PROCEDURE TO PRE-CHARGE THE CAPACITORS IN A

SIMOVERT MASTERDRIVES 6SE70 AC DRIVE

380-480 VAC or 510-650 VDC RATED
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Why Is This Procedure Necessary?

All AC drives have internal capacitors that maintain the internal DC bus within the drive.
When an AC drive does not have incoming AC or DC power applied to it for long periods
of time, these capacitors slowly discharge. After 1 year has passed, the capacitor
discharging begins dropping to a level that increases the chance of damaging the drive if
full voltage is applied instantaneously. A drive that has been without power for 12
months or less will not experience enough capacitance discharging to be of concern.
However, once this period of inactivity exceeds 1 year, it becomes increasingly
necessary to “form” these capacitors by applying a DC voltage to them that slowly ramps
up from 0 to full voltage. If you have a Siemens SIMOVERT Masterdrives AC drive that
has never been powered up, the period of inactivity would go back to its manufacturing
date. The month and year the drive was manufactured can be determined from the
serial number of the drive. Determining this date is detailed on pages 3-4 of this
document.

Methods of Forming Capacitors

There are two different methods for forming capacitors. One way is to purchase a
Siemens SIMOVERT Regen Rectifier which has the ability to slowly ramp up its DC
voltage output in accordance to the needs of the drive. Since very little current is
required for this forming procedure, the smallest regen rectifier will work for any drive.
The 7.5kW regen rectifier, 6SE7022-1EC85-1AA0, is transportable at 50lbs and offers a
simple procedure of only setting 2 parameters to start the process. Examples of wiring
for the rectifier and drive are shown on page 5 of this document.

The second way to form the capacitors involves a power bridge rectifier, resistor and
capacitor and creating your own power network. Details on the specifications of these
components are shown on page 6 of this document.

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DETERMINING A MASTERDRIVE’S MANUFACTURED DATE

MASTERDRIVES Compact & Chassis drives

Serial # example: A-N60147512345 => June 2001

Digit Example Meaning

1 and 2 A- Place of Manufacturing
3 N 2001
P 2002
R 2003
S 2004
T 2005
U 2006
V 2007
W 2008
X 2009
A 2010
B 2011
C 2012
D 2013
E 2014
F 2015
4 1 to 9 January to September
O October
N November
D December
5 to 14 Not relevant to date of manufacturing

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DETERMINING A MASTERDRIVE’S MANUFACTURED DATE

MASTERDRIVES Compact PLUS drives

Serial # example: F2SD123456 => December 2004

Digit Example Meaning

1 and 2 F2 Place of Manufacturing
3 R 2003
S 2004
T 2005
U 2006
V 2007
W 2008
X 2009
A 2010
B 2011
C 2012
D 2013
E 2014
F 2015
4 1 to 9 January to September
O October
N November
D December
5 to 10 Not relevant to date of manufacturing

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 5

CONNECTIONS FOR FORMING CAPS

WITH A REGEN RECTIFIER

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STEPS FOR FORMING CAPACITORS WITH REGEN RECTIFIER

WARNING!!! – It is very important that the rectifier and AC drive both belong to the same
voltage class for this procedure. This document is only intended to be used for drives in
the 380-480 VAC voltage class (9th digit of the MLFB part number is ‘E’).

1) Determine the length of time the AC drive has been without 3 phase AC
power applied
2) If this time is greater than 1 year, plan to form the capacitors for
approximately 1 hour for each year of inactivity. For example, 3 years without
power would require 3 hours of capacitor forming time
3) Make sure the AC drive is disconnected from incoming power or a motor and
3ph power is not present on the inputs to the regen rectifier
4) Using 14 AWG wire or larger, make the wiring connections between the
rectifier and the AC drive as shown on the previous page

NOTE: During the forming procedure, the connected AC drive must not be switch on

5) Apply 24 VDC power to the rectifier at the X9 terminal strip (+24V at X9-1 and
24V common at X9-2)
6) Apply 380-480 VAC to the input terminals of the rectifier unit
7) Using the PMU keypad on the front of the rectifier, set the following
parameters:
P408 = # of minutes for duration of cap forming (approximately 60 minutes for
each year of inactivity)
P554.01 = 1010 ; This allows the 0/1 buttons on the PMU to control the
ON/OFF of the rectifier
P052 = 20 ; This puts the regen rectifier into the special “Form DC Link”
mode
8) It is necessary to press the “1” button on the PMU within 20 seconds of
setting P052=20. If 20 s is exceeded, the rectifier will fault. If this happens,
clear the fault and reset P052=20 and press “1”
9) The PMU will display o009 when the procedure is complete

NOTE: The customer is responsible for sizing and providing circuit protection devices
for incoming 3ph AC power

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CONNECTIONS FOR FORMING CAPS WITH COMPONENTS

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 8

STEPS FOR FORMING CAPACITORS WITH COMPONENTS

WARNING!!! – It is very important that the rectifier and AC drive both belong to the same
voltage class for this procedure. This document is only intended to be used for drives in
the 380-480 VAC voltage class (9th digit of the MLFB part number is ‘E’).

1) Determine the length of time the AC drive has been without 3 phase AC
power applied
2) If this time is greater than 1 year, plan to form the capacitors for
approximately 1 hour for each year of inactivity. For example, 3 years without
power would require 3 hours of capacitor forming time
3) Make sure the AC drive is disconnected from incoming power or a motor and
3ph power is not present on the input terminals of the bridge rectifier
4) Using 14 AWG wire or larger, make the wiring connections between the
bridge rectifier / resistor and the AC drive as shown on the previous page

NOTE: During the forming procedure, the connected AC drive must not be switch on

5) Make sure the resistor and capacitor values in your circuit are correct for the
frame size of your connected AC drive (see previous page)
6) Apply 380-480 VAC to the input terminals of the bridge rectifier unit
7) Wait for the appropriate amount of time before disconnecting the incoming
power to the bridge rectifier

NOTE: The customer is responsible for sizing and providing circuit protection devices
for incoming 3ph AC power

Possible vendors and part numbers for components

Component Vendor Part Number

Bridge rectifier; 1600V Semikron SKD 62/16
Capacitor; 22nF / 1600V EPCOS B32653A1223+K
Resistor; 470 Ohm / 100W Ohmite L100J470
Resistor; 330 Ohm / 175W Ohmite L175J330
Resistor; 100 Ohm / 500W Ohmite L500J100

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EXPLANATION OF MASTERDRIVES PART NUMBER

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