Argon user guide/Braking resistor

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250 Watt 82 ohm regenerative resistor suitable for Argon drive
Regenerative resistors are usually a part with servo systems to absorb returned energy from decelerating or braking servo axis.

Servo drive with motor can act two ways: energy supply and energy generator. The generator behavior occurs during decelerations and this causes current flow from motor to drive power supply capacitors. If that generated energy is not absorbed anywhere, the voltage of capacitors will rise above overvoltage threshold and trigger an software clearable overvoltage fault.

Overvoltage faults[edit | edit source]

Scenarios where returned energy is causing the rise of HV DC bus voltage:

  • Deceleration of motor speed when there is significant amount of energy stored in mechanical motion (rotating inertia or moving mass). This typically occurs with spindles and linear axes.
  • Sudden reversal of torque setpoint. This can generate voltage spike even when motor is standing still. This typically occurs in high bandwidth torque control applications (such as Force feedback system (FFB)). These spikes are very short and an added capacitor to HV DC bus and/or low resistance regenerative resistor can provide a solution.

See also[edit | edit source]

Argon supports connecting braking resistor directly to drive J4 connector.

Suitable resistor type[edit | edit source]

Characteristics of Argon regenerative resistor output:

Property Value Units
Maximum current 6 A
Series fuse 8 A
Minimum allowed resistance @ 230 VAC supply 63 Ω
Minimum allowed resistance @ 115 VAC supply 35 Ω
Resistor power dissipation 0-2400¹ W

¹) Power dissipation depends on how much system's kinetic energy is directed to the resistor

Recommended resistor specifications:

  • Resistance 80-100 ohms @ 220-240 VAC
  • Resistance 40-50 ohms @ 110-120 VAC
  • Power rating 150-300 Watts, this may greatly vary depending on how much energy the braking resistor must absorb
  • Wire wound construction (no film resistors unless high peak energy capable)
  • Preferrable in metal housing for grounding/noise shielding

The 250W resistor in the image can absorb enough peak energy to stop 100 kg mechanical linear axis moving up to 3 m/s.

Example of suitable resistor for most 220-240 VAC installations: Tyco HSC 250 82R (data sheet pdf).

Installation[edit | edit source]

Wiring of braking resistor to Argon drive

The image aside shows proper wiring of braking resistor. Proper installation has:

  • Shielded cable with 3 conductors with wire gauge at least 0.75 mm² / 18 AWG
  • Cable shield AND earth conductor connected to drive PE terminal
  • Earth conductor connected to resistor casing. Place toothed locking washers between wire terminal and resistor to break the insulating coating of resistor case.
  • Two other conductors connected to resistor terminals through 8A fast blow fuse
  • Resistor should be also mounted on heat sink
  • Additionally it is a recommended to shield the resistor terminals from accidental touching

Parameterization[edit | edit source]

The important parameter that controls usage of resistor in Granity is the over voltage level Over voltage fault thresholdFOV. Drive starts conducting current through resistor when HV DC bus voltage is near FOV value. It is important to set FOV high enough to prevent drive from using resistor constantly while AC supply is connected to the drive. The formula for mimimum FOV value is: FOVminimum=VAC*1.6. I.e. on nominal 230 VAC bus the FOV value should be set to no less than 368 VDC.

Resistor sharing[edit | edit source]

It is possible to share HV DC link between Argon drives to reduce number of braking resistors needed. Sharing DC bus also forms a higher power HV DC supply between the drives allowing higher power drawn from a single drive if other drives are running on lighter load.

Wiring of shared braking resistor between multiple Argon drives

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