ABBDCS800 Hardware Manual DCS800 Drives (20 to 5200 A)

What this chapter contains

This chapter contains the safety instructions which you must follow when installing, 

operating and servicing the drive. If ignored, physical injury or death may follow, or 

damage may occur to the drive, the motor or driven equipment. Read the safety 

instructions before you work on the unit. 

To which products this chapter applies

The information is valid for the whole range of the product DCS800, the converter 

modules DCS800-S0x size D1 to D7, field exciter units DCF80x, etc. like the Rebuild 

Kit DCS800-R00-9xxx.

Use of warnings and notes

There are two types of safety instructions throughout this manual: warnings and 

notes. Warnings caution you about conditions which can result in serious injury or 

death and/or damage to the equipment. They also tell you how to avoid the danger. 

Notes draw attention to a particular condition or fact, or give information on a 

subject. The warning symbols are used as follows: 

Dangerous voltage warning warns of high voltage which can cause 

physical injury and/or damage to the equipment. 

General danger warning warns about conditions, other than those 

caused by electricity, which can result in physical injury or death and/or 

damage to the equipment.

Electrostatic sensitive discharge warning warns of electrostatic 

discharge which can damage the equipment. 

Installation and maintenance work

These warnings are intended for all who work on the drive, motor cable or motor. 

Ignoring the instructions can cause physical injury or death and/or damage to the 

equipment..

WARNING!

• Only qualified electricians are allowed to install and maintain the drive!

• Never work on the drive, motor cable or motor when main power is applied. 

Always ensure by measuring with a multimeter (impedance at least 1 Mohm) 

that:

1. Voltage between drive input phases U1, V1 and W1 and the frame is 

close to 0 V.

2. Voltage between terminals C+ and D- and the frame is close to 0 V.

• Do not work on the control cables when power is applied to the drive or to the 

external control circuits. Externally supplied control circuits may cause 

dangerous voltages inside the drive even when the main power on the drive is 

switched off. 

• Do not make any insulation resistance or voltage withstand tests on the drive or 

drive modules.

• Isolate the motor cables from the drive when testing the insulation resistance or 

voltage withstand of the cables or the motor.

• When reconnecting the motor cable, always check that the C+ and D- cables 

are connected with the proper terminal. 

Note:

• The motor cable terminals on the drive are at a dangerously high voltage when 

the main power is on, regardless of whether the motor is running or not.

• Depending on the external wiring, dangerous voltages (115 V, 220 V or 230 V) 

may be present on the relay outputs of the drive system (e.g. SDCS-IOB-2 and 

RDIO).

• DCS800 with enclosure extension: Before working on the drive, isolate the 

whole drive from the supply

Grounding

These instructions are intended for all who are responsible for the grounding of the 

drive. Incorrect grounding can cause physical injury, death and/or equipment 

malfunction and increase electromagnetic interference. 

WARNING!

• Ground the drive, motor and adjoining equipment to ensure personnel safety in 

all circumstances, and to reduce electromagnetic emission and pick-up. 

• Make sure that grounding conductors are adequately sized and marked as 

required by safety regulations.

• In a multiple-drive installation, connect each drive separately to protective 

earth (PE ).

• Minimize EMC emission and make a 360° high frequency grounding (e.g. 

conductive sleeves) of screened cable entries at the cabinet lead-through 

plate.

• Do not install a drive equipped with an EMC filter to an ungrounded power 

system or a high resistance-grounded (over 30 ohms) power system.

Note: 

• Power cable shields are suitable as equipment grounding conductors only 

when adequately sized to meet safety regulations.

• As the normal leakage current of the drive is higher than 3.5 mA AC or 10 mA 

DC (stated by EN 50178, 5.2.11.1), a fixed protective earth connection is 

required.

Printed circuit boards and fiber optic cables

These instructions are intended for all who handle the circuit boards and fiber optic 

cables. Ignoring the following instructions can cause damage to the equipment.

WARNING! The printed circuit boards contain components sensitive to electrostatic 

discharge. Wear a grounding wrist band when handling the boards. Do not touch the 

boards unnecessarily.

Use grounding strip:

ABB order no.: 3ADV050035P0001

WARNING! Handle the fiber optic cables with care. When unplugging optic cables, 

always grab the connector, not the cable itself. Do not touch the ends of the fibers 

with bare hands as the fiber is extremely sensitive to dirt. The minimum allowed 

bend radius is 35 mm (1.4 in.).

Mechanical installation

These notes are intended for all who install the drive. Handle the unit carefully to