Thread: FELDER RL200 and RL250 question

Originally Posted by LuckyDuck

Hi Chris:

The RL250 has a star-delta start, which, I thought, was designed to reduce the Amperage spike on start up? I would like to get said gauge to measure Amps though!

Warm regards,
David

It may well do but it must still be drawing enough to trip the breaker and dim the lights. My compressor on start up dims the lights, my CV cyclone has no effect and that is due to the soft start. Amp gauges are cheap and worth the money....http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-AC-3...5a17cf&vxp=mtr

Originally Posted by LuckyDuck

That's a fair bit of power all at once. My worst is jointer/thicknesser (5.5kW), extractor (5.5kW), power feeder (0.75kW), and compressor (3kW), so not as much as yours.



This is the machine to go for, especially since you have the wide belt sander. These are notorious for clogging filters. What do you mean by "explosion relief panel"? The RL250 is also "explosion" proof up to a point and the panels encasing the filters/dust bins are quite substantial. But it also has, as standard, a thermostat hooked up to mains water in case the working temperature inside the machine becomes too high (i.e. fire source), or can be converted to a powder extinguisher. The sprinkler system is supposed to work well enough to save the filters -- i.e. just remove, wash down, dry out, and reassemble -- but I wouldn't know...hate to think what new filters would cost!



Don't confuse the RL160 and RL200 filter cleaning system with the RL250 and RL300. They are completely different. The smaller RL units do not have a pulse air filer cleaning system, but rather an archaic system of brushes which physically brush the filter pleats. The compressed air is used only to automate the push-rod system to which the brushes are attached. Lots of owners of the RL160 and RL200 report that the brushes are not always optimally adjusted close enough to the filter pleats, and become clogged with wide belt sanders, regardless.

The RL250 and RL300 have true pulsed air filter cleaning systems. They have sixteen cone shaped filters hanging down from the roof of the filter cabinet, and an air nozzle sits in the centre of each cone. I also have a hydrovane compressor which is very quiet as far as compressors go; but the cleaning pulses are very loud. There are three in total every fifteen minutes or so - but this is programmable.

The guys on the FOG (Felder Owner Group) just finished a big discussion about the problems associated with the filter cleaning mechanism on the RL200. I'm pretty sure they all think the shaker system is better for wide belt sanders though.

Good luck on your decision, and keep me informed!

Alko Australia agent has responded to my email, apparently the Rl250 of the Alko, Pu250 cost $18k AUD, Felder RL costed $15k AUD, Uni 250 cost $13k AUD(all tax exclusive).

Am still researching which is the best DC for me, For the Unimaster I have been told by the rep that they need to go outside because if there is an explosion the positive pressure will vent out the panel rather than damaging the internal of the machine. Sounds like a pretty good design feature to me. If I vent outside I need to consider extra cost for ducting, electrical and building work to my house, I am reluctant to alter my exterior wall, it's a plaster house and we have leaky building issue here....

probably still endup with an internal unit, so it's either Alko or Felder. I have just bought quite a few machinery and got 3 phase power installed (the electrician costed a small fortune) this year, my ducting works ok it's not like I must replace it, probably will be the plan for next year or he year after that.

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

It may well do but it must still be drawing enough to trip the breaker and dim the lights. My compressor on start up dims the lights, my CV cyclone has no effect and that is due to the soft start. Amp gauges are cheap and worth the money....http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-AC-3...5a17cf&vxp=mtr

Thanks Chris.

I don't know the difference between "soft start" and "star-delta" start? Wiki article doesn't turn on the lights for me!
Do you know the difference? I'm assuming your compressor is DOL start, as is mine, so that would explain the dimming of the lights.

Thanks,

Originally Posted by Albert

Alko Australia agent has responded to my email, apparently the Rl250 of the Alko, Pu250 cost $18k AUD, Felder RL costed $15k AUD, Uni 250 cost $13k AUD(all tax exclusive).

Am still researching which is the best DC for me, For the Unimaster I have been told by the rep that they need to go outside because if there is an explosion the positive pressure will vent out the panel rather than damaging the internal of the machine. Sounds like a pretty good design feature to me. If I vent outside I need to consider extra cost for ducting, electrical and building work to my house, I am reluctant to alter my exterior wall, it's a plaster house and we have leaky building issue here....

probably still endup with an internal unit, so it's either Alko or Felder. I have just bought quite a few machinery and got 3 phase power installed (the electrician costed a small fortune) this year, my ducting works ok it's not like I must replace it, probably will be the plan for next year or he year after that.

No worries. I haven't seen an Alko unit in person. Obviously the size of motor, fan curve, filter type, are the big bits to compare. The smaller issues which might help you decide has to do with the switch controls, and how much electrics comes with the machine (I assume that the Alko can be remotely started if you want that, and the filter cleaning is programmable?), and whether the bin arrangement is superior on one machine to the other? The bin on the RL250 is made VERY heavily made, and works fine, but it is a bit clunky to get in and out. And there is also the minor (in my mind) point of chips filling up the far side of the bin faster than the near side.

Only other issues I can think of at the moment would be to compare the footprint of machines, whether they can be ducted left or right (depends on where you want to put it in your shop), and noise issues.

All good fun. Thanks for including me on your deliberations!

A good example is a router, some are soft start and gradually over a few seconds reach full working RPM and some are hard start where they instantly go from nothing to full RPM and try and jump out of your hands. 99% of Clearvues in this country are controlled by a variable frequency drive that ramps up the speed over about five seconds thus keeping the current requirements low in relation to the motor horsepower. Once running and having overcome the impeller inertia the current loads fall back to less than ten amps. I have always regarded any motor that did not start in a slow ramping fashion such as this as hard start as they require a lot of current to get them going. If you have a three phase device a VFD can be used to control the motor speed in the same fashion as a Clearvue for a small investment.