ABB / DCS DC drives

S01 is a 2-quadrant drive and S02 is a 4-quadrant drive. That is the whole difference between a drive that can brake and reverse and one that cannot, and it is two characters.

DCS is the ABB DC drive range, 20 A to 5200 A. Still running older New Zealand plant on extruders, winders, test rigs and legacy machinery where a DC motor was the right answer at the time and still is.

S01 and S02 are not sizes

The most important thing on this page.

A 2-quadrant drive cannot replace a 4-quadrant one. If the machine reverses, or if the load overhauls and drives the motor, or if the application relies on regenerative braking to stop, an S01 will not do it.

Typical 4-quadrant applications: winders and unwinders, hoists, test rigs, anything with a driven load that must be held back on the way down.

This is exactly the same distinction as 1Q and 4Q on the Siemens SIMOREG, where a 1Q cannot replace a 4Q either.

And the current numbers do not match across the pair

A subtlety that catches people cross-referencing. ABB pairs 2-Q and 4-Q units of the same physical size like this:

So the 4-quadrant equivalent of an S01-0045 is an S02-0050, not an S02-0045. Matching the current digits across S01 and S02 gives you the wrong unit.

Reading the type code

ABB gives the basic type code as DCS880-aab-cccc-ddef plus option codes.

Take DCS880-S01-0405-05X0.

ABB notes that the first digits from the left express the basic configuration, and optional selections appear afterwards on the nameplate as plus codes.

Trailing characters seen across the range include X0, XB, L0 and R0. Send the whole code as it appears on the plate.

Frame sizes changed between generations

D and H are not interchangeable references. If a drawing calls for a D3 module and you are looking at a DCS880 catalogue, you are looking at the wrong generation.

DCS800 module D1

Module D2 begins at the DCS800-S01-0180. The D4 includes the 600 V DCS800-S01-0590 and S02-0650, at approximately 38 kg with a 40 x 5 mm busbar power terminal and M12 fixings.

The field exciter is a separate consideration

This is what makes DC drives different from AC, and it is the part most often missed on a replacement.

A DC motor needs field current as well as armature current. The DCS supplies the armature. The field comes from an exciter, which may be onboard, internal, or an entirely separate unit.

The arrangement varies by frame size and by generation. ABB describes DCS880 sizes H1 to H4 as being without an onboard field exciter, while DCS800 documentation describes D1 to D4 configurations using an onboard exciter.

So do not assume the field arrangement carries across a DCS800 to DCS880 migration. Tell us the frame size and generation and we will confirm what the field supply needs to be.

One clear rule

ABB states plainly for the DCS800 range: 600 V units are always without an onboard field exciter.

If you have a 600 V DCS800, there is a separate field supply somewhere and it needs to be in the parts list.

Field supply current limit

ABB notes that for higher field currents, use the next larger field supply units DCF803 or DCF804, or a three-phase field supply DCS800.

Many field supply units are single-phase converters for up to 50 A excitation current. Above that you are into the larger units.

The field supply filter rule

A useful practical detail from the ABB hardware manual.

Single-phase field supply units can be supplied from two of the three input phases of the armature converter, in which case the field supply unit does not need its own filter.

But if you take phase to neutral instead, such as 230 V from a 400 V line, a separate filter is necessary. ABB offers filters for 250 V at 6 to 30 A.

That is a real cost and a real part, and it depends entirely on how the field supply is connected.

Semiconductor fuses for the armature circuit

Confirmed pairings from the ABB DCS880 hardware manual.

ABB is explicit that adequate short-circuit and earth fault protection to EN 50178 is possible only with appropriate semiconductor fuses. A standard HRC fuse does not meet it.

Note also that the fuse is common to the 2-Q and 4-Q pair, so the fuse follows the frame rather than the quadrant configuration.

Line reactors

The 1 percent and 4 percent are impedance values, and they are different parts. The 4 percent reactor gives more harmonic reduction and more volt drop. Which one your installation has depends on the supply, so read the existing label.

Selections cover 400 V to 690 V at 50 and 60 Hz.

Cable thermal protection

Worth knowing because it removes a part from some installations and requires one in others.

ABB states the drive protects itself, its mains cables and the motor cables against thermal overload when the cables are sized according to the nominal current of the drive. No additional thermal protection devices are needed.

The exception: if the drive is connected to multiple motors, ABB requires a separate circuit breaker or fuses to protect each one.

So a single motor installation does not need separate motor cable protection, and a multi-motor one does.

A physical warning worth repeating

From the ABB manual for the larger frames.

DCS sizes H4 to H8 are heavy, must be lifted by the lifting lugs only, and have a high centre of gravity. ABB states the unit will overturn from a tilt of about 6 degrees.

Six degrees is not much. If you are moving one of these on site, that is worth telling whoever is doing the lifting.

Option and plus codes

Not all selections are available for all types. ABB says so directly, and the frame ranges above show why.

The DCS families

The DCT880 is not a motor drive. It is a thyristor power controller for resistive loads such as heating elements. If a part number begins DCT, do not size it as a DC drive.

Software

If the drive runs a ControlBuilder application, a replacement arrives without it. Same warning as every programmable device on this site. Winder control in particular is often custom code, and recreating it is not a maintenance task.

Check the application is backed up before you need it.

Keeping a DC drive running

Worth saying plainly, because the alternative is expensive.

Replacing a DC drive with an AC drive is not a drive swap. It means a new motor, new cabling, probably new mechanical coupling and a full recommissioning. On a machine that works, that is rarely justified by the drive alone.

So the practical options when a DCS fails are a like-for-like replacement, or a DCS800 to DCS880 migration which keeps the motor.

We are set up for the first of those. A surplus or tested used DCS of the same type code, with the same quadrant configuration and field arrangement, gets the machine running without touching anything else.

What we can supply

Current production. DCS880 across the range, DCT880 power controllers, DCF field exciters, line reactors and semiconductor fuses. Quoted with a delivered lead time.

Mature and discontinued. DCS800, DCS550, DCS500 and DCS400, plus DCF503 and DCF803 exciters. Surplus and tested used.

Spares. Fans, control boards including the SDCS range, keypads and fieldbus adapters.

We buy ABB DC drives

DCS800 and DCS550 hold real value to plants still running DC machinery, and so do the field exciters and control boards. If you are decommissioning, do not scrap them. See Sell To Us.

Related

ABB overview. ACS880 for the AC industrial range.

For DC drives from other brands see Siemens SIMOREG DC Master, which uses the same 1Q and 4Q distinction.

Send us your type codes

Send the whole code including S01 or S02, since that decides whether the drive can brake and reverse. Tell us the frame size and how the field is supplied, because that is a separate part of the installation. Quotes in NZD including GST.

Request a quote

Industech is an independent supplier of new, surplus and used industrial automation equipment. We are not an authorised distributor of, approved by, sanctioned by, or affiliated with ABB Ltd. ABB, DCS and DriveSize are trademarks of ABB Ltd. All trademarks, brand names and type codes are the property of their respective owners and are used here for identification purposes only.