Southwire, one of North America’s largest wire and cable producers, was selected to speak on the benefits of its specially designed Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) cables at a Technical Session on Power, Motion and Motor Control at the 2017 Automation Fair Event by Rockwell Automation held in Houston on November 15-16, 2017.

“VFD cables are not all created equal,” said Steve Wetzel, Southwire senior product engineer. “In fact, some cables used between the inverter and motor can cause more harm than good and may not only damage motors and drives, but also broadcast interference throughout a facility and create safety issues.”

Wetzel’s presentation provided an overview of VFD cables and the benefits of installing them as part of a drive system.  He discussed specific problems VFD cables address including: the reduction of PLC and controller issues, premature motor failure and even drive over current trips.

Currently there is no standard specifcation for VFD cables in the United States.  This results in various VFD cable constructions, some of which perform significantly better than others. Because of issues unique to VFD systems and the role of cable in improving performance, Wetzel chairs the group within the Insulated Cable Engineers Association (ICEA) tasked with developing VFD cable standard specifciations.

Southwire and its team of engineers understand the complexity of the VFD system and have optimally designed VFD cables to improve system performance on the factory floor. As an industry leader, Southwire is dedicated to helping educate the marketplace on the unique issues VFD systems present and the role that cable plays. To learn more about VFD cable applications, download the Application Note by Wetzel at factoryautomation.southwire.com.

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