Thread: New VFD announced by Powtran

Originally Posted by Flintlock

Is that a 1ph in / 1ph out?

Screen Shot 2019-09-06 at 2.53.26 pm.jpg

Originally Posted by Flintlock

Is that a 1ph in / 1ph out?

No, if you click thru the link and look at the pics it shows 1ph in 3ph out
Edit: and I got trapped by not seeing that there were other messages on the next page before i replied.... Sorry for the repeats

Thanks guys.

Does anyone have a clear understanding of what the key differences between the PI150 and PI500A are with respects to providing variable speed to a lathe? I've poured over the manuals but can't for the life find any differences that matter.

The best I can tell, they both offer vector drive and the ability to add a braking resistor.

The A series is a slightly reduced instruction set. More to do with comms and specific instruction sets (like for a pressure pump) I think. The A series is cheaper and fine for a lathe.
Also the A series doesn't offer closed loop vector control. I presume it lacks the feedback card.

Originally Posted by LanceC

Does anyone have a clear understanding of what the key differences between the PI150 and PI500A are with respects to providing variable speed to a lathe? I've poured over the manuals but can't for the life find any differences that matter.

The best I can tell, they both offer vector drive and the ability to add a braking resistor.

From what I can tell, in terms of basic operating parameters for a small lathe, there's no significant difference.

The other differences are
- greater range of higher power models in the 500 range, 240V goes to 5.5kw for the 500, only 2.2kW for the 150. Even more in the 3P rNGE.
- VFD case fully enclose mains electrical terminals on the 500, mains electrical are partially exposed on the 150 (technically then requiring an enclosure0
- the 500 has the speed control and programming knob - sounds dumb but is a worthwhile feature.
- the 500 has a greater range of parameters but the extras aren't essential for lathe operation.

Originally Posted by NCArcher

Also the A series doesn't offer closed loop vector control.

So much for vector control being vector control. This did send me off on another bit of research though, and now understand(ish) the difference between open and closed vector control, based on this source which I thought explained it rather well for my level of knowledge.