Industrial Engineer · phase 9 of 16
Ambient Temperature
Surrounding air-temperature limit used to determine allowable drive loading and cooling requirements.
The Explain card
- Plain English
- Ambient temperature is the temperature of the air around the drive, which is the air it cools itself with. Every drive rating assumes a maximum ambient, often 40 degrees Celsius.
- Example
- A drive in a cabinet with no ventilation sits in air that reaches 50 degrees on a summer afternoon. Its rating at that temperature is lower, and it trips on overtemperature while the plant is at full production.
- Why it matters
- Cabinet air is warmer than room air, and the drive only knows the air at its own inlet. Measure it in the cabinet, in summer, at full load, and derate or add cooling for what you find.
- Hook
- The drive lives in the cabinet, and the cabinet is warmer than the room.
Where it sits in the deck
Phase 9: VFD Ratings, Sizing, and Motor Data
Nameplate arithmetic, where the currents, voltages and duty ratings decide whether a drive can actually run the motor you bolted it to.
