Variable Speed Drives – top maintenance tips

With temperatures increasing putting more load on your variable speed drive’s cooling system, now is a good time to make sure your drives are in top condition for the summer period to ensure there is no disruption to your production.

Variable Speed Drives (VSD) are used to control motor speed in response to varying process demands in your plant.

The control of the motor speed can be based on feedback from the process; eg: flow rate, temperature or pressure so that process control can be improved.

Due to the ‘magic’ of affinity laws, small decreases in the speed of pumps and fans or the pressure of pumps can lead to large decreases in energy use. For example:

• Using a VSD to reduce the speed of a motor reduces energy consumption by around 50%.
• Using a VSD to reduce the pressure of a pump by 20%, reduces the energy consumption by around 28%.

Key checks include:

• Visual check:
  To make sure the drive is clean, the cooling fan and cooling system are all in good condition. Dust on VSD hardware can cause a lack of airflow, diminishing performance. Dust also absorbs    moisture which can contribute to failure. Connections should also be checked as heat cycles and mechanical vibration can lead to sub-standard connection and cause erratic operation resulting in damage to machinery.
• Settings:
  Parameter settings should be checked and recoded so that if there is a failure, the drive can be easily replaced. EAS utilise Drive Software to enable us to upload the correct settings straight back into your drive to get it up and running as quickly as possible.
• Stocktake of spare parts:
  By performing a stock take of the spare parts available we can ensure that any breakdowns can be handled quickly and efficiently. It also gives the opportunity to identify drives where spare parts are no longer available so that a planned upgrade of the drive can be scheduled where it will be least disruptive to production.

The EAS team have recently completed further training on VSD drives to ensure that they are up-to-speed with maximising a drive’s performance for your process, fault finding and setup processes.

If you need assistance checking your Variable Speed Drives are in top condition – get in touch with the EAS team today on 834 0505.