VFD problems

Ok hi to all , I am new to this site. I must say after reading some , I am so impressed to find so much knowledge in one place.
My background is design , build and program DC servo robots , small part assembly machines , and packaging machines. A max payload on my robots is 20 lbs. , less on my other equipment. I know , tinker toys to some of you guys.. So a friend of mine buys a robot at auction and gets it set up , then calls me to get it running for him. When I get there this robot has a 250lb. payload capacity. 3/4 or 1 HP drive AC motors , on the transverse and vertical axis. This is probably not uncommon to you guys but to someone with 15 years in small machines this is BIG.
Ok , after some careful inspection most everything seems to be together correctly . My problem is a VFD that runs the motors , it is Saftronics G3 , model cimr-g3 u43p7, input voltage 460V. In order for the software to do anything , the PLC needs to get a "ready" input from the drive ,which is not there, so the whole robot is dead. The display screen is lit on the drive , and inside with the cover removed , is a green light lit near the bottom of the drive. On the display screen the stop button is also lit . Next to this button is a run button which when pushed does nothing. I tried putting numbers in the "F" display in the window , my guess this is frequency and pushed run button on drive nothing . Ok thats the extent of my experience , with AC drives.
My questions are these
(1) Can someone point me to a manual for this drive , ill buy it if necessary. I need to know what the functions are and how to set them.I can find Drives to buy and repair places but no manuals.
(2) Does the drive require an input from the PLC before it will turn on .. (go into the run mode, or give me a ready output)
(3) Is there some basic settings I need to set in the display to make the drive run
I suspect the drive is no-good but at the price of the drives I found on the Internet , I want to make sure before I send it out for repair or buy a new one.
Any help , would be vastly appreciated.

Topcat,

Saftronics was bought out by Emerson. You could try their site for manuals....

Stationmaster

You might also try this site. There appears to be a manual for the Magnatek equivalent of the Softronics G3 there.

As for your other questions, it is very likely the pic or other controller will be sending a signal to the drive to start at. But it most likely won't do that unless the drive reports ready first. It is possible the drive is in hardware stop, waiting for an interlock or something. But that is a pure guess.

Keith

Keith,

Is it your PC or mine that has screwed up your post??

or is it the new changes that Phil has made to the site?

EDIT:
It looks like every 'A' and 'i' is replaced by a *

kamenges said:

You m*ght **so try [UR*="http://www.y*sk*w*.com/s*te/products.nsf/products/*ndustr***%20*C%20Dr*ves~G3GPD503.htm*"]th*s[/UR*] s*te. There *ppe*rs to be * m*nu** for the M*gn*tek equ*v**ent of the S*ftron*cs G3 there.

*s for your other quest*ons, *t *s very **ke*y the p*c or other contro**er w*** be send*ng * s*gn** to the dr*ve to st*rt *t. But *t most **ke*y won't do th*t un*ess the dr*ve reports re*dy f*rst. *t *s poss*b*e the dr*ve *s *n h*rdw*re stop, w**t*ng for *n *nter*ock or someth*ng. But th*t *s * pure guess.

Ke*th

Click to expand...

Keith, MAN.... Dude, what is WRONG with your keyboard???

Stationmaster said:

Keith, MAN.... Dude, what is WRONG with your keyboard???

Click to expand...

Glad it was not just me

I thought my eye's were failing now.... hell what's next

geniusintraining said:

Glad it was not just me

I thought my eye's were failing now.... hell what's next

Click to expand...

I thought for a minute he was studying to be an "******t temperature specialist"

Pretty wild, eh?

This is Phil's reply.

Keith

sorry bout that...

Yep, it was me 'experimenting'. Sorry about that ...


And ambient was now fixed too...

Enjoy,

Phil Melore said:

Yep, it was me 'experimenting'. Sorry about that ...


And ambient was now fixed too...

Enjoy,

Click to expand...

Thanks! Thats good to know... ******t came up more often for me than spe******t, but they were both a pain.

Stationmaster

Saftronics was bought out by Emerson. You could try their site for manuals....

Click to expand...

Ugg. Sorry to go off topic, but we bought a few of Emerson VFD's and 2 of them decided to go backward with the no reverse selection turned on. Potential personal harm. Put out a company wide alert to never purchase them..... Emerson.
I have too add. Our operators could recreate the problem and the VFD displayed FWD but went backwards.

