Today we had our thunderbird 80qt mixer wired to 3 phase by an electrician. All it did when turned on was buzz and the fan ran. Nothing on the digital pad work. The manual was of no help and we got voicemail for service inquires. I have never worked with a mixer that has digital display and electric bowl lift. The bowl guard was closed, the bowl locked in place. Anyone have any ideas? The electrician reversed the wires on the panel and that did nothing. Thanks. Walter
I would check the fuses inside the mixer next.
I wouldn’t touch a thing without talking to the people who sold it to you.
As long as you have power on all three legs, voltage matches nameplate and wired according to nameplate/manual I would wait for customer no-service people in order to protect your investment. I feel for you man, new stuff should work right away and you don’t need a headache like that ever, but especially on a start-up.
Power on all three legs is key. A new Italian cheese shredder of ours dropped a phase at the cord connection. Fan will run on just on one phase. So that is what I would check first from source to motor.
Thanks for all the feedback. We are going to wait on customer service to respond before doing anything. They electrician will be back Monday to finish hooking our light in the walk in and I will ask him to check that the 3 legs are all working right. It is a bummer it isn’t working but we are not opening till Jan 6th. That gives us plenty of time to get it right. Walter
One other thing, you may have a 120VAC connection required too?
I had that with my ovens, it ran on 3-phase, but it also had a 120VAC supply for the electronics. I found this out when I had an electrician in here to lengthen the power cord, I killed my 3-phase breakers, and still had a lit interior lights on the oven. The 120VAC activated relays for the high-voltage 3-phase parts.
Sounds like the 3 phase is not hooked up properly
I did this one time. Just buzzed and made Horrible noises
GotRocks: I don’t understand that jargon but will relay it to the electrician. Before we purchased the mixer we had the electrician in to make sure we could run a 3 phase mixer. The space is a former pizzeria and it had a plug for one and it was a 3 breaker switch on the panel. The electrician checked the specs for the mixer and said it would work. Maybe a wire in the mixer is not hooked up? Walter
Thanks! It gives me hope it will be a simple fix. Being completely ignorant to electricity my mind can wander into getting scared. Walter
I have had this situation happen numerous times over the years. They usually have forgotten to hook up that extra leg at the breaker panel.
I always recommend Hobart even though they ar over priced . But they work.
george Mills
Thanks for the reply. I saw there was 3 wires hooked on each side of the panel breakers. Someone today today things could be reversed in the wiring from the box to the mixer. It sounds like an easy fix whatever it is.
George I would have bought a Hobart but we couldn’t afford a new one and couldn’t find a reputable used one. Walter
For the record 3 phase requires 4 total wires
Most single phase 220 is just 2 hots and a ground
3 phase has an extra leg being the 4th wire
Thanks for that info. I think there was only 3 wires in the outlet box but I could be wrong. I know nothing about electricity. The electrician looked at that and the panel and then the options for the mixer set up. We got the set up he recommended. The owner of the company did all this and a young guy came and hooked it up. The owner is coming tomorrow and hopefully it will be an easy fix. I ran the mixer with it making that buzzing noise for about 15 seconds and wonder if I could have damaged anything? Walter
Make sure all the three phase wires are hooked up correctly at the panel. Today my new hvac heater quit working and would only buzz, traced problem to panel outside, one 3 phase wire was loose.
Also just to throw this out there… There are many forms of 3 phase power… Make sure your mixer is compatible with the type you have…
the electrician came in today but I missed him. He is due back tomorrow. The general contractor who has worked on the shops in our center for 20 years said there is 3 phase power in the center. Hopefully tomorrow it will all work out. Walter
Also, make sure that the service from the Electric company is set for 3 phase! When we moved across the alley 3 years ago, it required the PUD to come out and add 3 phase supply to the building!!! So make sure you’ve got the right service supplied to your building… you could have it connected correctly inside, but the outside supplying it might not be. Even if the previous business was a Pizza restaurant, doesn’t guarantee that 3 phase service is coming in. That is one piece we learned when setting up at our new location. I hope you got this resolved now.
Well the problem has been identified. I had just finished my workout first thing in the morning was dripping sweat and the phone rang. It was our general contractor saying the electrician would be at the shop in 15 minutes. It is a 15 minute drive for us so I jumped in the shower, downed a handful of walnuts and was out the door. He determined it is in the mixer so we called tech support. The phase module is working intermittently and when you giggle it the mixer would work fine. It is either the male prongs on the module or the receptacle on the board. It is a small box that plugs in the main electric panel inside the mixer. I was able to shred some cheese and make/ball/box a full 85lb batch of dough with no issues of the dough drying out in our low humidity. The dough came out great and Friday Thunderbird is sending a repairman. Once that is fixed we will have a killer mixer! Thanks again for everyone’s input. Walter