10/104 NEO-WiFi– manual - ENG REV07-JAN15
The part of the first definition that we have underlined contradicts a recurrent belief: in fact, not every location that is often
considered an "industrial environment" is only that for the EMC regulations. Indeed, the vast majority of companies also
fall within the definition of light industry and their facilities and equipment must therefore satisfy the legal requirements of
both environments.
Nevertheless, most of the three-phase inverters circulating on the market are declared in conformity with the regulations
which relate only to the industrial environment and, at times, they place limitations even on this.
Having said this, and wanting to talk about the EMC advantages of NEO-WiFi, we cite the two main ones:
1. maximum distance between inverter and motor
In a normal motor/inverter installation it is necessary to minimize the parasitic capacitance of the system and for
this (but not with NEO-WiFi), the cables connecting motor and inverter should be short and of shielded type, or
unshielded but inserted in a duct or metal tube connected to earth. This also because the cables connecting
motor and inverter also radiate radio waves. It is not uncommon for inverter manufacturers, in their declaration of
conformity, to specify for the sake of correctness the maximum length of the cable connecting motor and inverter
and this statement may be considered valid.
With an inverter motor this problem does not exist, because motor and inverter are a single unit. If, however, we
were unable to control the inverter motor in its position (under a conveyor belt, in the narrow space in which a
hydraulic control unit was installed, on an industrial fan attached to a ceiling, etc.), with a normal inverter motor
we would still have to have a control device connected via cable to the inverter. This problem does not exist with
NEO-WiFi, whose detachable keypad is connected to the inverter via authorized and tested radio frequencies.
2. the installation of additional anti-interference filters
To make a compatible inverter, the manufacturer will have to allow for additional costs, such as the insertion of
components, shielding and filters. To offer a price apparently more attractive, a frequent trick is to not incorporate
in the inverter everything you need and to resolve the problem by requiring you in the instruction manual to buy
anti-interference filters separately and install them. A careless
buyer may then fool themselves that they have saved, only to find
out later, on reading the manual, that if he/she wants to comply
with applicable laws and avoid problems operating the inverter or
other devices in the same environment, he/she will have to incur
additional costs for materials and installation.
Another recurrent story is installing inverters suitable only for
industrial environments, even if the company has power supplied
directly from the mains, putting at risk the operation of other
devices. This leaves the problem to the end user to understand
why an automatic gate, a computer, a PLC, a protective circuit breaker or other electronic devices in the same
environment will begin to have problems of malfunction which will not be confirmed and resolved by the suppliers
of the inverter.
NEO-WiFi was designed as a plug-and-play inverter motor, to avoid the costs of additional materials and labour to the
buyer. It had to take into account, viewing the situation seriously, the fact of having been designed for its intended
environment, without the need for additional material and installation costs.
Very unusually, therefore, in the NEO-WiFi-3 project, Motive has been careful to make it compatible not only with the
industrial environment, with high immunity, but also to keep its emissions below the most restrictive thresholds prescribed
for the home, commercial and light industrial environment, without the need to install additional external filters.
NEO-WiFi-11kW, however, because of its greater power, is the standard suitable for installation in industrial
environments but requires the installation of an optional external anti-interference filter to make it suitable for the
domestic, commercial and light industrial environment too.
