PowerFlex 755 Drives
If there were ever a single Variable-Speed Drive product series that encapsulated all of the features that would satisfy users across any market, industry, and application, the Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 750 Drive series might just be it. In particular, the PowerFlex 755 model covers drive sizes, mounting configurations, communication protocols, and a host of application-specific features that can serve nearly any project or duty we can imagine. We’ll cover all of these features and details found in the PowerFlex 755 drive lineup below.
Allen-Bradley PowerFlex Low Voltage Drives Family
- PowerFlex 4M AC Drive Series: Basic motor control. Smallest, most cost-effective drive in the lineup.
- PowerFlex 400 AC Drive Series: For OEM fan and pump applications. Ideal for building system integration.
- PowerFlex 523 AC Drive Series: Streamlined installation for simple, modular motor controls.
- PowerFlex 525 AC Drive Series: Expanded options in modular form, with embedded Ethernet/IP.
- PowerFlex 527 AC Drive Series: The first compact drive series designed exclusively for Logix controllers and more.
- PowerFlex 755TS AC Drive Series: Scalable, next-gen PowerFlex drive with TotalFORCE.
- PowerFlexTL/TR AC Drive Series: Up to 6,000 HP capacity, with harmonic mitigation and regeneration applications.
- PowerFlex 753 AC Drive Series: General purpose OEM drives with advanced control capabilities.
- PowerFlex 755 AC Drive Series: Machine-level drives with safety, flexibility, connectivity, and productivity in mind.
- PowerFlex 70 AC Drive Series: Compact drives that are designed for tight spaces, simplicity, and reliability.
- PowerFlex 700 AC Drive Series: Global OEM drives that are designed for cost efficiency and size. These include an onboard interface.
- PowerFlex DC Drive Series: Powerful performance and flexible control for DC applications.
With such a large selection, understanding how PowerFlex drives compare to each other would be no small task. Narrowing down a single drive model to purchase involves first deciphering Allen-Bradley’s naming nomenclature in order to start with the most suitable drive families to your application, and next confirming which models or families are currently active, supported, and not slated for obsolesces. Allen-Bradley almost always has multiple overlapping products that will fit a given duty – some of which are aging model generations soon to be retired, and other models sitting somewhere between mature and newly introduced. Users should always check with their distributor or directly on Allen-Bradley’s Drive website to make sure they understand where a model lands in its lifecycle, and to confirm that all of the features and capabilities a user requires are available in that drive’s generation.
PowerFlex 750 Drives
Looking now at the PowerFlex 750 drive series, we find two main models in the series. The PowerFlex 750 product series is part of Allen-Bradley’s Architecture class of low-voltage AC drives, designed to be general-purpose, compact, versatile, and cost-effective in a variety of applications.
- PowerFlex 753 drives provide general-purpose control for applications with power requirements of up to 400 horsepower and 270 kilowatts. PowerFlex 753 AC Drives are cost-effective, as well as easy to use, in general-purpose applications with safety feature requirements. These drives are available with embedded I/O. This is ideal for machine builders, as well as system integrators, who would like to have reduced engineering costs, faster delivery to the market, and meet end-user demands for more productive machines. It is recommended to select size-optimized drives for low-power applications where you have limited space available. The dual-port EtherNet/IP option module offers flexible and cost-effective methods for leveraging the EtherNet/IP networks.
- PowerFlex 755 drives provide maximum flexibility and performance with ratings of up to 2,000 horsepower and 1,500 kilowatts. The PowerFlex 755 series of AC drives provide high-level performance and application flexibility and are even easy to use. These drives are available with loads of different control and hardware options and are even available with optional embedded safety features. The PowerFlex 755 AC drive series is well-suited for a wide variety of motor control applications that include, but are not limited to, pumps, conveyors, and fans. With Integrated Motion on EtherNet/IP, users can connect these drives on the same network as Kinetix drives. A dual-port EtherNet/IP option module supports various topologies, including linear, ring, and star topologies. These drives also support Device Level Ring, or DLR, functionality.
