4 Ways To Reduce VFD Downtime
Channel: InnovativeAutomation
Date: 2014-03-13

4 Ways To Reduce VFD Downtime | http://www.innovativeidm.com/Resources.aspx

Innovative IDM
1625 Wallace Drive, Ste. 110
Carrollton, Texas 75006
Call: 877-906-2100

Transcript:

Hi, I'm Jeff Rogers with Innovative IDM. 

Variable frequency drives are probably one of the
greatest inventions in modern automation.

If you aren't using one of these things yet
trust me you will be soon.

They're always getting less expensive,
easier to use and the applications are virtually
endless. 

Now you can control the speed and the
direction of a motor and save money at the same time.

So, these things are very instrumental in a lot of 
different applications and therefore their uptime is critical.

As you may know if you've ever had to replace one 
before it could be a little bit cumbersome to replace 
and it's always really a race against the clock; 

because it almost certainly means that a motor 
somewhere is not running which is probably meaning 
some down time for you.

So, the first thing that you always want to remember 
about the VFD uptime is that heat is the number one 
VFD killer.

You know heat is the number one killer for any piece 
of electronics for that matter especially VFD's.

These components you have to remember they 
have high voltage running through them. 

So, there could be 480 to 600 volts if you're in the 
Canada market, running through them.

They produce a lot of heat, there are fans inside
these things that are designed to cool.

They also have massive heat sinks on the back that
are used for heat transfer to the cabinet or surrounding 
pieces to keep them cool.

So, the one thing you always must remember is you 
need to let your VFD's breathe. They must stay cool.

Keep the fans running, always keep the fans running.

The first thing that you're probably going to see that's 
going fail in a VFD is the fan, because its always running.

Anytime the VFD is on, the fans are going constantly. 

So, you need to make sure that you have spare fans
on the shelf, you know how to replace them and you 
maintain them.

Make them part of your preventive maintenance 
program, check to make sure that they're running.

Also, the heatsinks themselves can get very dusty
and that dust can build-up a lot of that heat so that 

it can't transfer heat properly and they'll get too hot,
always clean your heatsinks.

The internals of the drive; because there's fans
forcing air through the internals here dust can build up 
inside just like a PC at home.

What do you do to mitigate that? Get a can of 
compressed air and blow that stuff out of there 
every now and then.

Make sure that you keep a VFD cool and it'll always
be happy. 

The next thing is you want to protect your drives from
exposure to heat and contaminants such as dust or 

particulate that may be in your air because of whatever 
process is going on in the nearby environment.

So, you know you want to make sure that the cabinet 
that these are installed in or at least the environment, 
the room that they're in is a controlled environment.
 
Make sure it's not going to get too hot. If you're going 
to put it in a cabinet make sure that NEMA or the IP Rating

on the cabinet is suitable for that environment to keep contaminants away from getting to this piece of equipment.

The third thing that you always remember is that you want to always try to use proper electrical filters whenever possible.

So, there are filters that are designed for use both line side 
which is between the power company and the drive, 

as well as load side which is between the drive and the motor or the load, typically its going to be a motor.

So, there are inductive and capacitive type filters as well 
RFI/EMI type filters that are designed to help these things,

help protect them against power spikes, electromagnetic noise 
that may damage the input or the output side of the drive electronics. 

So, always always try to use proper electrical filters, 
it may cost you a little bit more in the beginning but,
 
you'll be you be a lot better off in the long run because 
it'll prolong the life of the VFD itself.

The fourth thing is that you're going to always want to 
properly maintain the load that this motor is connected to.

For instance, if you're not properly maintaining a motor
and a motor burns up and you know the insulation melts 
inside the motor because it gets too hot;

maybe you didn't grease a bearing or something like that
and it creates a short, that short is going to damage the 
output this drive and could cause the drive itself to fail.

So, always make sure that you're properly maintaining 
downstream equipment, the load that this thing is hooked
up to.

If you have any more questions about this always feel
free to contact us. Call: 877-906-2100 or http://InnovativeIDM.com


4 Ways To Reduce VFD Downtime 
http://youtu.be/AWE9oYa8TZU