VFD...no joy so far...

[David DeCristoforo]

So I got the VFD and the motor all wired up. Kind of not the way I had originally envisioned the setup and probably not permanent. But I wanted to try and get it running. I was hoping for a simple "turn it on and go" but something is not right. The VFD powers up but the motor seems to be locked up like it does not know which way to turn. I can hear something spinning inside the motor but the shaft does not start spinning. The readout on the VFD reads 21.5 and none of the buttons seem to do anything except the "Run/Stop" button which turns on and off whatever is spinning inside the motor. Input checks out at 220. Motor wiring is correct for 220. All connections are solid. Perplexed....

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[Leo Graywacz]

3 phase motor?

There is nothing inside the motor that will spin unless the shaft is spinning.

[David DeCristoforo]

Yes... 3 hp, 3 ph motor. I can't imagine what would be spinning inside the motor but I can hear something spinning up when the run button is pressed. The shaft, like I said, just kind of locks up. You can turn it one way or the other by hand and feel resistance but it will not spin up.

[Greg Bender]

David,
220 single phase in and 220 3 phase out, are your phase's correct although on most drives it does not matter. Have you toggled through the program and verified the correct values are installed. The motor data plate info might have to be manually inputed. I'm trying to think what we go through with the goofy drives we use in work. Sometimes when a drive has had power removed for a long time it tend's to lose the program info and is lost to starting the motor. Can you manually jog the motor at all using the drive controlls? I will check into it tomorrow with our programming guys.
Greg

[David DeCristoforo]

I have checked all of the connections on the input side and they are "phased" correctly. voltages check out as well. I also tried reversing two of the 3ph leads but it does the same thing. I have not gone into the program mode because I haven't a clue where to start there. I'm not sure which functions to check but I was led to believe that this should work, using the control panel buttons, "out of the box" with the factory default settings.

[Richard Coers]

You aren't saying anything about programming the controller. Have you done that? You should be able to get that from the dealer where you bought it, or maybe someone on here will have the procedure for you. These are definitely not plug in and go. Nothing can be spinning in the motor, unless it's a motor that The Men in Black provided. Then there be a really small alien craft in there.

[David DeCristoforo]

I'm not saying that there is something spinning, only that it sounds like there is. I can hear it "spin up" when I hit the "run" button on the VFD.

[Richard Coers]

Maybe this will help. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0peL4xPBbwU

[Dale Miner]

I'm not saying that there is somethreceiving voltage to two of the three legs.ing, only that it sounds like there is. I can hear it "spin up" when I hit the "run" button on the VFD.

Have you taken a volt meter to the output leads while the motor is humming?

What you are describing sounds like a three phase motor that is only recieving voltage to two of the three legs.

[Harry Robinette]

DD
I just put a VFD and 2hp 3h motor on my 18" General. When I first tried to run it, it wouldn't I found out that you have to input something like 5 perimeters something like rpm,hp,ph 1 or 3. Very easy to do it was in the booklet I got with the VFD from Automation Direct.

[Dennis Ford]

I suspect that Harry is correct. I have set up a few (not Delta) and their instructions called for basic parameters to be set before running the motor. There are many parameters that have factory defaults but may be some that do not have a default.

[Josh Bowman]

Have you taken a volt meter to the output leads while the motor is humming?

What you are describing sounds like a three phase motor that is only receiving voltage to two of the three legs.

David, piggy backing on Dale's post. Is that motor used? Can you have it tested on another VFD? I've read though your FM50 manual now several times and can't find any of the "F" codes that should prevent start, except for the low end frequency which looks like is set to 21.5 which is about 1/4 of full speed for the motor. I know when I had to wire my motors junction box, not the 3 phase power in, but the 6 winding on the motor itself. It was a royal pain. These motors typically have 6 coils inside the motor that are wired together in the junction box. You can break all these connections and check each of the six coils with an ohm meter. But the simple check is to check it on another working VFD or 3 phase power supply.
If you want to insure your VFD is setup to factory specs, Per page 47 of the manual you can put the FM50 back to 60 hz factory settings by Pushing the Dsp/Fun button once, press the arrow keys until F25 is displayed, press the Data/Ent button then use the arrow keys to display 020, then press the Data/Ent again to save and all parameters are restored to factory settings. Which is the settings of F_05 = 4 (how the unit monkeys with voltage and freq to start the motor and F_06 = 60 (this keeps the motors maximum speed at 60% of nameplate).

[David DeCristoforo]

It is a used motor and it might not work I guess! Here is a recording of what it sounds like when I hit the run button:

http://www.daviddecristoforo.com/Misc/motor.aiff

The only way I can test this motor is to unmount it and take it to a motor shop which I will do if nothing else works.

Do I need to set the lower frequency? I can try that and see if it makes any diff...

[Josh Bowman]

David, the sound bite you posted sounds like a running motor!!!! You don't think the output shaft is broken do you???

[David DeCristoforo]

I don't think the shaft is broken! It isn't like the shaft spins free. There is resistance if you try to turn by hand and it will rotate as if there were "detents" caused by the magnetic energy in the motor coils. But it won't spin. It just makes that sound. It really does not sound like a running 3hp motor!