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VFD Modification: Part 1

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First off I’ve been really tearing it up in my nerdery the last two weeks… It’s messy.. That happens so don’t mind the mess.

So I scored this sweet variable frequency drive (VFD) or also known as a VSD. It’s a Rockwell Automation drive that is to large for my application but it’ll work just fine. I figured I might have to tear out the entire front because I’m feeding it straight DC but they broke out DC to a terminal block ?! I’ll give it a try… I have a 96V power supply that was a long shot but it was no surprise two amps wasn’t enough just to power the electronics for configuration. It isn’t jumped to run… So this beast is a watt-hog just idling. I have a couple batteries I have to pick up in a few days; I am guessing I can start it up on a 48V/19AH string. The power down defaults to zero and I believe it’s set up to run on just enough to run the electronics. I guess I’ll see?! If this doesn’t run on DC (and maybe even if) I’ll gut the AC front end because it’s extra weight. Check out the terminal strip..DC is on the left. Also… In case you’re wondering its about 90lbs.. A lot of heat sink!

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Weekend stepper fun!

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I got got home to take delivery of this front end frame piece. Now I’ll be busy this weekend working on electronic steering. The PIC 16F1509 will be controlling all steering functions. I’ve written a remarkable amount of code for how long it’s been since I worked I a project with a F628A and 18F1330 motor control for the Roomba sumo bot. This project has gotten painfully expensive despite scoring some nice freebies. I spent way too much on wire because I want MTW or Teflon.

Killed my IGBT pack & driver

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What a rookie mistake… My variac is grounded… I’ve gotten too spoiled by working on a lot of isolated 24VAC circuits lately… One little check with the scope and boom. PCB death… So much for my one-of-kind short cut. I suppose I need to invest in one of those sets of isolated probes. Silver lining is I didn’t let the smoke out of the front-end of my tektronix scope.

Soldering Large Connectors

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When it comes to soldering large connectors on LMR400 or larger you owe it to yourself to have a large soldering iron. This ancient beauty has a lot of thermal mass and really gets the job done. I borrowed this from my good buddy Gary for some large work. You’ll likely need to visit eBay to pick up something like this anymore.