain around the dirty shop to protect it from dust and have a long cable to connect the small control panel at the grinder to the vfd. Most VFD have a small control panel that can run off a long cord.
 
I might have missed it, but what type of motor is existing on the grinder? You mention it's a 220VAC motor. Is this a 1ph motor? If so, many of those type motor are dual voltage only requiring rewiring the motor. Of course since this was purchased on Amazon, the origin country of manuf can determine if this is possible or not.

My choice would be to change to a 3ph motor and use a 120vac input VFD to run the motor. Do a search on Amazon for item # B0D873QLL4 and you'll find a 120 vac input VFD for around $98 shipped. Then all you need is the 3 ph motor, UNLESS the motor you have is 3 ph?
 
Ken H> said:
I might have missed it, but what type of motor is existing on the grinder? You mention it's a 220VAC motor. Is this a 1ph motor? If so, many of those type motor are dual voltage only requiring rewiring the motor. Of course since this was purchased on Amazon, the origin country of manuf can determine if this is possible or not.

My choice would be to change to a 3ph motor and use a 120vac input VFD to run the motor. Do a search on Amazon for item # B0D873QLL4 and you'll find a 120 vac input VFD for around $98 shipped. Then all you need is the 3 ph motor, UNLESS the motor you have is 3 ph?
Click to expand...

I asked this and other relevant questions in post #9 and no answer. Is it a one phase or two phase motor ? European or American ? How much power ?
 
It sounds like you have a detached garage, but I assume you have power already running to it for lights and a few outlets. How was the circuit(s) ran for the existing power? Is it only running off of one breaker? Two breakers? What's the number of, length, size and type of conductors currently feeding your shop? Depending on what you already have, you might be able to convert to small sub-panel in your garage that will feed one 220 outlet, and a couple of 110vac circuits, but you'd have do do some calculations, and you should still probably have an electrician do the work.
 
I also wondered whether there is a sub-panel but I’d assume a $3000 electrician would have found it. 220 is definitely worth having for things like grinders, HT ovens, large air compressors,etc…
 
Depending on where you live ( how close to neighbors) an alternative is a generator. Costco/HF/etc. have good size generators that will run off gasoline, propane, or NG and deliver 50 amps of 220. A generator is a good thing to have anyway for power outages.
 
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