400hz Supply

[farrokh747]

Hello all,

Here's a note on my quest for 400hz supply :

After a long search for economical solutions for this, I discovered the ACS 335 series of motor drives made by ABB -- the solution turned out to be far simpler than i thought -

Myth 1: 400hz power supply converters are crazy expensive
Myth 2: You need 3 phase power supply in your pit to drive the converter
Myth 3: you need to source these units from the aviation world - and therefore $$

ABB makes several drives that suit builders looking to motorize seats, etc
The ACS 355 series offers many flavors:
http://tinyurl.com/7dmuvtw
http://tinyurl.com/7292uyh
You can select the current rating according to your needs - after hooking up my 355, i saw that each seat fwd/aft motor drew just .2 amps - moving both seats together drew .4A  - For most uses a 5 A unit would do fine

The unit runs on a single phase domestic line, a 15A outlet is good enough - the output is a 3 phase completely programmable supply (Voltage/freq) -

This also opens up the doors to run many acft items that also run on 3 phase 115v 400hz like in-line blowers, etc -  for OEM items that need a single phase 115v/400hz supply, you can use just a single line from the unit

The unit I bought has a capacity of 9Amps, far more i realized than i needed -

The Seat motors need 220V phase to phase - but pl check the specs on the units you have - also you'll need to get the pinout of the seat connector - it's usually a 5 pin connector, with 1,2,3 as phase and 4/5 as neut/gnd -

The version of the 355 i bought here locally from the dealer cost me appx 400.00 USD - note that this is an imported item here, so the cost would be less in Europe or the US

The units with a lower rating would be less than that - I was quoted 250USD for a 5A one

cheers!

FC

[farrokh747]

Added note of caution:

For those of you with acft seats with motors -
When operating your motor drive, ensure the fwd/rev button is set to FWD - in most controllers, this is on the panel, next to the start/stop pushbuttons, and can be pressed by mistake, setting it to REV - this will reverse the seat movement in relation to the movement control toggle switches, and with the phases changed, the seat's internal wiring can now bypass the limit switches, causing the seat to jump the end stops and cause damage -

IN any case, REV phase changes will cause erratic issues with the seat

cheers!

[farrokh747]

for OEM items that need a single phase 115v/400hz supply, you can use just a single line from the unit

Still to be verified that one can tap a single phase from the drive which is already powering a 3 phase setup -

[TobiBS]

Hi farrokh747,

I read your idea with great interest and therefore we want to try this way as well. But I have some questions before our unit arrives:

1. Are you running the unit the US? So you have 110V input voltage?
2. You are writing 1,2,3 is phase, 4 and 5 neutral/ground, that is the same I could find out yet. But my question is: The unit only has three phases (U1, V1, W1) and PE as ooutputs. How did you connect them? Did you shortwire 4 and 5 to the PE? Or what did you do here?
3. What seats are you powering? We are going to wire A310 seats, just curious, what you did, 744s?

Best regards,
Tobias

[farrokh747]

hi Tobias

I'm in India....  so input voltage is 220 for the single phase line -

I'm using boeing 744 - not at the sim now, but we used pins  1,2,3 for the phases and 5 to the ground (don't believe we used pin 4, note this for the 744 system) - which power supply are you using? is it the abb one?

Re the pins, this refers to the connector from the seat itself to the lower sidewall - the actual vert and horizontal movement motors inside the seat have connectors, which in turn are downstream from relays and limit switches... all in the seat itself -  all one needs to be concerned with is the harness coming out from the seat..

if youre refering to the ABB unit, the PE is connected to the earth on the input side - there is a separate earth point for the motor power connector (std earth symbol, in a circle)]

so for us, pins 1,2,3 from the seat are connected to U2, V2, W2, and pin 5 is connected to the earth on the drive output side

So input line is U1, V1, W1, PE
and line to motor is U2, V2, W2, and earth (symbol) -
 
http://farrokhchothia.com/abb/

Remember to use shielded cables for running the power to seats! As well as regular domestic MCB on the input, and acft CB's of the required amps between the drive and seat....

we just connected a747 zone recirc fan (looks like a snail) to the ducting, using the drive - all pilots now have nice windblown hair....(the ones that still have hair)

cheers,

fc

[TobiBS]

I'm in India....  so input voltage is 220 for the single phase line -

OK, I was confused because you where writing USD, sorry!

I'm using boeing 744 - not at the sim now, but we used pins  1,2,3 for the phases and 5 to the ground (don't believe we used pin 4, note this for the 744 system) - which power supply are you using? is it the abb one?

OK, we have Airbus seats here, the connector has letters, not numbers, but A, B and C are the phases, D is connected to a braking resistor which itself goes to the neutral point of the star circuit. And E is the motor housing, therefore the whole seat. Therefore I guess we can leave out Pin D/4 as well.
The unit I ordered is from Peter Electronic, the reason is simple, its a german company and they offer try before you buy.

Re the pins, this refers to the connector from the seat itself to the lower sidewall - the actual vert and horizontal movement motors inside the seat have connectors, which in turn are downstream from relays and limit switches... all in the seat itself -  all one needs to be concerned with is the harness coming out from the seat..

Yes, of course, the Airbus seat furthermore has lights under the seat which are connected to 28V DC via pin F.

if youre refering to the ABB unit, the PE is connected to the earth on the input side - there is a separate earth point for the motor power connector (std earth symbol, in a circle)]

so for us, pins 1,2,3 from the seat are connected to U2, V2, W2, and pin 5 is connected to the earth on the drive output side

So input line is U1, V1, W1, PE
and line to motor is U2, V2, W2, and earth (symbol) -
 
http://farrokhchothia.com/abb/

OK, I got that. But it means you are using a 3phase to 3phase unit? I ordered a 1phase to 3phase unit, so that we don't need the large connectors and can go with a normal socket.

Remember to use shielded cables for running the power to seats! As well as regular domestic MCB on the input, and acft CB's of the required amps between the drive and seat....

Yeah I know, otherwise no one in the house is able to use his cellphone anymore. ;-) The socket has normal CBs, the good thing with the airbus seats: They have a CB in the socket!

Thanks for your help, I will report my results!

[farrokh747]

OK, I got that. But it means you are using a 3phase to 3phase unit?

I'll check on this, if i remember, we're using a single phase input as well - will get back to you about how we did this....

Which drive in the peter range have you selected?

And.. where is the light in the 310 seat...?

[TobiBS]

OK, I got that. But it means you are using a 3phase to 3phase unit?

I'll check on this, if i remember, we're using a single phase input as well - will get back to you about how we did this....

Would be great. The reason I am asking is, that I am not sure if we can mix N and L when using a normal socket or if we need the right sorting there. Maybe I will ask Peter Electronic first.

Which drive in the peter range have you selected?

One that delivers 4.3A or 6.5A for maximum one minute. I hope that this is eniugh.

And.. where is the light in the 310 seat...?

There are three bulbs mounted underneath the seat. You want to see pictures?