Mash Mixer Broke - Mitsubishi Inverter Alarm

[brewingnewbie]

7 bbl newlands system

mitsubishi inverter fre-qrol A024 (driver controller?) for the mash mixer motor is showing me a red alarmn light.

tried shutting off breaker and manually moving rake but alarm won't go away.

anyone have knowledge of such a breast?

[grs]

What does the display on the VFD indicate? There should be something like OC3 or THT or similar 3 digit code.

What was happening when it went into alarm? Just started the motor? Just stopped? Just dropped rakes down? etc...

It most likely is an overload but that's really just a guess on my part.

[BeerBoy]

...anyone have knowledge of such a breast?

I believe firm and supple circuit breakers help most mash mixer situations.
So sorry...

[brewingnewbie]

i don't have a display to show errors. this is a late 90's model.

i'm thinking i might have gotten the motor wet while cleaning. the motor worked fine for last brew then a couple days later (after cleaning up the place) i found the alarm.

someone told me there might be a reset on the motor or by the gearbox area.
i will investigate later.

[grs]

Well, without the display you are pretty much running blind for what the fault is. To reset the drive remove power. For most vfds the capacitor on the DC bus is sized pretty big - I've seen some take 30 seconds to a minute to discharge and power down completely. Make sure the vfd is completely dead, then power back up. If the alarm didn't go away before then maybe you didn't keep the power disconnected long enough. Some simple faults may also be able to be reset by pressing the stop button.

[brewingnewbie]

no reset on the motor itself.
shut power to box down overnight (discharge cap), didn't work
tried reverse and forward, slow and fast. no luck
had an everyday electrician look at it but he didn't know what to do with it. probably need someone with industrial experience.

power is going to box, going to switch. when switch is depressed the cutler-hammer breaker? inside activates (loud clip and button on it moves).

maybe the years of grain dust sucking into the motor finally got it?
thinking about powering down and blowing out the motor with co2.
also thinking about disconnecting motor, hooking up a working one.
if still no power and alarm doesn't go off i would have to assume its the drive control / inverter.

what do you think?

p.s. thanks jack for pointing out i put breast not beast in my initial post....
guess i had something else on my mind at the time!

[grs]

It's hard to say what's wrong without the display. Newlands probably didn't include it because then you'd be able to get in and change parameters of the drive, possibly messing up the vfd, motor, or equipment. You could probably talk to the Mitsi distributor in your area and see if you can order (or borrow) a display/programming unit.

If it's always in alarm the moment you apply power it could be the motor. It also could be an internal alarm on the vfd itself, indicating that something's wrong internally. To test for the motor, disconnect vfd power and remove the motor wiring from the terminals on the vfd. Power it up and if the alarm light is gone you probably have a ground fault in the motor or wiring to the motor.

Here's the manual for the vfd:

http://www.meau.com/Files/IB_NA_66522-C.PDF

Chapter 24 is the troubleshooting section and may help.