Hard to find Accessroies.....

[StarCat]

I am looking at 2 different perspective drives for a retrofit. Formerly I had a sales guy at one particular shop send me a link showing an " outboard " start-stop-speed control box that could be integrated with certain types of drives. I asked him again yesterday to provide me with the link, he avoided the question and I cannot find the unit on their websight. It still could be there in some obscure place. A good bit of the Documentation on some of these drives is very poorly worded, making it difficult to penetrate. In this case I am leaning towards a TECO Westinghouse drive because it has the Analog speed control built in, while the Yaskawa drive was the first unit I was looking at the Tech manual on, and while seemingly well built is not easy to configure. The Yaskawa manual specifies a value for a speed control pot but says nothing at all about where you might obtain one. So I guess one could buy the right value trim pot and put some 22mm operators in a small panel and build up your own control center. Links and suggestions are good. Also it would be good to find a high quality 3 HP drive in a smaller case than what ABB is currently building.
I like their product, but its too large for roll around pumps carts in real terms. Any reviews on Leeson or TECO are helpful.
KB Electronics I would not give a thin dime for. Horrible reliability.

SC

 

[kwired]

I believe there are several drives out there where you can remove the display/keypad and use an extension cable to connect them to a remote location. Or are you interested in something different than that?

 

[StarCat]

Options

Options

I believe there are several drives out there where you can remove the display/keypad and use an extension cable to connect them to a remote location. Or are you interested in something different than that?

I really need the analog speed control in this case.

 

[kwired]

I really need the analog speed control in this case.

Simple potentiometer (mostly seen them specify either 5 or 10 kohms) and three wire cable (shielding maybe a necessity in some cases) is all that is usually needed, then set proper parameters to enable that function. Second cable for a simple selector switch for on/off control or even FWD/OFF/REV - again need to set proper parameters to enable that function most of the time. Simple on/off switch between "enable" terminals sort of can be a default method of controlling it with no additional setting of parameters in most cases, but speed control often is by default from the keypad settings.

 

[Jraef]

Roll around pump carts, so are you looking for a NEMA 4 drive with an external pot built-in? That's available from a few suppliers but I don't like them because it's difficult to get a good long lasting seal on the shaft of the pot without making it difficult to rotate. It can be done with standard pilot device operators like the 22 or 30mm industrial stuff, but not for the inexpensive and tiny OEM pots they put on factory built drives. Still, some VFD mfrs do it because the demand is there, I just don't trust them any more after a few field failures. They tend to outlast the warranty, but not by much.

If NEMA 4 is not the issue for you, and you still want a pre-made remote control box to be wired to the VFD, you can often find them in the "crane control" sections of most of the manufacturers as crane control pendants. But they don't usually put pots on crane pendants, they will use an Up-Down button and program the VFD to accept what's referred to as an "MOP" function that emulates a Motor Operated Pot. Most VFDs allow that as a speed control option. So as long as you hold down the Up button to an input, the speed goes Up, then holds at wherever it was when you let go. Down is the opposite of course. In some mfrs lines however you can order a basic pendant with a 22mm extra hole and add your own pot. The problem is the wiring; the pot circuit needs to be shielded, the others don't.

I've seen several versions of the remote pendant for VFDs with a pot built-in, most of them come and go off the market because people figure out that they can make their own for a lot less.

 

[StarCat]

Spot On

Spot On

Roll around pump carts, so are you looking for a NEMA 4 drive with an external pot built-in? That's available from a few suppliers but I don't like them because it's difficult to get a good long lasting seal on the shaft of the pot without making it difficult to rotate. It can be done with standard pilot device operators like the 22 or 30mm industrial stuff, but not for the inexpensive and tiny OEM pots they put on factory built drives. Still, some VFD mfrs do it because the demand is there, I just don't trust them any more after a few field failures. They tend to outlast the warranty, but not by much.

If NEMA 4 is not the issue for you, and you still want a pre-made remote control box to be wired to the VFD, you can often find them in the "crane control" sections of most of the manufacturers as crane control pendants. But they don't usually put pots on crane pendants, they will use an Up-Down button and program the VFD to accept what's referred to as an "MOP" function that emulates a Motor Operated Pot. Most VFDs allow that as a speed control option. So as long as you hold down the Up button to an input, the speed goes Up, then holds at wherever it was when you let go. Down is the opposite of course. In some mfrs lines however you can order a basic pendant with a 22mm extra hole and add your own pot. The problem is the wiring; the pot circuit needs to be shielded, the others don't.

I've seen several versions of the remote pendant for VFDs with a pot built-in, most of them come and go off the market because people figure out that they can make their own for a lot less.

JR you are spot on about the " Longevity " of said components. I would look for a spare part when buying the drive or build up the remote box myself if time permitted. The other thing that fails very quick is some of those low end Keypads.

 

[StarCat]

Example

Example

JR you are spot on about the " Longevity " of said components. I would look for a spare part when buying the drive or build up the remote box myself if time permitted. The other thing that fails very quick is some of those low end Keypads.

Here is a very pricey example in a plastic box no less....
https://www.larsonelectronics.com/p...ion-2-24v-momentary-red-green-pbs-rotary-dial

 

[ptonsparky]

Here is a very pricey example in a plastic box no less....
https://www.larsonelectronics.com/p...ion-2-24v-momentary-red-green-pbs-rotary-dial

Well, I guess I have been undercharging...holy smokes that has to be one good plastic box!

 

[drktmplr12]

I am looking at 2 different perspective drives for a retrofit. Formerly I had a sales guy at one particular shop send me a link showing an " outboard " start-stop-speed control box that could be integrated with certain types of drives. I asked him again yesterday to provide me with the link, he avoided the question and I cannot find the unit on their websight. It still could be there in some obscure place. A good bit of the Documentation on some of these drives is very poorly worded, making it difficult to penetrate. In this case I am leaning towards a TECO Westinghouse drive because it has the Analog speed control built in, while the Yaskawa drive was the first unit I was looking at the Tech manual on, and while seemingly well built is not easy to configure. The Yaskawa manual specifies a value for a speed control pot but says nothing at all about where you might obtain one. So I guess one could buy the right value trim pot and put some 22mm operators in a small panel and build up your own control center. Links and suggestions are good. Also it would be good to find a high quality 3 HP drive in a smaller case than what ABB is currently building.
I like their product, but its too large for roll around pumps carts in real terms. Any reviews on Leeson or TECO are helpful.
KB Electronics I would not give a thin dime for. Horrible reliability.

SC

From what I understand, Danfoss's HMI is one of the best and easiest to use. I'm not suggesting that you don't need the analog dial, only another possibility. I've also heard their drives are very reliable, but can't speak to that based on personal experience. There are only a handful of water/wastewater installations with Danfoss around but the Owners claiming to have them have been very happy with the drives (~2-5 years ownership).

Their drives group stopped by recently to show us their new VLT AQUA drive (for water/wastewater) which is just a repackaged VLT with pump control features you may or may not be interested in. Specifically they have put many resources into a NEMA 4X enclosed drive with pretty small form factor.

They also have a drive that mounts directly to the motor for small HP applications: https://www.danfoss.com/en-us/produ...rands-dds=vlt,applications=pumps#tab-overview I figure the space savings might make it easier to have a small control station with start, stop, and speed control operators.

Their VLT line: https://www.danfoss.com/en-us/produ...sort&filter=brands-dds=vlt,applications=pumps

nema 4X enclosed drive: https://www.danfoss.com/en-us/produ...rands-dds=vlt,applications=pumps#tab-overview

Best of luck.