Topcat said:

Ok hi to all , I am new to this site. I must say after reading some , I am so impressed to find so much knowledge in one place.
My background is design , build and program DC servo robots , small part assembly machines , and packaging machines. A max payload on my robots is 20 lbs. , less on my other equipment. I know , tinker toys to some of you guys.. So a friend of mine buys a robot at auction and gets it set up , then calls me to get it running for him. When I get there this robot has a 250lb. payload capacity. 3/4 or 1 HP drive AC motors , on the transverse and vertical axis. This is probably not uncommon to you guys but to someone with 15 years in small machines this is BIG.
Ok , after some careful inspection most everything seems to be together correctly . My problem is a VFD that runs the motors , it is Saftronics G3 , model cimr-g3 u43p7, input voltage 460V. In order for the software to do anything , the PLC needs to get a "ready" input from the drive ,which is not there, so the whole robot is dead. The display screen is lit on the drive , and inside with the cover removed , is a green light lit near the bottom of the drive. On the display screen the stop button is also lit . Next to this button is a run button which when pushed does nothing. I tried putting numbers in the "F" display in the window , my guess this is frequency and pushed run button on drive nothing . Ok thats the extent of my experience , with AC drives.
My questions are these
(1) Can someone point me to a manual for this drive , ill buy it if necessary. I need to know what the functions are and how to set them.I can find Drives to buy and repair places but no manuals.
(2) Does the drive require an input from the PLC before it will turn on .. (go into the run mode, or give me a ready output)
(3) Is there some basic settings I need to set in the display to make the drive run
I suspect the drive is no-good but at the price of the drives I found on the Internet , I want to make sure before I send it out for repair or buy a new one.
Any help , would be vastly appreciated.

Click to expand...

You definitely need the VFD manual and all the other manuals for the equipment.
I believe it is possible to defeat the panel on the VFD so that none of those buttons have control - check the manual.

Hmmm used equipment.
Has anyone seen it run before it was removed?
How long left deenergized and are battery in PLC OK?
PLC seems OK? no error lites etc?

Are all motors free to rotate by hand ie not bound up?
All mechanisms free and able to move?
Nothing hard up on a limit switch?

E stops reset?

Dan Bentler

Stationmaster thanks for the heads up , I will check Emerson tomorrow

Keith thanks for the link , I downloaded the manual it is very close to the Saftronics , after a quick once over , I believe the drive to be faulty , and should give a ready on startup , then wait for the external commands. Will continue tomorrow.

Smoke thanks for the advice I will keep in mind

Dan it was suposedly working , but I have my doubts .. All things checked you mentioned . There is one drive and three motors , one for each axis , the drive is connected to the proper motor by a motor contactor , turned on by the PLC .As I stated ,I have the software for the PLC, and before a motor can even be connected to the drive ,the PLC must see a "ready" from the Drive, which is not there.Your thoughts are all good ones , I spent some time going through them.

As I stated ,I have the software for the PLC, and before a motor can even be connected to the drive ,the PLC must see a "ready" from the Drive, which is not there.Your thoughts are all good ones , I spent some time going through them.

OK so you have the software for PLC and it must be OK.

Do you have wiring diagrams?

VFD output is connected to each of 3 motors with one of 3 relays controlled by PLC.

I think PLC would need to select a motor shut the correct contactor then start the VFD. Can you get any of the contactors to shut and does it have an aux contact telling PLC it is shut and for PLC to start VFD?
OR
is motor select contactor aux contact wired into VFD thus enabling VFD ready signal to PLC?

Also are there any limit switches controlling the contactors?

Dan Bentler

Dan I seem to be missing some of the prints I would expect to have ,the aux.contacts on the contactors are wired. I haven't checked , but my guess is they report back to the PLC the contactor state. I have no prints for them and a bunch of relays I think just isolate PLC outputs.On the drive I have outputs from the PLC ... FWD , REV , Fault Reset ,Multi-Speed1, Multi-speed2, Multi-speed3, JOG, and 2 outputs from the drive ,to the PLC, Inverter operation ready and Fault Contact.
I believe that the "ready" output from the drive to the PLC, comes on when the drive stabilizes , and stays on as long as the drive is operating correctly, and the start input to the drive is probably FWD and REV . from the PLC. You can correct me if I am wrong please . I cannot bring in the contactor for the motors till the drive is "ready" or stable..I am trying to keep it simple but there is another set of contactors driven by the PLC for the brakes on the motors and there AUX. contacts are also wired .Since I have no prints for those either , they may be wired to keep the motors from comming on while the brakes are on .The PLC outputs to turn on the brake contactors are also dependant on the drive "ready " input to the PLC.