Hello again,
Here are some questions for the VFD installers out there:
1) Are you hesitant to mix & match the brands of a motor & VFD?
2) Are you hesitant to install a VFD designed to control a single-phase, 230V, 3-wire motor?
3) Do you test the well's pumping level in order to set the VFD's minimum frequency?
Details:
I have a pump short-cycling issue that's discussed in another thread (link). I am (slowly) assessing some of my options, including installing a variable frequency drive (VFD) or changing the pump. The purpose of this thread is not to debate those choices (I hope that happens on my earlier thread, once I update it with a better assessment of my present choices).
I let someone else request quotes for installing a VFD on a single-phase pump, and I'm getting the impression that the well folks prefer to a) match VFD & motor brand, and b) install 3-phase motors with VFDs. At this moment, I anticipate that brand matching may be important for warranty compliance, and/or pre-programmed avoidance of resonant frequencies. Are those realistic concerns, are there other concerns, or is the brand matching mostly a vendor lock-in technique? Admittedly, I have no experience with VFDs, but am I wrong to believe that brand-matching is not practiced with the industrial VFDs in widespread use?
In the realm of submersible well pumps, is there any advantage to a system using a three-phase motor and appropriate VFD, compared to a system using a single-phase motor and appropriate VFD? Have VFDs for single-phase motors developed a bad reputation?
Lastly, is it best to know the well’s pumping level so that the VFD’s minimum speed can be set to avoid zero-flow spin? Is it common just to sacrifice some low end frequency and program for static lift from the depth of the pump? Without a flow meter, is there another way the VFD would avoid zero-flow spin?
Thanks in advance.
Here are some questions for the VFD installers out there:
1) Are you hesitant to mix & match the brands of a motor & VFD?
2) Are you hesitant to install a VFD designed to control a single-phase, 230V, 3-wire motor?
3) Do you test the well's pumping level in order to set the VFD's minimum frequency?
Details:
I have a pump short-cycling issue that's discussed in another thread (link). I am (slowly) assessing some of my options, including installing a variable frequency drive (VFD) or changing the pump. The purpose of this thread is not to debate those choices (I hope that happens on my earlier thread, once I update it with a better assessment of my present choices).
I let someone else request quotes for installing a VFD on a single-phase pump, and I'm getting the impression that the well folks prefer to a) match VFD & motor brand, and b) install 3-phase motors with VFDs. At this moment, I anticipate that brand matching may be important for warranty compliance, and/or pre-programmed avoidance of resonant frequencies. Are those realistic concerns, are there other concerns, or is the brand matching mostly a vendor lock-in technique? Admittedly, I have no experience with VFDs, but am I wrong to believe that brand-matching is not practiced with the industrial VFDs in widespread use?
In the realm of submersible well pumps, is there any advantage to a system using a three-phase motor and appropriate VFD, compared to a system using a single-phase motor and appropriate VFD? Have VFDs for single-phase motors developed a bad reputation?
Lastly, is it best to know the well’s pumping level so that the VFD’s minimum speed can be set to avoid zero-flow spin? Is it common just to sacrifice some low end frequency and program for static lift from the depth of the pump? Without a flow meter, is there another way the VFD would avoid zero-flow spin?
Thanks in advance.