Industrial Engineer · phase 14 of 16
Overcurrent Fault
Trip caused when output current exceeds the drive's instantaneous protection threshold.
The Explain card
- Plain English
- An overcurrent fault is the drive's instant reaction to output current above its hardware limit. It is far faster than the overload and exists to protect the IGBTs rather than the motor.
- Example
- A motor lead chafes through and shorts to the conduit. The current spikes in microseconds and the drive trips on overcurrent before the inverter is damaged.
- Why it matters
- Overcurrent at the moment of starting points at a shorted motor, a bad cable or a dead power module. Overcurrent during running points at a jam, a wrong ramp, or a current limit set above what the hardware can hold.
- Hook
- The drive flinching to save its own transistors.
Where it sits in the deck
Phase 14: VFD Safety, Faults, and Diagnostics
What a drive does when it trips, what the fault codes are telling you, and how safe torque off stops the motor without killing the panel.
