allen bradley 160 drives

I have an allen bradley 160 drive model BA01NSF1 that does not work. When monitoring it online, I see a speed reference of 30 hz, but the output voltage is zero, and the drive shows 1.87 amps. The motor will not turn, and the drive faults out momentarily with a OL fault. I also don't measure anything on the output of the drive, so the monitor function appears to be working. My question is this, can I substitute this model drive with say a BA02 OR BA03 model drive, or will this mean doing some configuring in the Devicenet program. By the way, I did fail to mention that the drives are controlled by devicenet. I am reluctant to change the drive to a new style if it means changing some of the configuration. Anybody done this swap of any sorts? Thanks in advance.

Russ

more info

Ok, after a 30 minute break, and some more basic troubleshooting, I know for a fact the drive in question is defunct. The next step I am assuming is to replace it. The old drive was a series B, and the new drive is a series C. The C requires a different Devicenet connector, DN2, rather than the DN1 that was on the crappy drive. I am not familair with making changes in the RSNetworx programs. I am somewhat familiar with monitoring stuff there, but the drive will not communicate I am assuming because the network is looking for a DN1, and we are now using a DN2. If anyone has anything to add here to make the chore go a little quicker, it is always appreciated. I'll keep digging.

Russ

Due to past experiences with nearly the exact same set-up, Look more closely at the motor. If the 160 is showing an attempt to run the motor, the output frequency display (parameter 01) will probably be bouncing around in the 0-5HZ range. If this is the case look at the Acceleration time or look for a mechanical bind preventing the motor from runnimg, maybe uncouple the motor from it's load. If uncoupled the motor will still not accelerate to full speed (but still does some jerky 1/2 turn attempts to run) replace the motor.

I have seen many times, the VFD being replaced, then in RSNetworx a identity mismatch, then when the drive is installed and ready to run it still won't. End result is usually a bad motor. Even though the motor looks good with an ohm-meter. Nothing grounded or obviously shorted.

Let us know what you find!

If you disable the Product Code electronic keying in RSNetworx, as long as you set up the I/O Assembly selections the same in a DN2 as you did in the DN1 the drive will work on the network with no conflicts. Most folks leave the Product Code (which changes with horsepower and interface revision) keyed which results in a mismatch error on the scanlist.

The DN2 parameters *are* different, so you won't just be able to download the DN1 parameters into it. Instead, make an RSNetworx report in HTML and go through it one-by-one.

I'll leave the drive/motor troubleshooting up to those who know more.

more info

Well, after some other trouble shooting techniques, I have come to find out that the drive was the actual problem. I am not sure exactly what is wrong with the drive, because it talks to the network with no problem, and the only fault it shows is an OL. I had already tried the uncoupling trick before it was mentioned. We did end up finding a spare drive and replaced it and had no problems. However, I do need to do some work with RSNetworx learing about setting drve parameters and the like. Thanks both of you for the info. If I learn more, I will be sure to share it.

Russ

Re: more info

russrmartin said:

Well, after some other trouble shooting techniques, I have come to find out that the drive was the actual problem. I am not sure exactly what is wrong with the drive, because it talks to the network with no problem, and the only fault it shows is an OL. I had already tried the uncoupling trick before it was mentioned. We did end up finding a spare drive and replaced it and had no problems. However, I do need to do some work with RSNetworx learing about setting drve parameters and the like. Thanks both of you for the info. If I learn more, I will be sure to share it.

Russ

Click to expand...

We have experience problem like yours but we are not using Allen Bradley...we are using Dynamatic. Even we increase the speed reference on potentiometer, but the hurtz is not matching with the output voltage, always half of the input. Since that drives is again secondhand from USA, we assume the drive itself have a big trouble. So we replace it with a new one....

Do you think that the SCRs or the Thyristors are the cause for this? Because as far as my concerns, Ac drives actually not producing ac voltage rather it is still in dc voltage. What it makes ac voltage is because of the trigerring of the SCRs. The more frequency you set, the Fastest the trigerring of SCR will do. Hope my statement is correct...if anything is wrong with this, you are welcome to correct me...

Thanks

Leo

Probably the most common reason an AC drive faults on OL or overcurrent is failure or degrading of the output transistors.

This is particularly true if the fault remains after removing the motor leads. If the problem clears up with the motor leads off, the most common problem in my experience is insulation failure inside the motor junction box.

After that, its time to get a motor guy to check out the motor windings and, while he's at it, hy-pot the motor leads back to the drive too (be sure the leads are not connected to the drive when hy-potting!).