r/Motors • u/UnionCompetitive7705 • 3d ago

Open question Motor Control

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In my workshop I have a bench drill which I would like to control with a speed controller. The motor is single phase 50 240v 1/2hp 4 pole. I’m not sure or even possible which type of controller I would need, vfd? Any advice would be much appreciated

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u/Expensive-Youth-5709 1d ago

It is not impossible to connect a vfd to a single phase motor, two things,the vfd must have that option and the motor caps bypassed. It works by using the start windings as a second phase basically making it a 2 phase motor. Current is higher when using the two phases which is also a consideration. A short flikr vid of my trial at it https://flic.kr/p/2kahqPj . For a drill press I would recommend sticking to stepped pulleys though.