Power factor is a measurement of reactive power and is the VA used to establish the magnetic field in an AC motor. It only occurs in AC circuits and has no units, being described as a ratio – a number between minus 1 and plus 1. The Effect Inverters Have On Power Factor Correction Equipment … Continue reading →
Here at IDS, we carry £400k worth of new inverter stock. This is to support our customers whose production needs to be kept going 24/7. But what do we consider when storing inverters? Here are a few answers: How to Store Inverters Inverters need a cool, dry, dust free environment. They are power electronic devices … Continue reading →
Variable speed drives (VSDs) are renowned for being reliable and robust devices. If properly and regularly maintained there is no reason why a VSD will not function for 20-plus years. Yet the replacement VSD market is growing at some 40 percent per annum. Andy Preston, UK Drives Product Manager, ABB Limited, suggests a reason why. … Continue reading →
On the 5th December Inverter Drive Systems (IDS) played host for the ABB AVP Drive Expert Day. The day was a mixture of technical training, new features and best practices. We hosted fellow AVP’s Sentridge Control and Central Group and were joined by ABB Drive Experts: Andy Preston, from ABB UK and Arnold Taddeo and … Continue reading →
Don’t make the mistake of dismissing VSDs as nothing more than motor controllers, says ABB’s Carl Turbitt. To use a drive merely to start and stop a motor and alter its speed is to miss the huge cost saving potential built within the product. Panels containing control gear for air handling units, fans and pumps … Continue reading →
Most users buy a variable speed drive (VSD) to start/ stop a motor and make it go faster/ slower. Very few know about the other functionality within their drive. Stuart Foster, UK Water Manager – Drives, ABB Limited, gives an insight. 1. Adaptive programming Some VSDs contain a feature called adaptive programming. The programme is … Continue reading →
Thirty years ago, DC motors were the workhorse of industry when variable speed was required. These were found in many applications including mine winders, extrusion applications and the steel industry. However, they needed a maintenance schedule including regular brush changes and carbon removal from the windings. Every so often, a major overhaul was required in … Continue reading →
At the Smurfit Kappa facility in March, Cambridgeshire, there are three reel transport systems to carry heavy drums of paper into the corrugator machine that produces cardboard. When one of the systems travels empty, everything is fine; however, when it travels carrying a heavy drum of paper the momentum from the load may cause the … Continue reading →
When a motor is started is draws a large amount of electric current as it accelerates to full speed. This sudden demand for current can lead to voltage dips and other undesirable effects. The Difference Between A Soft Starter And A Variable Speed Drive Soft starts and variable speed drives can both be used to … Continue reading →
In this article, Blaise Ford, MD of Inverter Drive Systems, answers a question we are frequently asked: Are Inverters Phase Sensitive? Blaise explains: “Inverters take single or three phase mains, rectify it and then chop it up again to give variable frequency, variable voltage output. The three phase rotation, brown-black-grey or brown-grey-black, is lost when … Continue reading →
