Source for ABB ACS drive repair manual / schematic?

In case no-one noticed my attempt to hijack the 10EE motor thread, does anyone have or know where I can get a service / repair manual or schematic for the ABB ACS-301-4P9-3 VFD? I have it up and working (spins the drive, speed control and fwd/rev work) but DHL managed to drop it (from quite a height) in transit and there's no DC to the control/programming panel so I can't get in and set the various motor and braking parameters... The control board (not the programming panel, the top board in the main unit) is all surface-mount and multi-layer, and is going to be a sod to trace, although no so hard to add a few repair jumper-wires if I can find what's broken and where.

I've tried ABB's UK distributors, their answer was "we don't keep spares/manuals/schematics for anything that old so buy a new one"!

I'd rather not, as it's oldish and so has been easily hacked to fool it into thinking it has 415V in and thus it can run the Difficult Motor in my Holbrook (England's Monarch?) C13 - 415v only, 3-phase, 3 sets of windings for the 3 speeds - and, of course, I'm cheap ;) and broke :(

Thanks all, Dave H.

Reply to
Dave H.
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I noticed -- but I can't help, so I stayed quite.

That may have been the case for many others.

Good Luck, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

Oh well, no alternative, it'll have to be out with the stereo 'scope and soldering iron... Rats!

Fortunately it can't be much as everything else works, I suspect a component cracked / solder joint parted with the several G's of deceleration... Possibly where the programmer plugs into the board

Thanks anyhow, Dave H.

Reply to
Dave H.

I suspect that service manuals for this type of industrial equipment may only be available to authorized service centers.

It's possible that any used VFD may have had a fault before it was subjected to mechanical shock, so the fault may now be a combination of faults.

Milti-layer boards such as computer motherboards are more difficult to find cracks on, but double-sided single layer boards are fairly easily inspected with a bright light source behind the board.. a high brightness LED may work well, but a high powered LED (not just numerous HB types) will definitely work.

General close inspection procedures follow, and a good magnifier lamp is very helpful. A quality handheld magnifier may be sufficient with exceptionally good lighting (not just glare into your eyes).

The heavier objects in the unit are most susceptable to mechanical shock damage. Production soldering techniques may be fairly good in industrial equipment, but minor defects may still get passed over in testing/burn-in phases.

Typical procedures generally involve disassembly and reseating of all internal connectors, and checking for loose hardware.

Paper and notes can be critical to proper re-assembly. Some folks use digital cameras to record details.

If trouble spots aren't found with the previous steps, circuit troubleshooting often involves checking various circuit paths in the unit without power applied, typically making schematic drawings and educated guesses along the way.

Much of the electronic equipment manufactured in recent years fails without any obvious signs to be spotted on a casual visual inspection.. many of the "smart machines" designed recently just fail to operate when component faults arise.

Reply to
Wild_Bill

Hence asking on the group, never know what pirated materials folks have ;)

Well, I saw it working (admittedly driving an A/C fan installation with a

4HP motor, not on a lathe) before I bought, and it was all OK then...

Yup, I usually use a 20W halogen desklamp or two behind the board and my trusty stereo 'scope if investigating SMT boards - my old eyes ain't what they was!

Done all that, the ABBs are pretty ruggedly constructed generally (diecast-alloy chassis, sturdy standoffs and big screws for the boards etc.) - I suspect there may be cracking or a short in the solder / PCB tracks behind the connector for the programming panel (a surface-mount RJ12 jack) as that would have taken quite a knock when it was dropped - the rest of it benefitted from the ABS case "crumple zone"... Luckily I can hide it inside the machine base out of reach of swarf and inquisitive fingers and mount the programming panel remotely on the end of a cable - and the case glued / fibreglassed back together well, despite being a 200-piece jigsaw puzzle.

Pretty easy really - chassis/heatsink with flyleads from the power devices, two stacked boards with captive connectors, a few mutually-exclusive ribbon connectors, can't go wrong ;)

What I suspect is that a minor component or three (with tiny, obscure SMD part numbers on) in the supply to the panel may have popped due to a short developed by the physical damage - this is where a schematic would be really handy! Having a bench supply handy, I powered the control panel and all appears well - the LCD display (newly replaced, original was cracked in transit...) comes up complaining of lost comm's to the VFD, button-presses produce TTL-level data on the serial output etc.

Well, at least it was working *before* it was drop-tested! It still powers up, spins a motor, speeds up and slows down, starts stops and reverses etc., gives a nice friendly green status light, so it looks like the power to the programming/display panel's all that's knackered :) The panel was an optional extra, so it works at (presumably) factory default settings without it - I just want to change a few of those settings!

Looks like tomorrow's free time, such as it is, will be allocated to some serious squinting and head-scratching...

Dave H.

Reply to
Dave H.

Dave, first things first, did you call Allen Bradley?

i
Reply to
Ignoramus32694

Sounds like you're confusing Allen Bradley with ABB (Asea Brown Boveri) see

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Reply to
David Billington

AB is Allen Bradley. ABB is a swedish outfit.

Pete Keillor

Reply to
Pete Keillor

My apologies!

i
Reply to
Ignoramus16525

OK, sorry. You guys piqued my interest. Isn't this the manual? http://96.61.63.50/techlib/ABB/ABB_ACS300_Users_Manual.pdf

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On page 13 it has an explanation of model numbers and shows ACS 301.

Dave's ACS 301 4P9 means 5 HP with internal RF filter wall mounted. i

Reply to
Ignoramus16525

Sorry, I now realize that Dave wanted a repair manual!

i
Reply to
Ignoramus16525

ABB has a factory near here that makes water meters.

Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

Thanks anyway Iggy, but I have that one! My old deflicted eyes have a hard time with surface mount boards, hence the longing for a schematic...

Anyone who needs 3HP of 415V(ish) from their 220/240V single-phase supply can use one of these for the job, just be sure you choose one you can derate

30% or so - easy hack, ask me how if you'd like to know!

Dave H.

Reply to
Dave H.

They have factories everywhere it seems, perhaps from buying up smaller outfits? I think the head office is in Switzerland, probably for tax reasons as I assume it'd be a bit expensive to manufacture the stuff there!

Dave H.

Reply to
Dave H.

Dave,

Have a look here for some background

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. ASEA were Swedish, and Brown Boveri and Cle were Swiss so I guess the just stayed largely where they were.

The corporate affairs is interesting as the purchase of US company Combustion Engineering almost bankrupted them because of asbestos liabilities, I wonder if they turned that up in due diligence prior to purchase.

Reply to
David Billington

A lot of them operate under other names, but include ABB.

Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

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