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Any VFD experts here?

Kirbot

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I picked this up at an auction last night.
I don't really need it, but I figured I might be able to resell it.

I've never seen a VFD nearly this big.
The top box looks to me like a regular VFD, but what is the much bigger bottom section?

I meant to get a picture of the inside, but I'll have to post it in the morning.

Any ideas what it's worth?




 
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Interex

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Certainly worth more with that bypass but I've never heard of that brand. No idea what it's worth.
 
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Kirbot

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Looks like the VFD and contol/switch unit.

Only problem is 460v input, what did you pay?

So what does the "contol/switch unit" actually do?
My knowledge of these things is basic at best....

I paid the whopping some of.... $4.00:bounce:
 

Flatland Dave

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AB is a popular brand. We have a bunch of VFD's at work. Sorry I don't know the value of yours.:dunno:
 

premierplayer

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Commercial/industrial application I would think. I'm thinkin' it's going to be hard finding the right buyer. Maybe far more than a $4 effort.
Off the top, used and unknown working condition = $50 tops for parts only, used and confirmed 100% operational = $200 to the right buyer. These are just guess's, I've never heard of or come across a used VFD market. Good luck.
 

adcrawfo

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That bottom cabinet is just a painted up NEC cabinet with the wiring "routing" in it so to speak. We've got some huge cabinets at work like that. The last one I helped put in was to control a sand mixing system for making sand cores. Hundreds of wires all with different numbers on them connected to the right output to make that work. 24 straight hours of wiring and that didn't include the 2 weeks of preping the cabinet the guys did before the wiring started. I would say your best bet for offloading it would be to find a used equipment salesman as 98% of the customer base for that is going to be a manufacturing plant.
 
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wellstig1

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Thats actually a pretty small VFD from what I'm used to. All my experience with them is with Siemens brand though.
 

justanengineer

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As stated, the top box is the actual VFD, bottom is a remote set of switches for it. You need remote switches on these as the touch switches on them tend to wear out rather quickly if you dont use the remote. Allen Bradley is a very good brand of electrical controls, but these are simply to control the speed of a 3 phase motor by taking 3 phase 460 volts in and putting the same out at a different frequency. The VFD's commonly used in home shops are 110 or 220 input single phase with 220 or 440 volt 3 phase output to the machine, so they can act as a phase converter and speed controller. These would be used in an industrial setting where the site has a 3 phase service installed, so no need for phase conversion. Im guessing if they were removed, they probably dont work, but regardless they arent worth much. The dealer I got my Bridgeport from has 4 of these exact units brand new in the box and has been sitting on them for months for $10 each. I think the big remote bottom box with switches is probably worth at least $4 used though, so dont feel too bad.

If it were me, I would recycle the big box and switches onto something else. The VFD itself, toss it.
 
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Lump

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A buddy of mine picked up a little dose of VFD from some chick he met in a pool hall once. But he got a shot at a free clinic somewhere, and it cleared up in a few weeks.
 

eburke197

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if you want to sell it check with these guys. They buy fix and re-sell these. I'm sure it was thousands new but won't be even close to worth that now.
 

straightup

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That appears to be an Allen-Bradley built motor drive with a bypass contactor enclosure on the bottom. It's an open loop vector drive, or flux vector. Not as popular as inverter drives, and it costs more than a typical inverter drive. It's used when motor speed control is very important(.1%). This drive can deliver full rated torque at zero speed, with full torque control.
It's used for a pretty specific application.

I'm guessing the lower cabinet holds the electro-mechanical contactors. This is typical where reliability is very important. Examples: Municiple water pumps, cooling towers/fans, high production manufacturing or food processing. In the event of a drive failure, you can switch it to bypass and run the load at full rpm without the drive working. This would also be done during maintenance of the drive.

If the drive works, which would be very easy to test, it's worth something. I installed a new 20 horse yesterday at $6400. The problem is, drive packages are designed specific for your needs. It's often engineered by a mechanical engineer specific to the load and atmosphere. They can be designed with an emphasis on constant torque, variable torque, constant speed(rpm/gpm), or constant horsepower. So this drive may not work right for your prospective purchaser.

The operators on the lower cabinet are about $50 each new. The lockable disconnect is $100 new. You may be able to sell this for parts. I've replaced several of these at mills, cement batch plants, rock crushers, etc. They break them all the time.
 

JeremyManning

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We use them for controling pumps speeds at wastewater (sewage plants) but if they are not working they are expensive to fix, new they cost $6-10 K but to fix they are about $1 K/part
 

W-Cummins

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It's an OLD AB drive and not worth much even if it runs. Those were replaced by the Powerflex series of drives. Also if it has been disconnected from power for many years you should reform the caps in it so they don't fail when you apply full power to it. Of course for $4 I would just hook it up and stand back on startup and see what happens! If you were closer you could bring it by and I would test it for ya....

William....
 
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TOOL MASTER

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Apr 25, 2011
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stick it on ebay...
years ago at an industrial auction i found something i wanted in a box full of other ****...it ended up being sold as a big lot but i still wanted the one item...i got everything for 25 bucks..the other 6 boxes were useless to me but hey...stuck everything on ebay. made over 2g.. :)
 

rsanter

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you may have done very well if it works. that thing is very expensive new.
problem is that people dont really want the 460v unit (companies do) and people want to be assured that they are working because generally companies (the people that use 460 stuff) dont remove good working VFDs

personally I would try my hand with that on ebay

bob
 

AZ_Catskinner

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Not TOO much value to those typically, but you might be able to throw it on C-list and get a few bucks. Crushing plants are usually full of those bigger AB's and they get killed off by dust pretty often. Someone may be looking for that exact same model.
 
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