Electrical question

awheelterd

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Location
Kenly, NC
I have a conveying line that likes to wear out chains (3ph 480v). The slightest bit of buildup causes excess tension and the chains tend to eat themselves. I would like to put some sort if permanent amp readout on them so I can quickly see when my amps start to build and know it's time to take that machine out of service before it harms itself. I don't need anything fancy that communicates with a PLC, just shows the amps on some sort of readout on the panel. The conveyor is run by an AB powerflex VFD, but I don't want to constantly open the panel to read the amps. I've been looking on automation direct and I think they have all the pieces for what I'm looking for, but I'm just not savvy enough to know what I need. @Ron @braxton357 ?
 
awheelterd said:
I have a conveying line that likes to wear out chains (3ph 480v). The slightest bit of buildup causes excess tension and the chains tend to eat themselves. I would like to put some sort if permanent amp readout on them so I can quickly see when my amps start to build and know it's time to take that machine out of service before it harms itself. I don't need anything fancy that communicates with a PLC, just shows the amps on some sort of readout on the panel. The conveyor is run by an AB powerflex VFD, but I don't want to constantly open the panel to read the amps. I've been looking on automation direct and I think they have all the pieces for what I'm looking for, but I'm just not savvy enough to know what I need. @Ron @braxton357 ?
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Cut a hole in the panel and screw a piece of plexiglass on. Done. You're welcome.
 
All you need are a set ofs CTs and display.
If you want an easy button call my buddy Mike Trask ( Trask Instrumentation ) tell him just that and he will send you a kit.

You can go super cheap (<$50) with a single phase setup on Amazon and only read one leg and just extrapolate or be creative...
 
jeepinmatt said:
Cut a hole in the panel and screw a piece of plexiglass on. Done. You're welcome.
Click to expand...
I paid way too much for that panel to be doing some janky mess like that! Double door floor mount Stainless panels ain't cheap!


I won't tell my dad what your suggestion was though. He would like it and make me do it šŸ¤£
 
Like @Ron is saying, you can run 1 CT and display setupā€¦ however Iā€™m thinking on your 480V/3PH setup the leg amperage will not be equal. I would just get 3 setups and read them in parallel.

If you want a permanent solution look into into Continental Controls equipment. I have used their CT equipment up to 600V, and you use a CT per phase. The equipment uses a voltage transducer as well as CTs to measure total power. I use them to measure kWhrs. You can set them up to data log down to a 5 sec interval however you would not be able to read spike current from motors this way. You have to read spike current in real time or use 1 sec interval loggers. HOBO/Onset manufactures 1 sec power measurement loggers.
 
336wheeler said:
Like @Ron is saying, you can run 1 CT and display setupā€¦ however Iā€™m thinking on your 480V/3PH setup the leg amperage will not be equal. I would just get 3 setups and read them in parallel.

If you want a permanent solution look into into Continental Controls equipment. I have used their CT equipment up to 600V, and you use a CT per phase. The equipment uses a voltage transducer as well as CTs to measure total power. I use them to measure kWhrs. You can set them up to data log down to a 5 sec interval however you would not be able to read spike current from motors this way. You have to read spike current in real time or use 1 sec interval loggers. HOBO/Onset manufactures 1 sec power measurement loggers.
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Thanks, I'll check them out. I'm not concerned with data logging or catching a spike. This is a gradual build as the load increases. If I can keep an eye on it over a few days I will be able to see the amps creep up. I'm just tired of opening the panel all the time šŸ¤£
 
braxton357 said:
If its a flex 525 drive there are a few different parameters you can set to shut the drive off at a certain overcurrent. You might have to set up some sort of CT or amp probe in order to know what that level is. Or you could buy something like this from AD https://www.automationdirect.com/ad...perated_switches_with_time_delay/acsx200-aa-f
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I don't remember which powerflex model it is. It has the parameters set to shut off on over current. Unfortunately it can fukk up a lot of things before it starts pulling high amps. It's a bit over powered so it doesn't even run fla.
 
Smaller breaker. When trips, time to work on it.
 
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