Commercial Only: Boutelje 32 frame extract issue

[tristan]

our new Boutelje 32 frame extractor seams to be randomly stop the cycle early.

i've band aided the cooling issues that the filter on the air outlet (what where they thinking!) and tiny air inlets is causing. but its still happening.
error messages (the flat panel display version) say "overloading" and that coincides with the ramp up to final speed.
however the VSD doesn't display a fault or shut off (like a typical overload).

any ideas?

 

[tristan]

update.
weekend of reading tech manuals paid off a bit.
i found quite a few issues with the settings. i will try to post all of them up some time.

there was two main faults, one was hidden under the generic fault message.
when the extractor starts, it logs the safety switch as a "fault". so when there is a real fault, in the log it simply looks like the extractor was started twice. thats something thats needs to be sorted.
so if you check the logs and it looks like the extractor has started quicker than normal, it may be actually be stopping due to a fault.

the overloading fault is basically the motor drawing to many amps because the acceleration ramp is to aggressive.

however the hidden "extractor just stops" fault is related.
basically it has a setting that when the motor draws to much current, it gets off the throttle and puts on the brake.
unfortunately someone did not put the "brake" settings in properly so it would simply quit running instead.
so every time it just bumped the amps limit, it would shut off and give the generic fault code. the same ones it gives when the machine starts. to top that it often did it on the last part of the cycle. so if you where not watching closely it looked like the extractor finished its spin as per normal, except honey was still left in the frames.

the fix,
you could set the brake settings but really its not a good system for what the extractor is doing.
so i simply disabled it and used its sister setting instead. instead of getting on the brakes it simply coasts along untill amps drop to a safe level. which is perfectly fine during acceleration and the very very short durations of the overloading. so when it hits the limit you get a slight pause as it accelerates. (its allowed to have 1.5x max amps for 60 seconds and the whole ramp up is less than 20 seconds)
what made it a bit tricky is the excessive amps is for a tiny fraction of time (under 1 second), so small that it often doesn't show on the gauge. so you may not notice its causing the issue.

of course prevention is better than cure, so tuning the acceleration ramp to keep the amps down helps a lot. but also tweaking the S curve helps. i found using the minimum S curve setting was best.

there is a few other things like setting up the DC braking so it stops the frames from moving at the end of the cycle.
which speeds up unloading etc.

i hope that helps someone.

 

[tristan]

ok so rather roughly some settings for the omron 3g3mx2 2,2kw inverter drive on the 32 frame extractor
(assuming everything else is set as default)

F002 acceleration 25 seconds (adjust to suit max amps)
F003 deceleration 20 seconds (adjust to suit braking)

A003 base frequency 50hz
A004 max frequency 50hz (easier to tune acceleration the closer this is to actual speeds you set)

A051 DC injection 01
A055 DC braking time 2 seconds

A081 AVR selection 02
A082 AVR voltage 230 volts

A131 acceleration curve 01
A132 deacceleration curve 01

B021 overload limit 00
B027 overcurrent suppression 01

B083 carrier frequency 10hz (lower is more efficient and heats the inverter less but is noisier)

B090 regen braking 5%
B095 brake resistor 01
B096 regen brake level 360
B097 brake resistor 35 ohms (set to what brake resistor is fitted)

there is also the basic motor setup settings and a few others which should be already set.

this list is just the things i had to change. its not final so use at your own risk. read the manual first.
also note that this works in our air conditioned extraction room. if yours is stinking hot then you will need to derate it a lot more.

 

[James]

OMG ..... we just press green for go and walkaway and do other stuff. 40 yo technology ...eh.
The hummer did throw a wobbly this morning .... the honey had granulated in the intake pipe and made a hell of a noise as the pipe blew off.
I notice honey starting to granulate in the frames now, so we need to up the anti and work a little harder.... or longer.

 

[tristan]

this VFD is more feature rich than the others we have, but its still just industrial lego. (we have 7 in the plant)
once its setup properly its fine. just hit the button and let it run.
the old days of having to stand next the machine, select direction and speed are long gone. which is good as while that extractor is running your loading the next one. two extractors per person.

actually one side effect of the new spin float is less crystal build up. having the honey constantly flowing tends to wash most of it out.
but also i have most pipes sloping so they drain, so honey is not sitting in pipes to much.
also we don't have rata!