All drives in the PowerFlex 750 series family provide the following market-leading features:
- Embedded Control Technology: Supports the manipulation of discrete outputs and drive control functions, while also using discrete inputs and drive status information onboard the drive.
- Predictive Diagnostics: Tracks information that affects the life of the drive’s cooling fans, as well as relay outputs. These drives can be programmed to monitor the runtime for machine or motor bearings.
- Option Cards: Each drive in the PowerFlex 750 product series has a slot-based architecture. Supported hardware control options are available for both products to reduce inventory, as well as spare parts, requirements.
- Safe Torque Off, Safe Speed Monitor, Integrated Safety - Safe Torque Off, and Integrated Safety Functions Option: These provide a choice for safety levels depending on the application requirements.
- Communication: PowerFlex 755 drives come with an embedded Ethernet port. Ethernet can easily be added to PowerFlex 753 drives with the use of a communication module.
- I/O: Option cards are available for additional analog and digital I/O. PowerFlex 753 drives feature embedded I/O that may be expanded via the use of option cards.
- Packaging: Factory and field-installable enclosure options are available to meet a wide variety of environmental requirements. These enclosure options include an open-type and flange-mountable enclosure to support cabinet mounting requirements and an extra protection wall-mountable enclosure for harsh environments, as well as debris hoods and conduit plate kits.
- Standard Power Structure: A common power structure is shared so that it may have the same physical size and power range.
In the PowerFlex 750 family, we can also find a variant of the 755 series, referred to as the PowerFlex 755T sub-series. This specialty group of drives includes models 755TL, 755TR, and 755TM, each offering a unique feature set for specific applications. These drives were designed to provide harmonic mitigation (TL), regeneration (TR), and common bus solutions (TM) for the purposes of reducing energy costs, adding flexibility, and increasing productivity.
Common Features of PowerFlex 755 Drive Series
The PowerFlex 755 series of AC drives provide high-level performance and application flexibility. In addition, this drive series is easy to use. These drives include multiple options for control, hardware, and even safety. These drives are suited for various applications with multiple motor control selections. The embedded EtherNet/IP is used to deliver real-time operating data, and it can be easily integrated into the control system of a drive. These products are ideal for applications that require position, speed, and/or torque control with ratings of up to 1500 kilowatts and 2000 horsepower. Key features of the PowerFlex 755 AC drive series include, but are not limited to:
- Seamless integration into Logix-based control architectures, as well as Automatic Device Configuration.
- Built-in single-port EtherNet/IP plus five option slots that are used to support additional feedback, I/O, safety, communications, and auxiliary 24V DC control power options.
- Safe Torque Off and Safe Speed Monitor are included as safety options.
- Ideal for coordinated drive systems applications, positioning applications, and lifting applications.
Here we’ll list out more specific details regarding the PowerFlex 755 drive models:
- Power ratings:
- 200 – 240 Volts: 0.37 - 132 kilowatts; 0.5 - 200 horsepower; 2.2 - 477 amperes
- 380 – 480 Volts: 0.75 - 1400 kilowatts; 1.0 - 2000 horsepower; 2.1 - 2330 amperes
- 600 Volts: 1.0 - 1500 horsepower; 1.7 - 1530 amperes
- 690 Volts: 7.5 - 1500 kilowatts; 12 - 1485 amperes
- Enclosures:
- IP00/IP20-rated NEMA/UL open type, flange-mountable
- IP54-rated NEMA/UL Type 12.
- A power option bay provides a solution for popular power options, and it is also cost-effective.
- A dual-port EtherNet/IP option module helps users leverage the EtherNet/IP networks. This option module also minimizes the number of managed switches and reduces the need for cables when utilizing Device Level Ring (DLR) networks.
- Automatic Device Configuration, or ADC, allows Logix-based controllers to detect replacement drives and automatically download all the required configuration parameters.
- Volts per Hertz Control (V/Hz), Vector Control with FORCE technology, Permanent Magnet Motor Control, and Sensorless Vector Control.
