[awerby]

So I've got this nice little half-horse Colombo spindle, and a 220v WEG VFD I want to run it with. The spindle has four wires: white, red, black and yellow. The VFD has four output terminals labeled U, V, W, and PE. Does anyone know which goes where? Is this general knowledge or a proprietary secret? I tried Googling it, but got nowhere. Do I have to contact WEG and Colombo tech support to figure this out?

For extra credit, maybe someone could help me figure out the input side; I've got a 220 plug with prongs labeled G, X and Y. The WEG has input terminals labeled 1/L1 N/L2 and PE. I'm figuring PE is the ground, corresponding to the pin labeled G, and that it's supposed to connect to the PE terminal on the output side, but I don't know which of the 2 hot leads go to L1 or L2, or if it even matters. If I get the polarity wrong, does the VFD even care? Is there a convention for which color wires I should attach to each prong terminal? Is it a problem if there's no neutral wire, just Ground?

[Jim Dawson]

Let's start with the plug/input to the VFD:

X > L1 (hot) Normally Red in NA
Y > L2 (hot) Normally Black in NA
G > PE (ground) Normally Green in NA

The VFD does not care if you mix up L1/L2
No neutral is used or connected in this case. The L2/N terminal designates the neutral for European power systems, in NA it is just L1, L2 so ignore the N.

On the motor side I'm a little confused, white, red, black and yellow seems odd, assuming a 3 phase motor. Are you sure that the yellow wire is not a yellow with a green stripe?. That would normally be a European ground wire color.

On the VFD U, V, and W are the output terminals and as you guessed the PE is ground. These would be connected to the 3 corresponding terminals (or wires) on the motor. Worst case if you hook up the U, V, W wires incorrectly is that the motor will turn backwards, simply exchange any two wires to make it turn correctly.

So the real question...... Is the yellow wire connected to the motor case (case ground)?

Assuming that yellow is connected to the motor case, the U, V, W would connect to the red, white, and black wires. Don't make these connections until you can confirm where the motor wires go. One of those wires should connect to the motor case, the other 3 should not. The 3 motor wires should have continuity between them, and should not connect to the motor case.

[Al_The_Man]

Re PE:
The term Earth is generally used in UK and parts of Europe PE = Protective Earth (Ground)
Al..

[awerby]

Yes, thanks - turning it over revealed a green stripe on the yellow wire, so that's ground. I got in touch with a tech at Colombo by phone (don't bother filling in their email form, nobody responds to them) and he said to hook the red, white and black wires to any of the rest of the VFD terminals; it didn't really matter which went where. If it goes backward instead of forward, then switch any two of the hot leads. So I'll give that a shot, and see if I can get the +1-10v output of the G540 drive to give me speed control, Wish me luck...