Powerflex 4 with 2 pole motor

Alastair W

Member
A
Join Date
Oct 2012
Location
Manchester
Posts
4
Hello,

I am having issues with a conveyor motor controlled by a powerflex 4 drive.
The motor is a 2 pole 19w motor, the drive is a powerflex 4. The motor will run for about 50 hours then on of the coils burns out. It has happened several times.
The drive has an input filter, an output choke, the cable is shielded and grounded correctly. When running is pulls the correct current (0.17A, motor rated at 0.2A, overload set to 0.3A).
Does anyone have any ideas? Is there an issue with using 2 pole motors with a PF4 drive?

Cheers
Alastair
 
Alastair W said:
Hello,

I am having issues with a conveyor motor controlled by a powerflex 4 drive.
The motor is a 2 pole 19w motor, the drive is a powerflex 4. The motor will run for about 50 hours then on of the coils burns out. It has happened several times.
The drive has an input filter, an output choke, the cable is shielded and grounded correctly. When running is pulls the correct current (0.17A, motor rated at 0.2A, overload set to 0.3A).
Does anyone have any ideas? Is there an issue with using 2 pole motors with a PF4 drive?

Cheers
Alastair
Click to expand...
What's your motor's voltage, line voltage and ab pf 4 model #?
 
Alastair W said:
When running is pulls the correct current (0.17A, motor rated at 0.2A, overload set to 0.3A).
Does anyone have any ideas? Is there an issue with using 2 pole motors with a PF4 drive?
Click to expand...

The amp draws seem to indicate that this is a very small motor I would suspect that wire lengths more than 30 feet from controller to motor would be an issue with reflected waves.

You mention that the amp rating is .2 amps but you have the "overload" set at .3. By my figures that is 50% over! Are you using the drive for overload protection or are you using external overloads?
 
Always set the FLA in the VFD to the motor nameplate or the nearest lower setting available.

I agree with Mildrone, the VFD thinks the motor can handle 3.0 for up to 60 seconds so it will let it draw that much when it encounters a heavy load.

19 watts = 0.0254794197 horsepower

I have never tried to run a motor smaller than 0.25 HP with a VFD, and yours is 1/10 of that!
 
Last edited:
I have a feeling that 19W is a typo but I have no idea how to accurately calculate the amps...I think my their 1/4HP 460V 4-pole Baldor that I had to put on a drive was a similar FLA.

I suspect 190W, but without knowing the voltage.?.?.?
Maybe it's 91W @ 230VAC?
 
Thanks for replies.
The conveyor is running continuously. The PF4 drive is part number 22A-D1P4N104.
The motor is a Unkermotoren type DR62.0X40-4, wired in delta, 230v 3ph, 19W with a rated current of 0.2A. The FLA setting in the drive is set to 0.2A, the overload setting is 0.3A. The drive is supplied with 3ph 400V, the settings in the drive for output voltage are set to 230V.
The motor cable length is approx 15 meters.
 
Have you tried replacing the VFD?...It might be a dud after all...
What about the motor's cooling...Is it adequate for its functional speed reference?...
 
Last edited:
The drive was replaced after the first motor failed, the same thing happened with the new drive.
The motor has an integral cooling fan on the back of the shaft. Even after running for several hours the motor does not get particularly hot.
 
Alastair W said:
The motor is a Unkermotoren type DR62.0X40-4, wired in delta, 230v 3ph, 19W with a rated current of 0.2A. The FLA setting in the drive is set to 0.2A, the overload setting is 0.3A. The drive is supplied with 3ph 400V, the settings in the drive for output voltage are set to 230V.
The motor cable length is approx 15 meters.
Click to expand...

According to this:

http://www.dunkermotor.com/data/technical_data/motors/pdf/KD-DR_62-0.pdf#page=1

DR 62.0X40-4

Is a 4 pole motor with FLA of 0.13 @ 400V/50Hz/wye. Just being picky, and your particular motor may not match that data sheet.

Alastair W said:
The FLA setting in the drive is set to 0.2A, the overload setting is 0.3A.
Click to expand...

What overload setting? P033 should be set to the FLA.
Is there an external OL relay?

The VFD will allow up to 150% overcurrent for up to 1 minute or 200% for 3 seconds by default. You could set A089 to 0.3A I suppose to enforce current limiting in the drive.

You may also want to set A090 to Max Derate since your drive is rated for twenty times the power of the motor.
 
Is this a new and/or prototype install?
The reason I am asking is that the VFD is some 700% oversized considering the motor's nominal FLA; 22A-D1P4N104 is the "smallest" produced PF4 VFD (1.4A), however, I have the feeling that you might want to consider another inverter, a lot closer in ratings with the actual load.
 
Last edited:
Another thing, just because the motor has class F insulation, doesn't mean it is designed for use with a VFD. A call to the mfg. might nail that down.

And, the service factor isn't listed (that I could tell). Maybe it isn't rated for continuous duty?
 
Just curious… If the motor is 400v and the supply is 400v why do you have the motor wired to 230v and the drive set to output 230v?
Also what is the carrier frequency set at?
 
I have had this bite me before.

The first thing I would do is check the motor settings in the powerflex, especially P031.

It could be that the motor voltage is set wrongly. If you are running a 230v motor make sure it is set to 230v and not 400v.

Mark
 

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