What all Engineers should know about Inverter Repairs I’m sure we can all agree Variable Speed Drives are expensive pieces of equipment that require regular maintenance to minimize premature failure and maximize the life span of your asset.
percentage of IGBT drive repairs simply failing again as soon as they are fitted to the original application when load is introduced, leading to another repair cost and more costly downtime for your process.
However, all makes of Drives do fail and one of the most common faults is IGBT (Insulated-gate bipolar transistor) failure. An insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is a three-terminal power semiconductor device primarily used as an electronic switch in Variable Speed Drives.
In summary all engineers should only send their valuable variable speed drive assets to drive repair facilities that have fully qualified Drive Engineers who have attended the relevant manufacturers courses. But also insist that the repairer have load test facilities and carry out a full load test on your drive which you can attend to witness test or at the very least request a video of the final test.
When a drive suffers an IGBT failure the best practice is to replace all three devices, even if only has actually failed as the fault condition more often than not weakens the remaining devices which will inevitably lead to a further premature failure and more costly downtime for the user. So far, I’m sure I’ve not told you anything you don’t already know, but the real issue with drive repairs is this…it is imperative that each repair is fully load tested This is important because each IGBT has a freewheeling diode which you can only accurately be tested with a full inductive load test. Most companies that offer Drive Repair do not have the required load test facilities and hence they simply carry out a resistive load test which actually does not show if the IGBT’s are fully functioning as a power device which leads to a very high 8 - Automation Update
Insisting on these simple steps for all your drive repairs ensures 100% that your drive is repaired correctly and fully functioning before you put back into service on your plant, thus ensuring minimum repair cost and minimises expensive lost production costs. Quantum Controls have an 10,000 square foot Drive Repair Facility near Newcastle with full load testing facilities and are Official Drive Service Partners for all major Brands of Drives. When you next have a Drive failure get in touch with our expert team for repair estimate. service@quantum-controls.co.uk Tel :01661 835566