Best VFD School to send one of my guys to...

[unhommefou]

Hello,

This is my first post since I have found this place a month ago. I definitely like everything that I have read so far, and many questions here have opened my eyes.

My boss plans on sending me to a VFD drive school. I am just curious as to which courses or instructors you guys in your experience, recommend?

All answers are greatly appreciated...

Mark

 

[dpc]

This will depend on the type of drives you work with. Size, brand, application.

 

[oldfieldguy]

Definitely go with the folks who make the drives you use.

A good tech will take the knowledge he gains and be able to correlate it with future installations.

old field guy

 

[DickDV]

If you are looking for good drive training that is generic, ie: not brand specific, then National Technology Transfer in Centennial CO has a very good three day seminar on AC drives and motors.

I should say that I would be prejudiced as I am an NTT certified instructor for that series of seminars.

It would be serious fun to run into some of you in class sometime!

 

[Valvecrazy]

That NTT class sounds like a good one. I would only go to a class by the drive manufacturer to get more details on a specific drive. They tend to preach a lot of sales hype about their drives. They will also skip the negative side effects of drive control, and that is really the most important information.

If you are specifically looking at controlling pumps, then the alternatives to drive control is the newest stuff being taught. I gave a short class on this subject last December, at the National Ground Water Association Convention is Vegas. I know that there is another short class scheduled at the Iowa Ground Water Association meeting. One or two day classes for small groups are big scheduled for next year but, no dates have been set as yet.

 

[rovineye]

I took the NTT class a few years ago and it was very good, with hands on time. Still use the book and notes from time to time. I encourage such a generic class if you think you will end up with a mix of suppliers like I do. I have taken other NTT classes and my only gripe is they go way overboard on the mailings advertising future classes.

If you plan on doing some retrofitting, I suggest the Baldor class which was really geared for salesmen, something like sizing and application of VFDs. It really went into depth on how to economically pick the right sized drive for the job as well as determining if the existing motor can be used. No troubleshooting or configuring labs, but they have other series that may cover that. What you would learn there would be applicable to any manufacturers drives. Good thing there is not too much nightlife in Fort Smith (math required).

If you will be using vector drives get something specific to that.