- Integrated Motion on the EtherNet/IP network eases drive configuration and control by using profiles and instruction sets embedded within an application.
- Predictive diagnostics are utilized to increase the life of a drive’s cooling fans and relay outputs.
- Configuration and programming via an integrated LCD Human Interface Module (HIM) and so on.
- Supports easy integration through the embedded EtherNet/IP port and five option slots that support feedback, I/O, safety, and communications modules and an auxiliary 24V DC power supply.
Available Safety Options
- The Safe Torque Off option is available as either a networked or hardwired solution. This option removes the rotational power to a motor without the need to remove the power from a drive for a faster start-up after a demand on the safety system.
- The Safe Speed Monitor option allows users to safely monitor and control the speed of an application. This lets operators perform process work, and even maintenance work, without having to stop the device.
- The integrated safety functions option module provides advanced safety on an EtherNet/IP network. Safety instructions include the ability to monitor speed, position, and direction.
PowerFlex 755 Selection
The initial selection of a PowerFlex 755 drive begins with a decision on your desired mounting arrangement. Options include:
PowerFlex 755 Wall Mount
These drives have a power range of 0.75 kilowatts to 270 kilowatts (1 horsepower to 400 horsepower). They are available with various enclosure options to meet most environmental requirements.
The standard enclosure of these drives is optimized for installation inside a cabinet, and it has a protection rating of IP00/IP20, NEMA/UL open type. Wall-mountable drives can be converted to an IP20-rated NEMA/UL Type 1 enclosure with an optional kit consisting of a debris hood and a conduit plate. A factory enclosure option, an IP54-rated NEMA Type 12 enclosure, is also available with extra protection for harsh environments.
Flange-mountable drives are also available via a factory option or field installable kits. These are designed to reduce panel cooling requirements by mounting the drive heatsink outside the cabinet.
A DC link choke is included on all frames and an internal brake transistor is standard on drives with a frame size ranging from 1 to 5 and is optional on drives with a frame size ranging from 6 to 7.
PowerFlex 755 Floor Mount
Floor-mountable PowerFlex 755 drives have a power rating that ranges from 200 kilowatts to 1400 kilowatts, or the equivalent range of 250 horsepower to 2000 horsepower. These drives have different ratings based on their current operating mode/duty, which provides flexibility for different application requirements. One drive has the potential to operate in three different modes/duties. For example, a 480-ampere drive can operate a 400-horsepower motor in light-duty operations, a 350-horsepower motor in normal-duty operations, and a 300-horsepower motor in heavy-duty operations.
- Light Duty: 110% of the motor’s rated current for a duration of 60 seconds.
- Normal Duty: 110% of the motor’s rated current for a duration of 60 seconds or 150% of the motor’s rated current for a duration of 3 seconds.
- Heavy Duty: 150% of the motor’s rated current for a duration of 60 seconds or 180% of the motor’s rated current for a duration of 3 seconds.
Other factory power options include a disconnect, a reactor, a contactor, an integrated MCC bus, an auxiliary transformer, and a wiring bay.
Floor-mounted drives have additional factory-installed power options available. These include reactors, contactors, disconnects, MCC buses, and/or wiring-only bays.
PowerFlex 755 On-Machine Mount
Introduced in the later 2010s, the PowerFlex 755 On-Machine Drive model expanded the lineup by now offering a simplified, self-contained variant intended to be installed directly on or near the machinery it serves.
- The IP66 enclosure rating allows the PowerFlex 755 drive to be mounted near a machine or motor, therefore reducing the length of cables, as well as installation costs.
- Panel sizes can be reduced, thus resulting in more available floor space for production needs.
- Installation and commissioning times are reduced via Plug ‘n play connections.
- Via the use of a pre-engineered solution, design time is reduced/saved, and installation can be completed faster with fewer mistakes.
Once you have your desired mounting selection made, see the rest of the Catalog Number matrix mentioned above to walk through completing your full orderable number. Selections will cover input power type, enclosure rating, voltage rating, ND rating, filtering and CM cap configuration, dynamic braking, HIM interface, and more advanced options.