Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post - Paul and Sabrina's Cheap 3 Phase Inverter (AC Controller) with Field Oriented Control

thingstodo · 05-15-2018, 01:06 PM

This is sort of meant for Paul, but I thought others might chime in.

I'm looking for a project that I can do at the Lake on weekends. I have 2 of Paul's AC control boards collecting dust on my shelf (not the one that I may have killed by connecting the 48V pack backward). I'd like to do a brain transplant ...

EDIT - the idea is to load Paul's firmware for a DC to AC inverter, portable 120VAC power. I'd check with 24V or 36V to start, verify the firing is good, adjust the IGBT drivers (if required) or perhaps the capacitance? Damien McGuire has a video on adjusting adjusting 'stuff' on a DC controller to prevent ringing .. I want to see if that happens in the AC controllers as well ... then run a small 120V motor unloaded.

EDIT - so .. to make things transportable .. like in a couple of tool-box sized boxes ...

I have a ... pile .. of old industrial Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) - sort of like AC Controllers that you feed with 3 phase power instead of a battery bank - that I got from work as salvage. Some of them had capacitor faults, some lost the Transient voltage protection, but most were replaced before the power and control had actually failed - the motors they drove were upsized, the VFDs did not communicate with the control system, the keypads stopped working, we blew an analog channel so we could not see what speed the drive was running at in the field ... and the list goes on. Lots of these have visible corrosion but operated when they were pulled. Most have been stored inside for a few years. 3 of them did not fit and were stored outside in the snow

A lot of the smaller VFDs are rated for 5 amps at 575VAC, capacitors for 1000 VDC. Those have a lot of all-in-one type of IGBT packs. I don't have a lot of info on them, but I could likely figure out how to drive them with Paul's control board. Paul's board being the new 'brain' and the existing capacitors, IGBTs, over-voltage protection, etc being the 'brawn'.

The larger VFDs, 10 amp, 20 amp. 50 amp, right up to 350 amp. The ones over 20 amps are single IGBTs per phase. One of the 350 amp VFDs uses transistor technology 2 generations older than IGBT.

I'm thinking of one of the all-in-one IGBT packs or the smallest of the separate IGBT per phase units.

Comments?

05-15-2018, 01:06 PM	#3254 (permalink)
thingstodo Master EcoModder Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Saskatoon, canada Posts: 1,488 Ford Prefect - '18 Ford F150 XLT XTR Tess - '22 Tesla Y LR Thanks: 749 Thanked 565 Times in 447 Posts	Good candidate for 'parts' This is sort of meant for Paul, but I thought others might chime in. I'm looking for a project that I can do at the Lake on weekends. I have 2 of Paul's AC control boards collecting dust on my shelf (not the one that I may have killed by connecting the 48V pack backward). I'd like to do a brain transplant ... EDIT - the idea is to load Paul's firmware for a DC to AC inverter, portable 120VAC power. I'd check with 24V or 36V to start, verify the firing is good, adjust the IGBT drivers (if required) or perhaps the capacitance? Damien McGuire has a video on adjusting adjusting 'stuff' on a DC controller to prevent ringing .. I want to see if that happens in the AC controllers as well ... then run a small 120V motor unloaded. EDIT - so .. to make things transportable .. like in a couple of tool-box sized boxes ... I have a ... pile .. of old industrial Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) - sort of like AC Controllers that you feed with 3 phase power instead of a battery bank - that I got from work as salvage. Some of them had capacitor faults, some lost the Transient voltage protection, but most were replaced before the power and control had actually failed - the motors they drove were upsized, the VFDs did not communicate with the control system, the keypads stopped working, we blew an analog channel so we could not see what speed the drive was running at in the field ... and the list goes on. Lots of these have visible corrosion but operated when they were pulled. Most have been stored inside for a few years. 3 of them did not fit and were stored outside in the snow A lot of the smaller VFDs are rated for 5 amps at 575VAC, capacitors for 1000 VDC. Those have a lot of all-in-one type of IGBT packs. I don't have a lot of info on them, but I could likely figure out how to drive them with Paul's control board. Paul's board being the new 'brain' and the existing capacitors, IGBTs, over-voltage protection, etc being the 'brawn'. The larger VFDs, 10 amp, 20 amp. 50 amp, right up to 350 amp. The ones over 20 amps are single IGBTs per phase. One of the 350 amp VFDs uses transistor technology 2 generations older than IGBT. I'm thinking of one of the all-in-one IGBT packs or the smallest of the separate IGBT per phase units. Comments? __________________ In THEORY there is no difference between Theory and Practice In PRACTICE there IS! Last edited by thingstodo; 05-15-2018 at 03:05 PM.. Reason: Forgot to put in the reason I want to check ...