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OPENVVVF
Test Report

Induction Motor 180 V Power Stage Bring-up

Bring-up run of the C2 power stage with 200 V capacitors, driving the TECO MAX-IE3 induction motor up to 180 VDC bus.

Document IDOV-TEST-HW-INDUCTION-180V-BRINGUP
Test ID8
Version0.1
Date2026-08-09
Statusdraft
Applies toopenvvvf-control-module, chassis-size-2
Product lineopenvvvf
Normative referencesOV-TEST-HW-INDUCTION-CAL-INDEX, OV-TEST-HW-INDUCTION-NOLOAD-1H, OV-TEST-HW-INDEX
Index / Safety and Compliance / Testing and Validation / Hardware Tests / Induction Motor 180 V Power Stage Bring-up / Induction Motor 180 V Power Stage Bring-up
8 · v0.1 · draft · 2026-08-09
DoctypeTest Report
Product lineopenvvvf
Applies toopenvvvf-control-module, chassis-size-2
Version0.1
Date2026-08-09
Statusdraft
DescriptionBring-up run of the C2 power stage with 200 V capacitors, driving the TECO MAX-IE3 induction motor up to 180 VDC bus.
Test id8
Nav order355
Normative refsOV-TEST-HW-INDUCTION-CAL-INDEX, OV-TEST-HW-INDUCTION-NOLOAD-1H, OV-TEST-HW-INDEX

Induction Motor 180 V Power Stage Bring-up

This report records the first time the C2 power stage was operated with 200 V DC-link capacitors at elevated bus voltage. The TECO MAX-IE3 induction motor was used as a load while the DC bus was stepped from ~140 V up to ~180 V to validate capacitor hold-off, gate-drive operation, and current regulation at the higher rail.

Test setup

  • Motor: TECO Westinghouse MAX-IE3 3-phase induction motor, 10 HP / 7.5 kW, 208 V, 60 Hz
  • Inverter: OpenVVVF C2 chassis with 200 V DC-link capacitors
  • Control: V/Hz open-loop excitation, no mechanical load
  • Instrumentation: Tektronix 5 Series MSO oscilloscope, controller telemetry

Test conditions

Parameter Value
DC bus voltage stepped 140 V -> 150 V -> 170 V -> 180 V
Commanded frequency ~60 Hz
Mechanical load None (free spinning shaft)
Duration ~10 min (604 s)
Ambient temperature ~23 °C

Electrical observations

The telemetry plot below shows the entire bring-up sequence. The DC bus was increased in discrete steps while the motor remained under V/Hz excitation. Phase current magnitude grew with bus voltage as expected for a no-load magnetizing characteristic, reaching brief peaks above 35 A during transients.

Key events from the log:

Time (s) Bus voltage Observation
0 - 160 ~142 V Stable no-load excitation, small currents
~160 - 180 dip to ~30 V then back to ~142 V Bench supply current limit was too low; motor slip kept current demand high, collapsing the bus until the current limit was raised
180 - 320 ~142 V Continued stable operation
320 - 420 ~152 V First voltage step; currents remain moderate
420 - 520 ~172 V Second voltage step; current ripple increases
~520 data pauses control stop halted the ISR and telemetry; control start resumed sampling
520 - 560 ~172 V Operation resumes after control restart
560 - 604 ~181 V Final step to ~180 V; peak phase current ~38 A

Telemetry overview of the 180 V bring-up: phase currents and DC bus voltage

Open telemetry log: View the 180 V bring-up in the Telemetry Viewer

Results

  • The 200 V capacitor bank held the ~180 V rail without issue.
  • Gate-drive and current sensing operated correctly across all voltage steps.
  • The controller recovered cleanly after the ~160 s bus collapse once the bench supply current limit was raised.
  • Maximum observed DC bus voltage: 182.5 V.
  • Maximum observed phase current (transient): ~38 A.
  • Telemetry was paused around 520 s by control stop and resumed with control start; no data was lost in the JSONL export.

Conclusion

The C2 power stage with 200 V DC-link capacitors successfully ran at 180 VDC while driving the induction motor. This confirms the hardware is usable for nominal 200 V-class DC buses and provides confidence for future higher-voltage loaded tests.

Artifacts

Notes

  • The full-rate telemetry log is ~157 MB; the linked file is decimated to 0.2 samples per second for the repository.
  • This was an unloaded motor test; loaded current levels at 180 V will be higher and require additional validation.