Scary noise coming from my newly wired VFD to PM1236T motor

.LMS.

Lathe Noob
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I did some very basic wiring of my Hitachi VFD to my new lathe, shooting to successfully get through the "powerup test" described on page 2-23 of the hitachi manual.

wiring as such:
  • 240 volts to the VFD's L and N terminals, ground to the VFDs ground, verified it's 240 to the VFD.
  • U V AND W OF the VFD to U V and W of the motor, and grounded
Programming via the keypad was pretty straighforward, but a couple of the displays called out in the book didn't quite match the VFD display.
  • At A082 (AVR voltage select), the book says the dsiplay should say A230 or A400 depending on 200 or 400 class, but mine showed actual voltages, and I scrolled through till I hit my motor nameplate voltage (220) and pressed set.
  • At B012 (thermal overload setting) the book says I should see B160 on the display, but I see the inverter's current rating (8.0a) and the range of values is 0.0-8.0. Manual says I should make this my motor's current so I did (6.6)
When I get out of the programming mode into the run mode, and press run, the motor starts turning and the display shows an increasing frequency value but the motor is making a high frequency screeching noise that does not seem right to me.

You can hear it here: https://bit.ly/3lsnYSC I pressed RUN, the motor accelerated towards 60hz, at about halfway I pressed stop and you can hear it decel.

Any thoughts from the experts?

I did notice something odd when I connected via the ProDriveNext software - it said my "region" is JPN, vs US

EDIT - I verified through reading all the parameter values using the PC program that the A082 and B012 values are right (my 6.6 was divided by 8.0 for a value of 82.5% in location B012, and the right code for 220v was in A082).
 
Last edited:
Take a look in the attached document for the programming of a Hitachi WJ-200. Might help you out. I followed it without any issues when I set up my PM-1236T.
 

Attachments

  • PM1340GT BASIC VFD CONV-STOCK v02 3-2018.pdf
    5.4 MB · Views: 174
Program the VFD according to the basic 1340GT install directions I previously posted. Most likely your carrier frequency is set to the default of 2 kHz, change it to 12 or 14 kHz. Run the autotune with the belts off and then change H002 = 2 to run the motor on those defaults.

 

Attachments

  • Auto-tuning Function WJ200.pdf
    207 KB · Views: 139
That did the trick! I set it to 12, and hear a little whine at start and stop - just a couple seconds. I'll tune it later.

Mksj - I had planned on programming in all the suggested values from your docs after I ran the hitachi startup suggestion.

Now on to tuning the motor....

PS - you guys are the best!
 
Not only is the noise bad, but I smell burning insulation now too. Hate that - please stop. My eyes!
Whether transformer or motor, there is no mistaking the characteristic smell of burn-up. Once you have smelled it, you know it forever, even at a hundred paces!

Also, there are no good adjectives that will do. Indescribable it truly is! The only way to have someone appreciate what you mean is to wave the dead winding under their nose. :)

Re: VFD screeches, and high frequency whines. Low PWM carrier frequencies (audio) are only forced when currents are very high, and the structures very large high power, and with long power leads (like 30m). The whine has wierd wave-shapes with high frequency harmonics that can be exceptionally irritating. I found it it hardly ever necessary to put up with it. I set 2 x 70kW servos to 12.5KHz carrier to lose the screech. Even a 100kW motor outside with control in the building, (so long screened leads), was quite happy at 9kHz. Basically I set it as high as I could without the setup complaining, or failing.
 
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