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I've updated the title as "CLOSED" because the thoughtful responses have answered my naive question. I did quite a bit of research yesterday and this research, combined with the forum feedback helped me to realize that connecting a VFD directly to a receptacle is NOT a practical approach!

Thank you for the help on this, I'm going to wire the VFD, along with the suggested protective devices, directly to the motor as outlined in the technical documentation accompanying the Teco/Westinghouse L510 VFD.

Finally, thanks for graciously suffering this foolish question!

Original Question: I need to power a KF 324 Piccolo (which is a Swiss machine for forming sheet metal). The specifications on the motor are: 230V, 2.2 kW, 3-phase, Delta, 1450 RPM, Power Factor = 0.78 (or possibly 0.79 the engraving on the data plate is difficult to read), 7.9 A.

I'm going to use an L510-203-H1-U VFD which my buddy uses on a similar machine, but his is an older model. I haven't opened the control box on my unit yet (I'm not physically near the machine at the moment), but I suspect that my model is already equipped with a contactor, and a motor overload relay, and possibly even soft-start circuitry unlike my friend's older model.

Is it possible to set up the VFD to simply power a receptacle so my machine will still think that it resides in Switzerland and was simply plugged into a Swiss three-phase outlet? Naturally, I would disable any soft-start, braking, and auto-restart (after power interruption) on the VFD.

AlphaBob
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  • VFDs are designed to drive motors only. If your Piccolo machine (no datasheet link supplied) has electronics, transformers, etc., this wouldn't end well. – Transistor Aug 26 '23 at 15:10
  • Unless you're very lucky you won't get an authoratative, dependable answer to your question here. You must have checked with the manufacturers without getting a satisfactory answer. The odds of getting one elsewhere aren't better. It doesn't seem that there's much at stake. If you fry the VFD you'd be out about $300, and it's less likely you'd zap the motor. A motor wouldn't be much more expensie than the VFD and you should notice a bad smell or smoke before it dies. Your time - even the time you've spent so far- must be worth more. Be brave. – stretch Aug 26 '23 at 15:30

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A VFD is intended for motor control only and not for powering electrical / electronic equipment.

The high harmonic content in the VFD output would be detrimental to the equipment electronics.

vu2nan
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