Instructions for fitting a 2.2kw (or other power spindle) and VFD

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Hi @Ddemnard,

Disclaimer: I’ll provide some advice to hopefully steer you in the right direction, but staying safe and not damaging stuff is all on you :slight_smile:
Don’t do any of the following blindly, you need to understand what it does and why, and double check everything I wrote. Basically, don’t trust me, I’m a random guy from the internet !

I guess the VFD came with the manual, but I can see how that may look a bit intimidating. Some guy posted a copy of the manual here, so my recommendation below is based on that. There is also that video.

Step 0: adjust GRBL parameters on the Shapeoko

  • from the MDI command line set $30 to whatever the max rated RPM of your spindle is. It is probably etched on the body of your spindle.

Step1 before connecting anything you need to adjust all VFD parameters

  • just connect mains on the VFD (to N and L terminals) and power it up.
  • you’ll need to study the manual to figure out what value to use in each one for YOUR specific spindle, so I won’t be able to tell you what exact values to set for each, but here are a few pointers:
  • P00.01 must be changed to 1 to allow external speed control
  • possibly P00.09 to 0 , IF your spindle is water-cooled
  • P01.00 to 1 to prevent reverse rotation (should not matter)
  • P07.08 to 3 (to tell the VFD to pick up the external signal on VI1)
  • P12.00, P12.01, P12.02: you will need to adjust them to your spindle’s characteristics

Step2 wiring the rest of the VFD & spindle, which boils down to three things:

  1. output power to spindle
  • U,V,W to spindle connector
  • you also need to earth your spindle (if you don’t, you’re taking chances of having severe EMI issues down the line). So find out if your spindle is grounded internally, i.e. is the 4th pin on the aviation connector connected (internally) to the spindle body (with a multimeter in continuity test mode). If it is, fine, run that 4th wire to the Earth terminal on the VFD.
  1. speed control signal from the Shapeoko
  • locate where you can get the PWM signal on the Shapeoko controller board (depends on the version and on your soldering abilties), run the GND of the shapeoko’s controller to GND terminal on the VFD, and the PWM signal to “VI1” terminal of the VFD
  • now for the bad news: your VFD has a 0-10V analog input for external speed control, and the Shapeoko outputs a 0-5V PWM signal. You may need to buy one of these converter, or you may be able to tune P03.11 to 512 but the documentation is unclear, this would need to be checked.
  1. forcing the Forward direction of rotation
  • short the “FWD” and “XGND”

Once you are there, turn on the shapeoko and home, turn on the spindle, it should not spin. If it does, turn everything off and go back to wiring and parameters.

From the MDI command line, send M3S1000, the spindle should spin slowly (1000RPM). Send M5 to stop.

If it spins in the wrong direction, you will need to swap any two wires among U,V and W.

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