DC Drives Manufacturers – 10 Tips

Last Updated on Monday, 19 September 2011 08:25 Written by caro3 Monday, 19 September 2011 08:25

Are you currently seeking DC drives manufacturers as an industrial control distributor? Your company’s success depends not only on your personal delivery of products and customer service, but also that of the manufacturers you choose. Here are 10 key services/features to look for when trying to decide which company will work for you:

1. Requirements for ordering – Is there a minimum product limit?

2. Bulk order discounts – Will you get a discount if you order large quantities at once?

3. Service coverage – Do the DC drives manufacturers serve only a local clientele, or do they ship to distributors nationwide or worldwide?

4. How to order – What is the company’s procedure for ordering and shipping?

5. Is personalized company branding available for the DC drives?

6. What about repair? Some DC drives manufacturers either offer repair or can help you find a reliable source.

7. Customization – Does the manufacturer offer custom products for your customers’ tough applications? What about Retrofit drives?

8. Reliable customer service and distributor training – How will the company handle customer issues, and is training provided to educate you and help you make more sales?

9. Payments – How will you be billed?

10. Product guarantee – Is there a manufacturer’s warranty for all products, and does the company guarantee its drives and service?

These are just a few crucial questions to ask before signing on with DC drives manufacturers. Don’t let “low price” be your only determining factor…your reputation as a distributor is on the line!

Industrial Controls Training

Last Updated on Tuesday, 13 September 2011 08:58 Written by caro3 Tuesday, 13 September 2011 08:56

As a distributor in the industrial controls market, you might not realize how powerful product knowledge can be when it comes to increasing sales. Check with your controls manufacturer and ask about industrial controls training to help you learn more about the company’s products and services. This will educate you on how the products work and how you can better assist your customers. Whether you’re selling AC or DC drives, system interface cards, starters or other control products, sales and technical training will arm you with the skills to improve your customer relations by a great percentage. Some manufacturers offer free training at their plant or will even come to your place of business to help with your needs. Carotron, Inc., for example, welcomes its distributors and end users to tour the facility and receive free training from skilled engineers (often from the very ones that designed the products). So don’t neglect this important step in becoming a successful distributor. Industrial controls training may hold the key you’ve been seeking to skyrocket your business!

Din-Rail Mountable Products to Help with Your Application

Last Updated on Monday, 8 August 2011 10:08 Written by caro3 Monday, 8 August 2011 10:07

A few of the major motor control manufacturers including Carotron, Inc. are now making din-rail mountable products to make installing controllers much easier. Perhaps you’ve already tried to install controls before, whether it was a voltage transducer, amplifier or potentiometer, only to spend countless hours trying to figure out how to put all the pieces together!

Although these products do come with manufacturer’s instructions, it can still be time-consuming and a little confusing to get the controls working and mounted properly. Din-rail mountable products elimintate many of the difficult steps in the controller set-up and installation process. These can easily be mounted onto your equipment so you can focus on getting the machinery back up and running.

Some products to check out that are now available in din-rail mountable units include: Frequency Isolation Module FIM100-000, Signal Isolation Module SIM200-000, Voltage to Frequency Module VTF230-000, Frequency to Voltage Module FTV220-000, Electronic Relay Module ERM260-000, Load Cell Amplifier LCA210-000 and MOP (motor-operated potentiometer) MOP250-000.

Check out these and other reliable controllers at the Carotron manufacturers website. You can even call Carotron directly; qualified engineers can help with your application usually on the same day. Also, many distributors are available to take your order. Don’t miss the advantage of din-rail mountable controllers. Start seeing your production numbers soar very soon!

Web Handling, Tension Control

Last Updated on Saturday, 30 July 2011 01:29 Written by caro3 Saturday, 30 July 2011 01:28

What is web handling? It is the process of moving thin material that is flexible from one roller to another through continuous processing. Batch materials vary from one operation to the next and may include plastics, foil, film, paper and other thin materials. Unlike processing sheets, the material is in the form of a web with continuous length. The process is often called “roll-to-roll” or even for short, R2R. Unfortunately, web material may become damaged, wrinkled or deformed due to tension and/or misalignment while moving through the R2R process. When this happens, a plant or production facility may incur additional expenses due to loss of material and reduced productivity. This is why web handling tension control is a must in today’s fast-paced industrial setting.

To achieve web tension control, there are often highly efficient controllers in place that continuously measure the web’s tension and convert the tension into a corrective signal. This keeps the web in line and the tension just right for accurate processing. Products such as tension load cells, load cell amplifiers, motor drives, etc. all play a significant role in the web handling tension control loop. Check out tension controllers by manufacturers such as Carotron, Inc. to get an idea of what you need to maximize profits for your facility during the web handling process.

Quick Explanation of Tension Load Cells

Last Updated on Saturday, 2 July 2011 05:41 Written by caro3 Saturday, 2 July 2011 05:41

Tension load cells are installed on heavy duty industrial machinery/motors to measure and control the amount of tension that builds on equipment during production. As the weight of the material/load is applied to a machine, the load cells change shape to handle and measure the load while converting the tension into an electrical signal. The signal is in turn converted into an accurate speed/torque for that particular load. This helps the machinery run more efficiently for that load and helps prevent damage to the material or equipment. In industrial settings, tension load cells are used for a number of applications, including winding/unwinding, coating, slitting, printing, etc. Another phrase used for tension load cells is “force sensors.”

If you need to replace tension load cells or install them on new machinery, check with a manufacturer that’s known for high quality engineering of motor drives and industrial motor control accessories. It’s important that you buy tension load cells that are not only of a high standard, but also that are the right fit for the type and weight for the loads being processed at your facility.

Motor Drives

Last Updated on Friday, 27 May 2011 09:17 Written by caro3 Friday, 27 May 2011 09:17

Motor drives help to control tension, speed, torque, PID, and more on heavy-duty machinery. Some industrial machinery is operated by an AC or DC motor. Both types of motors are designed to handle a wide range of operations, including winding or unwinding, coating, slitting, printing, and many other needs. Motors with this capacity must be controlled (in areas of speed, tension, etc.) in order to work smoothly and prevent damage to the motor or other components.

AC motor drives are installed to control AC motors; DC drives control DC motors. But are there other differences? Yes. For those who absolutely need to upgrade their motor to a newer one, AC drives can present more benefits as well as future savings. AC drives feature a converter and inverter. DC drives feature a chopper with a converter. The frequency of the supply is changed in order to break and accelerate on AC drives. But with DC motor drives, these are achieved by applying resistance at the rotor. For speed control, AC drives change the frequency to control it whereas DC drives use field control and armature control. There are other differences between these two types of drives, which can easily be compared online.

Manufacturers of AC and DC motor drives, may provide brochures so you can see the difference. Keep in mind that replacing a DC drive with an AC drive can be very costly and time consuming. You might be able to avoid a replacement altogether by speaking with a DC drive engineer first to determine if your older DC motor is still in good condition. You might only need to replace the DC drive with an updated one. Weigh the pros and cons of both types of motor drives before making a decision. Consider not only how much the actual motor or drive will cost, but also how much down time to expect during the installation process.