Industrial Engineer · phase 9 of 16 · noun
Input Voltage / Phase
AC supply voltage and phase configuration for which the drive is designed.
The Explain card
- Plain English
- The input rating says what supply the drive is built for, such as 480 volts three phase or 240 volts single phase. The rectifier, the bus and the ratings all assume it.
- Example
- A drive rated 380 to 480 volts three phase is fed from a 480 volt plant supply. The same drive on 240 volts would run, badly, with a bus far too low for the motor.
- Why it matters
- A single phase drive fed three phase or a 240 volt drive fed 480 volts is destroyed at power up. The tolerance band on the nameplate is the real limit, and a plant that sags below it trips drives on undervoltage.
- Hook
- Read the plate before the disconnect closes.
Word knowledge
How the word is built, where it came from, and what it sits beside in memory.
In a sentence
Before commissioning the VFD, the technician verifies that the Input Voltage on the nameplate matches the measured line-to-line readings.
Why these words
- input English compound of in and put identifies the receiving side of the equipment
- voltage volt plus -age, with volt honoring Alessandro Volta names the electrical quantity being specified
Where it came from
- Origin
- English technical phrase combining input with voltage
- Entered the language
- 20th century
- What changed
- Input developed from something put in to an incoming electrical condition, while voltage became the standard term for electric potential difference.
How it is spelled
- Pattern
- Input is written as a closed compound of in and put.
- Pattern
- Voltage retains volt before the noun-forming suffix -age.
Spelled like
- output
- throughput
- amperage
- wattage
Broken into chunks
-
in
- inbound
- inside
-
put
- output
- throughput
-
volt
- voltmeter
- voltaic
-
age
- amperage
- wattage
What it sits beside
Same subject
- phase
- line voltage
- input current
- supply frequency
- drive nameplate
Same shape
- Output Voltage
- Input Current
- Line Voltage
phase configurations
- single-phase
- three-phase
electrical quantities
- voltage
- current
- frequency
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.
