Brandon_K
Member
The title pretty much says it all. I have very little experience with VFD's, but it's something I want to learn more about (primarily because I have a project coming up where I think one will be of good use, that is to vibrate a jet-ski in a themed environment to simulate that it's running (poorly)).
My only experience previously was to drive a "vortex tunnel" in a haunted attraction (here's a good video of a somewhat typical build and the effect that you get from it; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_jnKBIvTK4)
Originally mine was driven with a gear motor, but due to a flood it needed to be replaced. So I replaced it with a 1/2hp motor and GS1 drive from Automation Direct. 1ph 120v input, 3ph output. No fuses, no line reactors. I had a few simple pushbuttons wired up for start and stop, as well as some E-stops in place. I learned a little about ramping speeds and such. Basically, I was able to experience the minimum of what one should know about VFD's.
Now I'm going to use one with a off-balance weight to produce some vibration for the jet-ski. I'll probably use a 1/4hp motor and a GS2 drive. The motor won't run often, say 5 minutes once an hour at best.
My question is, how important are line reactors? My previous setup for my haunted attraction ran for ~5 hours a night for 32 nights straight for 4 years now. That's not to say that I don't need them, but that setup has worked flawlessly. I guess at this point I'm trying to learn a bit more about the engineering side of it, as well as the control side of it. I'll be using a P2K to control it over their GS Drive bus.
My only experience previously was to drive a "vortex tunnel" in a haunted attraction (here's a good video of a somewhat typical build and the effect that you get from it; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_jnKBIvTK4)
Originally mine was driven with a gear motor, but due to a flood it needed to be replaced. So I replaced it with a 1/2hp motor and GS1 drive from Automation Direct. 1ph 120v input, 3ph output. No fuses, no line reactors. I had a few simple pushbuttons wired up for start and stop, as well as some E-stops in place. I learned a little about ramping speeds and such. Basically, I was able to experience the minimum of what one should know about VFD's.
Now I'm going to use one with a off-balance weight to produce some vibration for the jet-ski. I'll probably use a 1/4hp motor and a GS2 drive. The motor won't run often, say 5 minutes once an hour at best.
My question is, how important are line reactors? My previous setup for my haunted attraction ran for ~5 hours a night for 32 nights straight for 4 years now. That's not to say that I don't need them, but that setup has worked flawlessly. I guess at this point I'm trying to learn a bit more about the engineering side of it, as well as the control side of it. I'll be using a P2K to control it over their GS Drive bus.