AC Drives... Which is the best?

[rsdoran]

I do not know all the details specifically but it had to be more than buying back a label because Magnetek quit having a drive division after that.

I had the good fortune about this time to have a Magnetek DC Drive fail on a flexo press. Magnetek no longer supported or serviced the DC drives, we had to goto an electrical supplier. I can not remember the company name now but maybe you know who they are. This outfit hired some of the Magnetek people when the drive division closed.

Anyway, the system had some specific or proprietary type communication modules which made us have to stay with Magnetek. I remember part of it was ArcNet but there was something else that I can not remember. I never dealt with a drive like this, they had to "pre-program" it before it could be user programmed. I got the drive and installed the parameters that were in the original drive and it did not work, the tech had to come in because he did not "pre-program" it right. This was a 5HP drive and the cost was, I think, $12,000; which I thought was high. I said, I think, because my memory is failing me in my old age, that 2 may have been a 7 i.e. $17,000. It was a very demeaning experience with a week or more of downtime involved.

None of this is actually relevant to the original post but I like telling these stories in case someone runs into a similar situation.

 

[CT782]

I have had experience with Reliance, Yaskawa, Magnetek, Caratron, SEW, Eurotherm, Lenze, AC Tech, Siemens, Fuji, Omron, Hitachi, Emerson, Danfoss, and probably 10 more I can't remember. They all had their advantages and disadvantages, except Lenze. I do not like Lenze drives. They even feel 'cheap' in your hand before installation. We use Lenze, SEW, Siemens, and Danfoss at my curent facility. They all work well except for the Lenze's. We've replaced most of them once already and are working on the second round. Of course they speculate everything from bad power quality to heat problems causing the failures, but all of the SEW and Danfoss drives are working beautifully in the same or worse conditions.


Anyway, my 2 cents.
Regards,
Chris

 

[Tom Jenkins]

We use mainly 100 hp and above, some 6 pulse and many 18 pulse. I have had bad luck with Robicon (now Siemens), and I am not incredibly impressed with GE. Older Square D's did not impress me, but the newer models may be OK - I haven't had any exposure to them but on paper they look good.

My short list always includes Cutler Hammer, Allen Bradley, and ABB. I've had decent luck with Magnetek too and Yasakawa (sp?).

There is no best; there are many good VFDs, a few turkeys, and probably some in between.

 

[DickDV]

Most of you know I rep ABB drives but, here's my two cents worth.

The best drive for you is the one that has the best local sales, tech support, and delivery. That's as long as you know what level of sophistication is necessary for your application or a local tech support person is right there to help you with it.

In a field cluttered with about 100 brands, some of them relabels, I would say there is about six on top and six on the bottom. Everything else is somewhere in between.

And yes, I have an opinion on who the six and six are but it probably doesn't matter, prejudiced as I am!

 

[jstolaruk]

What do you think of Lenze

My last installation with Lenze / AC TEch has been a disaster. The project manager chose them because of price and I warned him about "you get what you pay for". Thankfully, the s/w has proven itself out so I haven't had to deal with it; the project manager has. Otherwise I would have replaced them with another brand months ago.

 

[Clay B.]

My last installation with Lenze / AC TEch has been a disaster. The project manager chose them because of price and I warned him about "you get what you pay for". Thankfully, the s/w has proven itself out so I haven't had to deal with it; the project manager has. Otherwise I would have replaced them with another brand months ago.

Now I have had good luck with the Ac-tech drives for small simple apps. For bigger stuff I do like ABB.

Speaking burns like Ron had.
I worked for a compnay that had an older (around 7 years) Allen Bradly VFD. One night the SCR's decide to go pop. Called Ab to see what could be done and they said quick fix is a crash cart (NEW SCR's plus some other minor items) price $12,000. So I get the parts and install and another SCR from the new set pops 48 hours later. By the time the SCR's pop the second time I have already been pricing a new drive. Well I figure I will get some replacement parts from AB since the parts went out so quickly. Answer from AB. We do not warenty parts placed into older drives unless a "Certified" tech installs them. Well I called around and got the parts I needed from a local junk shop. Aparently he had a surplus of AB drives.

New drive was an ABB. That was 5 years ago and it is still running.

Note: Several drive makers do this. If they do not have their people install the drive then they will not warenty it.

ABB was and I assume still is the exception to this. Their rep put it in writing they would warenty the drive even if I did the install. To me that speaks for the drive big time.


Hey anybody remeber TB Woods drives?

 

[monkeyhead]

I've only got experience with Yaskawa, AB, and Mitsubishi.

The Yaskawa V7 seems to be a hearty little drive that can take a good beating. I've yet to replace one. It definately gets a thumbs up in my book. We even discovered that one of them rated for 3/4 hp was driving a 2hp motor for several years with it's current limit jacked up all the way, and it's never suffered any ill effects.

AB 160 drives sucks... I'v replaced tons of these and a little power outage will kill them. I like the parameter set on them though. The Powerflex drives seem to be alright. We've got Powerflex 4 and 70. The powerflexes are all less than 3 years old though, so I guess time will tell.

I can't remember what model Mitsubishi we use. The parameter set is a pain, but the drives themselves seem to be real workhorses.

 

[yxannes]

SEW makes great motors. But I have many bad experiences with their Movidrive A.

I heard Movidrive B is an improvement? Comments anyone?

I also had a Control Technique that is running well.

 

[HansAndersen]

Of course, Control tecniques is best and I like Danfoss.

 

[emokar]

my choice between those brands is ABB. My company is a system integrator of ABB. We rarely have problems..

Control Tecniques is fine , too... Once i have seen a CT drive working in a factory where our ABB drive could stand no more than 3 weeks. /that place was hell,really/

I have observed so far that everybody hates Siemens inverters..

And after your replies i found out that , brands that are used widely change very much from one country to another.
For instance , Telemecanique sells quite big numbers of drives in Turkish market but nobody mentioned it. i have never heard some brands you mentioned!

 

[SimonGoldsworthy]

I have observed so far that everybody hates Siemens inverters..

I have used the MasterDrive VC/MC/SC range in the main and would happily recommend them. Of course five years of familiarity means I (and others who work with me) can make them sing any tune we like relatively quickly. (had another manufacturer been chosen at the outset, I'm sure I would feel the same about them now)

 

[PeterW]

I have used the MasterDrive VC/MC/SC range in the main and would happily recommend them. Of course five years of familiarity means I (and others who work with me) can make them sing any tune we like relatively quickly. (had another manufacturer been chosen at the outset, I'm sure I would feel the same about them now)

The same as I've been saying about PLC's, familiarity always tips the balance when it comes to preferences.

 

[emokar]

familarity is an important criteria , of course.
i havent come across too many Siemens drive problems , but i have listened lots of people complaining about them. They say Siemens drives are not user-friendly. There are too many parameters , majority of which seem to be useless. practically, that is true.

 

[Leadfoot]

..... There are too many parameters , majority of which seem to be useless. practically, that is true.

Today's "SIMPLE" drives can have 350 to 500 parameters. A customer installed a VT specific drive and was intimadated by all of the parameters. I set it for 4-20ma reference, motor FLA and Lowered the carrier to 2k due to long lead lengths and said to run it. Rarely do I have to set more than 5 parameters for stand alone drives.

Having all of those "OPTIONS" is nice, but it is tiresome having to explain to the customers that you need to set just a couple of them in 99.99% of the time.

BTW, TB WOODS is alive and showing up routinely.

 

[jjkisner]

Toshiba is what I have used the most.
Easy to use and good service people when you need help.