Jim Henderson Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 Can you adjust the output voltage on a VFD as well as the frequency? Say you want to run a fan rated at 52 volts and 133cycles. If not, can you plug the VFD into a variac? 52volts/60cycles in 52volts/133cycles out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McComas Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 KB ELECTRONICS KBDA-24D Can do it. It's been 10 years since I found this VFD and told AFCA members about it. Geoff Dunaway has one hanging on his shop wall that Jim Kovar set up for him with help from my noted and highlighted manual. There may be newer, cheaper, better models available, but these work with 120 VAC input and 0-240 volt output and 3.6 amp per phase. Frequency from 30 to 240 Hz. See my attached marked up manual. Happy Fanning! kbda24D_manual.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Cunningham Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 Yes. Rod Rogers has one. Input the voltage output, and cycles. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Fisher Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 (edited) McComas also put me on to one many years ago and they work great. This 40 cycle setting was running my Emerson 10 inch fan. Edited August 25, 2022 by Terry Fisher 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Kovar Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 1 hour ago, John McComas said: Geoff Dunaway has one hanging on his shop wall that Jim Kovar set up for him with help from my noted and highlighted manual. A different model VFD... Haven't yet figured out how to program it.Anyone got the manual? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Fisher Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 Ask the driver. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Kovar Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 3 hours ago, Terry Fisher said: Ask the driver. Manual was found!Was in the glove box! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kilnapp Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 (edited) I was on the phone today for an hour with a very nice man (Charlie - one of three technical help guys) at KB Electronics who helped me sort my VFD out so that it will run my 125 Hz 1899 Pancake at 104 volts. Turns out that my model VFD (KBDA 24D (9536L) can be programmed to run different frequencies at different voltages. With his help I was able to alter the frequency independently of the output voltage. One thing to know is that the output voltage is factory set at 230 volts and the programming function is a percentage of that. So 45% (of 230 volts) gives me the 104 volts (approx) that I need without changing the 125 Hz output frequency. Some models of the KBDA-24D (with a different number in the parentheses) don't easily allow one to do what I was able to do with my model KBDA-24D. John McComas' PDF (attached to this post) is excellent. One thing to know when you go into programming mode by pressing the programming display button (in the above picture of Terry Fisher's VFD which looks identical to my VFD) is that you MUST have the STOP button illuminated (at the top: read from left to right FWD, REV, STOP) before you can program the VFD. In other words, the VFD MUST be in STOP mode in order to be programmed. The STOP light on the top row must be lit up indicating that the VFD is indeed not in running mode. I kept getting error messages when I tried to program it because it was in running mode. One needs to press the upper left button that says RUN/STOP until the STOP light shines. Then you can enter programming mode and do what you need to do. After that it is pretty straightforward if you follow the instructions in the manual. Secondly, I did not realize that the output voltage is factory set at 230 volts (even though I had moved the pins on the inside of the fan to 115 volts as instructed in the manual which, apparently is for the input voltage which does not alter the output voltage (curious thing). Not knowing that, I had set the voltage at 91% because I thought that the output voltage was 115 volts so it was running at 209 volts (91% of 230 volts). I'm glad I didn't run it too often because it would have burned out at that voltage YIKES!! Jim Henderson figured that out when I described how crazy fast the fan ran. The KB tech guy confirmed Jim's suspicion. I recently sent the 1899 cake to Darryl Hudson for a new bearing and I'll have it back in a couple of days and then I'll see how it runs at 125 Hz and 104 volts which is what the VFD is now set at. Finally, I will say that the KBDA manual is not at all user friendly so it is very helpful to talk to one of the KB Electronic technical assistance guys (located in FLA). The guy I talked to (Charlie) was very nice and extremely patient until, with his able assistance, we were able to sort it out. There are only three technical assistance employees so they are not easily reached. Leave a message and telephone number for a call back. Edited August 25, 2022 by David Kilnapp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Fisher Posted August 28, 2022 Share Posted August 28, 2022 (edited) My KDBA is set at 123 volts and I run all fans at this voltage because I have been too lazy to reset the voltage to match each fan. Only change I make is the cycles. I have run my 1898 GE Pancake (104 volts/125 cycles) at this voltage many times. It runs at a normal speed and does not get hot . . . . but now I wonder after David's post if I should be doing this? Does anyone know what margin there is (without the chance of damage) when running fan motors at a higher voltage than is shown on the motor tag? Edited August 28, 2022 by Terry Fisher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Shirey Posted August 28, 2022 Share Posted August 28, 2022 I vaguely recall some literature referencing +-10% with regards to voltage. 7 hours ago, Terry Fisher said: My KDBA is set at 123 volts and I run all fans at this voltage because I have been too lazy to reset the voltage to match each fan. Only change I make is the cycles. I have run my 1898 GE Pancake (104 volts/125 cycles) at this voltage many times. It runs at a normal speed and does not get hot . . . . but now I wonder after David's post if I should be doing this? Does anyone know what margin there is (without the chance of damage) when running fan motors at a higher voltage than is shown on the motor tag? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Olson Posted August 28, 2022 Share Posted August 28, 2022 My experience with freq drives has all been three phase. What does one do with the other two legs? Is it single phase in and three phase out (probably), but does the drive fault out when it only sees one leg? A programmable feature? IDK. Please enlighten me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Rogers Posted August 28, 2022 Share Posted August 28, 2022 It shouldn't care if you use just on leg of the output. ~Sparky~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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