Reliable route for efficient pumps and fans

Reliability has been the principle design consideration when designing the new FR-F800 inverter. Mitsubishi Electric’s latest product is designed to work with fans and pumps and is claimed to offer previously unattainable performance in terms of energy saving, optimised speed control, simple start-up, connectivity and the versatility of its features.

Product manager Matt Handley said the goal was to build the most reliable product on teh market. “Fans and capacitors are teh most fallible components in this type of product,” he stated. “ [In the F800] they are designed to last at least 10 years - the fans have condition alerts abd the capacitors have a life check,. While other manufacturers just batch test, every single inverter is subjected to over 300 tests.”

The F800 is designed to be used predominantly with pumps and fans but is equally suitable for compressors and HVAC applications. It features many innovative functions that ensure accurate control, while also achieving energy efficiency figures of 98%.

There are initially six units in the series, three covering the 200V-240V range from 0.75kW-110kW and three more in the 380V-500V range from 0.75kW-630kW.

At the heart of the all new FR-F800 is a bespoke PID controller and on-board PLC which provides the drive with true stand-alone capabilities. For instance, it can control fans, pumps and compressors directly rather than requiring an additional controller. Other PID functions include: a pump-stir function, upper and lower limit pre-warnings, pipe burst detection and dry run protection, water hammer prevention and automatic tuning.

To enhance its capabilities, the F800 is fitted with a second PID controller.The drive can be used to control multiple pumps - allowing for variable speed control and the energy efficiency benefits which that brings, to be applied to different units while the others are running effectively Direct On Line (DOL).