Now I feel STUPID, KMG story

A C Richards

A C Richards

Joined
Apr 14, 2006
Messages
3,816
Many of you might remember my story of how I built a KMG clone and put a 2hp 3ph motor on it. I hooked it all into my VFD and it all seemed good except not enough power. It kept bogging down. I tried everything I could think of. Even calling a friend and asking his advice, he makes a living building stuff like this. The only thing I could come up with was I needed more power. So I purchased and installed a rotary phase converter, (wanted one anyway just needed an excuse). Found a new 5hp 3ph on ebay for $150 delivered. Then modified the grinder for an interchangeable 2 motor system. The 5hp worked great. I could grind with all the pressure I could push and still maintain control. HALLELUJAH, It worked finally.

Well yesterday I was doing some handle work so I needed to slow down the grinder so I switched it to the 2hp. Something seemed off. It took a really long time to come up to speed. Even longer than before. It seemed the belt needed to be tightened. SO I took a link out of the belt and put it back together. HOLY CRAPOLA it came right up to speed. Well if that was good let's try heavy grinding. WOW IT REALLY HOGS IT OFF NOW. All that for a #$%#^$%&^#%$&&#* loose belt. Well at least now I have a nice 5hp backup for my power hammer and brand new wiring in the shop for the 3phase rotary inverter. Lesson learned here, check the darn belt to see if it is tight enough before rebuilding the whole shop.....
 
I guess that's kind of funny. This is one of the things I REALLY appreciate about many of you fine folks. Sharing, even when it might be considered awkward info to admit to. Good for you Chuck...and THANKS! --Phil
 
Not a problem Phil. We can all learn from our mistakes even when they should have been blatantly obvious. I even played with the belt a bit and said to myself, Nah it couldn't be the belt??? Oh well live and learn I guess.
 
you know i always wanders why ppl wanted 5hp KMGs as when i stall mine its cause the drive wheel is spinning in the belt not any other way and BTW i reall have to try to get to that point

that said i have a 2hp direct drive setup with VFD and it only happens when flattening blade blanks on the flat platten
 
Butch,

I thought the 2hp would be good enough too. To me when the grinder was stalling out it sounded like the motor was slowing down. Well the motor is so quiet that you cannot hear it over the belt. THat was the problem I had and I just did not check the actual belt slipping. So deciding to upgrade the best deal I could find on a new motor just happened to be the 5hp. If I the chance had presented itself before I bought the 2hp I would have gone 5 from the beginning. I spent $250 on the 2hp and only $150 on the 5. Now I can say I have a machine that will not stall, even when grinding flats, which was my goal anyway. I really wanted a machine that ground faster than my disc, and it grinds pretty fast. It just goes through paper so fast that changing the paper makes it very inconvenient. Anyhow I posted this to let people know they really do not need a 5hp, but if one presents itself and you have the power capability, I would go for it. Now I just need a New VFD for the 5:D:D
 
Haha! That sounds like something I would do Chuck!!! :foot:

Thanks for sharing... you're right too... I think most guys could learn just as much, if not more, from the mistakes being shared here than the successes.
 
I'm just glad I'm not the only one to go for the most complicated fix before checking the simple stuff.:o
Stan
 
Chuck, Any idea where my TV remote is? I've even looked in the shop and turned my Lazy Boy over 3 times and its no where to be found. :D
 
Hey Chuck, I have some ocean front property in Idaho for sale at a good price. You interested? :D:D
 
the remote is in the fridge ( you went to get a drink and left it there )

i amd close to lake front so i need not ocean front land

think that covers that
 
Hey Bruce I have been looking for some good oceanfront property, I would love to take you up on that offer. I will be happy to pay you in Czechoslovakian Koruna. Let me know and we can set up escrow.:D:D

Mark, That is probably the best explanation yet. Yeh I can blame it on personality #7, His name is Hannibal. Er yeh that's what happened....:cool:
 
A C Richards said:
Hey Bruce I have been looking for some good oceanfront property, I would love to take you up on that offer. I will be happy to pay you in Czechoslovakian Koruna. Let me know and we can set up escrow.:D:D

Mark, That is probably the best explanation yet. Yeh I can blame it on personality #7, His name is Hannibal. Er yeh that's what happened....:cool:
Click to expand...

Chuck, I have a call in to the bank, they say you need a box car full of that currancy. Sounds good to me.:D
 
Sounds good Bruce, Since Czechoslovakia was disbanded in the 80's it would be a fair trade. The only problem is the 50 billion or trillion years to wait for the ocean to erode that far so I can enjoy the water. Here's to a looooooooong life
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top