Mitsubishi Electric FR-F862-E Instruction Manual page 32

2.5.5
Earthing (grounding) precautions
• Always earth (ground) the motor, the inverter, and the converter unit.
Purpose of earthing (grounding)
Generally, an electrical apparatus has an earth (ground) terminal, which must be connected to the ground before use.
An electrical circuit is usually insulated by an insulating material and encased. However, it is impossible to manufacture an
insulating material that can shut off a leakage current completely, and actually, a slight current flows into the case. The
purpose of earthing (grounding) the case of an electrical apparatus is to prevent operators from getting an electric shock from
this leakage current when touching it.
To avoid the influence of external noises, the earthing (grounding) is important to EMI-sensitive equipment that handle low-
level signals or operate very fast such as audio equipment, sensors, computers.
Earthing (grounding) system to be established
As described previously, the purpose of earthing (grounding) is roughly classified into the electrical shock prevention and the
prevention of malfunction due to the influence of electromagnetic noise. These two purposes should be clearly distinguished,
and the appropriate earth (ground) system must be established to prevent the leakage current having the inverter's high
frequency components from reversing through another earth (ground) point for malfunction prevention by following these
instructions.
• Make the separate earth (ground) connection (I) for high frequency products such as the inverter from any other devices
(EMI-sensitive devices described above) wherever possible.
Establishing adequate common (single-point) earth (ground) system (II) shown in the following figure is allowed only in
cases where the separate earth (ground) system (I) is not feasible. Do not make inadequate common (single-point) earth
(ground) connection (III).
As leakage currents containing many high frequency components flows into the earthing (grounding) cables of the inverter
and peripheral devices the inverter must also be earthed (grounded) separately from the EMI-sensitive devices described
above.
In a high building, it may be effective to use its iron structure frames as earthing (grounding) electrode for EMI prevention in
order to separate from the earth (ground) system for electric shock prevention.
• Earthing (Grounding) must conform to the requirements of national and local safety regulations and electrical codes
(NEC section 250, IEC 61140 class 1 and other applicable standards).
A neutral-point earthed (grounded) power supply in compliance with EN standard must be used.
• Use the thickest possible earthing (grounding) cable. The earthing (grounding) cable should be equal to the size
indicated in the table on
• The earthing (grounding) point should be as close as possible to the inverter, and the earth (ground) cable length should
be as short as possible.
• Run the earthing (grounding) cable as far away as possible from the I/O wiring of the EMI-sensitive devices and run
them in parallel in the minimum distance.
Inverter/
converter
unit
(I) Separate earthing (grounding): Good
page 29.
Inverter/
EMI-sensitive
converter
devices
unit
(II) Common (single-point) earthing (grounding): OK
EMI-sensitive
devices
(III) Inadequate common (single-point) earthing (grounding): Bad
INSTALLATION AND WIRING
Main circuit terminals
Inverter/
EMI-sensitive
converter
devices
unit
2
31