Conduit Box Installation on the GS4 Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) from AutomationDirect

The GS4 Family of Variable Frequency Drives is available in a wide variety of sizes. The smaller units have holes in the bottom so you can quickly install conduit because the wire sizes are small and don’t take up much room and adding those holes isn’t a significant cost. The larger drives require much larger wire sizes and therefor larger conduit boxes, so they are sold separately. So, if you are installing one of the larger drive in an enclosure that saves you money because it makes wiring easier, it reduces the footprint inside the enclosure and you don’t have to pay for a conduit box you aren’t going to use. If you need to mount one of these larger GS4 Drive OUTSIDE the enclosure, then AutomationDirect has you covered there too. You just install the optional conduit box like this one and you are good to go. AND the drive is now IP20/UL Type1/NEMA 1 rated which eliminates the need for a full enclosure in most applications! I should point out that the Larger Drives are normally rated for -10 to 50 deg C without the Conduit Box and only this area here is rated for IP 00, the rest of the drive is still rated at IP20 Open type. With the conduit box installed, the entire drive is rated for IP20/UL Type 1/NEMA1. BUT the max rated temperature drops to 40 deg C because it reduces airflow through the drive. That’s not a problem because you typically only need that extra temperature range when you are inside a hot enclosure – right? Just beware the Conduit box does change the operating temperature range of the drive. And while we’re on the subject – the Smaller Drives are IP20/UL Type 1, NEMA1 because the conduit box is part of the drive. BUT, there is one exception to that. The smaller drives also have a top cover you can remove to get better air flow and increase the max temperature rating to 50 degrees C. If do you open that cover on the smaller drive to get the better airflow, you also just REDUCED the IP rating down to P20/ UL Open Type. Again not an issue because you would normally only open that cover to get better airflow if the drive is inside a hot enclosure. The beauty of using the conduit box to protect the wiring and get the IP20 rating, is now you can mount any GS4 drive near the motor it’s driving which can be real handy in some applications. And since the drive is out in open air, cooling becomes less of an issue so the drive can perform more efficiently, which again saves you money. Of course disconnect, fusing, interposing relays and any other control components would still need to be in an enclosure – the conduit box is just to protect the Drive’s wiring – but those things can still be remoted and your enclosure doesn’t have to be sized to hold the drive – another money saver. One Side note – the larger frame sizes have extra grounding screws. Make sure you use those to get the full ratings of the drive. Click here to learn more about the GS4 family of VFD’s. Click here to learn more about AutomationDirect’s free support options, and click here to be notified when we publish new videos.