Industrial Engineer · phase 9 of 16
Motor Nameplate Current / FLA
Rated full-load motor current used by the drive for control, overload modeling, and protection.
The Explain card
- Plain English
- Full load amps is the current the motor draws at rated load, rated voltage and rated speed. The drive uses it for its motor model, for the electronic overload, and for sizing its own protection.
- Example
- The plate reads 14 amps. The drive's overload trips when the motor has run well above 14 amps long enough to heat past its rating, and its current limit is set as a multiple of the same number.
- Why it matters
- Leave the default FLA in and the overload protects the wrong motor. Enter the service factor amps instead of the full load amps and the motor can run warm for years before the winding fails.
- Hook
- The number the motor is protected by.
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.
