Siemens / Drives / SIMOVERT MASTERDRIVES

Every 6SE70 type number by supply voltage and current, plus the decode and the control boards. Long discontinued, still running big plant.

SIMOVERT MASTERDRIVES was the Siemens high performance AC drive system before SINAMICS. Fully digital, modular, IGBT, rated from 0.55 kW to 2300 kW. You find them on paper machines, extruders, test rigs, winders, large pumps and anywhere a job needed more than a MICROMASTER could give.

They are out of production and there is no official supply. What exists is surplus, used and repaired.

How to read a 6SE70 number

This decodes cleanly. Take 6SE7023-4EC61.

The current code. The first digit is a decade multiplier, as on MICROMASTER. 16-1 is 6.1 A, 23-4 is 34 A, 27-2 is 72 A, 33-2 is about 315 A, 41-2 is about 1230 A.

The voltage letter is the one to read first

A converter and an inverter are not the same thing. An E or F unit takes a three-phase AC supply. An R, T or U unit takes a DC link and cannot run off mains directly. Getting this wrong is the biggest mistake available on the platform.

The letter after that is the frame size, running A, B, C, D, E, F, G, J, K, L, M, Q with increasing power.

AC-AC converters, 3 AC 380 to 460 V

The most common supply in New Zealand industry.

Currents are based on a 3 kHz carrier frequency. Larger frames have maximum carrier frequency restrictions.

AC-AC converters, 3 AC 500 to 575 V

DC-AC inverters, DC 510 to 650 V

DC-AC inverters, DC 675 to 810 V

DC-AC inverters, DC 270 to 310 V

Work out which function class you have

Four classes exist, they look similar, they use different control boards, and the boards are not interchangeable.

Vector Control comes in three output ranges: Compact PLUS 0.55 to 18.5 kW, Compact 2.2 to 37 kW, and Chassis 45 to 2300 kW.

Control boards, the spare people actually need

On a lot of MASTERDRIVES faults the closed loop control board has failed, not the power section. A board is a fraction of the cost of a converter and a much faster fix.

Some option boards are shared with SIMOREG. If you have loose boards from either platform, they are worth something.

Option boards and system components

The MASTERDRIVES product group includes converters, inverters, rectifier units, rectifier and regenerative feedback units, active front end incoming units, braking units and resistors, DC link bus for cabinet units, interference suppression filters, line commutating reactors, line filters, fuses, dv/dt and sine output filters, and technology modules.

Plug-in option boards cover:

• SBx sensor boards for speed and position sensing
• CBx communication boards for fieldbus, including CBP for PROFIBUS, CBC for CAN and CBL for CC-Link
• SLx SIMOLINK boards for fast setpoint and actual value transmission

These are separately orderable and frequently missing from a used drive. If your application talks to a PLC over a fieldbus, check whether the replacement has the same board fitted. It usually does not.

The -Z option codes

Many MASTERDRIVES numbers carry -Z followed by codes such as +G91, +G93, +K80, +L30, +C43 or +F01. These cover fitted boards and configurations, and two drives with the same base number can be very differently equipped.

Include everything after the dash when you send us a number.

Housing designs

The brake chopper difference matters. A Compact PLUS has one built in. A Compact or chassis unit does not, and needs a separate braking unit wired to the DC terminals.

An approvals note

The UL and CSA approvals do not extend to the 660 to 690 V AC or the 890 to 930 V DC ratings. If your installation is assessed against UL or CSA, that matters.

MASTERDRIVES brake units for MICROMASTER

MICROMASTER 440 inverters in frame sizes FX and GX have no integrated brake chopper. Siemens specifies external SIMOVERT MASTERDRIVES brake units and resistors for those.

So a large MM440 with a braking application needs a MASTERDRIVES part. We can supply both.

Repair, replace or migrate

If a control or communication board has failed, a board swap is the cheapest and fastest fix by a long way.

If the power section has gone and the machine is staying, a used or surplus unit of the same article number and function class keeps the existing program and wiring.

If you are planning ahead, SINAMICS is the current equivalent and we can quote it as a distributor. It is a full redesign, so treat it as a project with a planned outage.

We buy MASTERDRIVES

Converters, control boards, communication boards and braking units are all worth money to the plants still running them. Boards especially. See Sell To Us.

Related

SIMOREG DC MASTER for DC drives. SINAMICS G120 and MICROMASTER 440 for AC.

Send us your article numbers

Include the function class if you know it, and everything after the dash including any Z options. Read the voltage letter carefully, because a DC link inverter cannot run off mains. Quotes in NZD including GST.

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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 Siemens AG. All trademarks, brand names and article numbers are the property of their respective owners and are used here for identification purposes only.