Thread: New VFD announced by Powtran

Originally Posted by Hoffy

The motor I used is 1.5hp - 1.1kw

Thanks.

Did you reset the current limit on the 2.2kW VFD to suit the 1.1 kW Motor?
If not and you get a jam the motor could overheat or burn out before the VFD kicks in to protect the motor.

No I didn't. At very low revs on one of the the two pulley speed combinations when the torque is low I was able to stall it and after several seconds the VFD cut out. Restarting the VFD all was fine. It is a while since I looked at the specs but I think is has an overload protection built in

A 2.2kW VFD will have a default overload current value to protect a 2.2kW motor so nominally ~10A with a 1.5X overload for a small period of time but this could damage a 1.1kW motor.
If you want to protect the smaller motor the Max current output parameter in the VFD should be edited to suit the motor.

Thanks for that. I'll dig into the set up parameters and see what I can find. I have been into the electronics field for 50 odd years however this is my first time I have done anything with VFD's
I have a brother in law who teaches electrical engineering at a university. If I am stuck I'll contact him. Thanks again for the heads up on a potential problem. I will never go back to a manual speed change again.

Originally Posted by Hoffy

Thanks for that. I'll dig into the set up parameters and see what I can find. I have been into the electronics field for 50 odd years however this is my first time I have done anything with VFD's
I have a brother in law who teaches electrical engineering at a university. If I am stuck I'll contact him. Thanks again for the heads up on a potential problem. I will never go back to a manual speed change again.

No worries - it's a slight risk but one worth implementing. Most old school 3P motor contactor switches have a built in current limiters but these are normally stripped out when a VFD is use leaving the motor without an protection.

Just wondering if anyone has installed a braking resistor on a pi160.

I have a 1.5kw milling machine. I was planning to get a brake resistor but looks like I forgot to order it

If anyone does, can you please confirm the value and power rating?


Russ

Originally Posted by russ57

Just wondering if anyone has installed a braking resistor on a pi160.
I have a 1.5kw milling machine. I was planning to get a brake resistor but looks like I forgot to order it
If anyone does, can you please confirm the value and power rating?

Couple of gotchas
1) You must have a suffix "Z" model 160 to use a breaking resistor on it. eh 1PI160 1R5G1Z
2) the resistance value of the braking resistor (BR) depends on the HP rating off the specific VFD ie the resistance of the BR for a 2HP PI130 won't necessarily be the same for a 2HP PI160

A couple of years back I bought these BRs

1 x 300W, 100R Braking resistor to suit PI160 1R5G1Z
1 x 300W, 400R Braking resistor to suit PI9130A 1R5G3 - this one installed on an RAS @ the mens shed
1 x 300W, 70R Braking resistor to suit PI9130A -2R2G1.

Note how the 300W BR for the 2HP PI9130 is 400Ω but the 300W for the 2HP PI160 is 100Ω

'

Thanks Bob, I do have the Z model, just forgot to order the resistor.

Lots of calculators around but they all require the specified minimum value which is a property of the inverter, unfortunately not specified for the pi160.




Russ

Ps, can you remember the approximate cost?


Russ

Originally Posted by russ57

Ps, can you remember the approximate cost?


Russ

The price for the resistors was something stupid like US$7 - $8 each but at the time shipping was something like US$40!.
At the time (2016) the braking resistors were a 3rd party item and are shipped separately from the original factory.
Don't know what the situation is now.

Just received an email from Stepperonline. This is one of the new items they have for sale. I buy my stepper motors and controllers from them. Very good company to deal with.

https://www.omc-stepperonline.com/st...=5ce73eeccb797

Powtran have sent through their full list of the PI150s available now
The 160's will now be discontinued.
Powtran150.jpg

One excellent improvement to the P1150 and P1500 series is that the fan is now temperature controlled so that constant irritating fan whine is now a thing of the past and only occurs on cooling demand.

Originally Posted by Lappa

Just received an email from Stepperonline. This is one of the new items they have for sale. I buy my stepper motors and controllers from them. Very good company to deal with.

STEPPERONLINE CNC VFD 2.2KW 3HP 11A 220V Variable Frequency ...

Is that a 1ph in / 1ph out?