Industrial Electronics & Drives

Variable-speed drives and industrial power electronics — reading a trip correctly, and separating a genuine drive failure from the load, ramp, cooling or installation defect that caused it. Includes the practices that reliably destroy drives and are still found on live installations.

What this covers

• ▪Drive trips and fault interpretation — VFD Tripping
• ▪DC bus over-voltage and regeneration — VFD Tripping, Solar Inverter DC Bus Fault
• ▪Thermal derating and cooling — Drive Overheating and Thermal Derating
• ▪Motor cable, screening and earth leakage — Motor Cable, Screening and Earth Leakage
• ▪Installation defects that destroy drives — VFD Tripping, Motor Cable, Screening and Earth Leakage
• ▪Capacitor ageing and storage — DC Bus Capacitor Ageing and Reforming

Diagnosis guides

• VFD Tripping — Reading Drive Faults and Finding the Real Cause

  Variable frequency and variable-speed drives on pumps, fans, compressors and conveyors, single- and three-phase input

  9 diagnostic steps · advanced · qualified electrician

• Drive Overheating and Thermal Derating — Why It Trips in the Afternoon

  Variable frequency drives and soft starters in panel and wall mountings, driving pumps, fans, compressors and conveyors

  8 diagnostic steps · intermediate · qualified electrician

• Motor Cable, Screening and Earth Leakage — Nuisance Trips That Are Not Faults

  Variable frequency drive installations of any size, screened and unscreened motor cable, with residual current or earth-leakage protection upstream

  8 diagnostic steps · advanced · qualified electrician

• DC Bus Capacitor Ageing and Reforming — Drives That Sat Too Long

  Variable frequency drives, soft starters, inverters and UPS units using electrolytic DC-link capacitors, in service or held as spares

  8 diagnostic steps · advanced · specialist engineer

Related guides

Filed under another category, but they cover part of the scope above.

• Solar Inverter DC Bus Fault — Over-Voltage, Under-Voltage and Isolation

  in Inverter Repair & Troubleshooting · 8 diagnostic steps

Related categories

• Motor Diagnosis & Rewinding
• PCB & Motherboard Repair
• Inverter Repair & Troubleshooting
• Test Instruments & Measurement