Industrial Engineer · phase 9 of 16 · noun
Motor Base Frequency
Nameplate frequency at which the motor reaches rated voltage and normally transitions from constant-torque to field-weakening operation.
The Explain card
- Plain English
- Base frequency is the frequency at which the motor reaches its nameplate voltage. Below it the drive raises voltage with frequency, and above it the voltage can go no higher.
- Example
- A 60 hertz motor on a 60 hertz base gets full voltage at 60 hertz. Set the base to 50 hertz and it gets full voltage at 50, and runs over fluxed and hot at 60.
- Why it matters
- Base frequency is where the motor stops being in the constant torque region and starts losing torque with speed. A wrong entry either cooks the motor or starves it, and neither one shows up as a drive fault.
- Hook
- The corner of the volts per hertz line.
Word knowledge
How the word is built, where it came from, and what it sits beside in memory.
In a sentence
Enter the motor base frequency from the nameplate into the VFD before autotuning the induction motor.
Why these words
- motor Latin motor, mover, from movere, to move identifies the rotating machine associated with the setting
- base Latin basis, foundation, from Greek basis, step or pedestal marks frequency as a reference quantity
- frequency Latin frequentia, a crowding or repeated occurrence names the electrical quantity being specified
Where it came from
- Origin
- English engineering compound built from motor, base, and frequency
- Entered the language
- 20th century
- What changed
- Motor moved from the general sense of a mover to a machine term, base gained a reference-value sense, and frequency became a standard electrical measurement term.
How it is spelled
- Pattern
- The phrase is written as three separate words.
- Pattern
- Frequency keeps the suffix -ency and changes final y to ies in the plural, as in frequencies.
Spelled like
- carrier frequency
- line frequency
- switching frequency
- currency
- tendency
Broken into chunks
-
mot
- motion
- motivate
-
base
- baseline
- database
-
frequ
- frequent
- frequently
-
ency
- currency
- tendency
What it sits beside
Same subject
- motor nameplate
- VFD autotuning
- output frequency
- field weakening
- volts per hertz
Same shape
- motor rated current
- motor rated speed
- motor base speed
VFD motor data parameters
- motor base frequency
- motor rated voltage
- motor rated current
- motor rated speed
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.
