One of the searches that brought a reader to Sparehawk’s ABB page was a complete type code: ACS355-03E-05A6-4. That string already says most of what a replacement drive has to match. Here is how to read it, block by block, and what to check before the old drive comes out of the cabinet.
What each block means
Take ACS355-03E-05A6-4 apart from the left:
- ACS355 is the product series, ABB’s compact machinery drive.
- 03 means a three-phase supply; 01 would mean single-phase.
- E means the internal EMC filter is connected and 50 Hz is the default motor frequency; U means the filter is disconnected and 60 Hz is the default.
- 05A6 is the rated output current, with the A standing for the decimal point: 5.6 A.
- 4 is the supply voltage range, 380 to 480 V; 2 would mean 200 to 240 V.
So ACS355-03E-05A6-4 is a three-phase drive for a 400 V class supply, with a 5.6 A output and the filter connected. Choose a replacement by output current and supply, not by the motor power written on an old order: two motors of the same power can draw different currents.
E or U: a factory setting with consequences
The letter after the phase code is easy to miss and matters on site. A drive with the filter connected belongs on a grounded (TN) supply. On an IT supply, ungrounded or grounded through a high resistance, the internal filter has to be disconnected as ABB’s manual describes. If the failed drive was a U unit, or an E unit that someone converted, set up the replacement the same way before it is powered.
The default frequency follows the same letter. A 60 Hz default on a 50 Hz motor, or the reverse, shows up as the wrong speed at the first start. Enter the motor data from the motor’s own rating plate rather than trusting the default.
Option codes after the plus sign
Everything after a plus sign is an option fitted at the factory. The one seen most often on ACS355 drives is +B063, the sealed version for IP66/IP67 and UL Type 4X, built for wet and dusty places outside a cabinet. A standard unit cannot take its place. Options that plug in later, such as a fieldbus adapter, are separate parts: an FPBA-01 adapter for PROFIBUS can move from the old drive to the new one if it still works.
Before the old drive comes out
- Photograph the rating plate and write down the full type code, options included.
- Save the parameters to the control panel or a PC tool, if the drive still powers up.
- Look for parameter changes noted in the machine’s documentation, in case it does not.
- Read the fault log to find out why it stopped.
The last point decides more than the price of the spare. Our post on repairing or replacing a failed drive explains why the cause comes first.
Same code or a successor
An identical type code is the quick route: the same current, supply, filter setting and options, and the saved parameters load straight in. Search the whole code first, ACS355-03E-05A6-4 for example, and only then the series. Check the ACS355’s life-cycle status on ABB’s own pages before you stock more than one spare. ABB’s newer machinery drive is the ACS380; moving to it means a new parameter set and a check of the wiring, so plan it as a small project rather than a swap. If nobody lists the exact code, post a wanted request or send a request for quotes with the full type code.