ACS880 Review

The latest inverter to ABB’s impressive line up is the ACS880, the eagerly awaited replacement for the world leading ACS800, (which still out performs many of the inverters from rival manufacturers). So how does the ACS880 stand up to first scrutiny?

For a start, the new black and white casing looks good and feels solid and strong and with the new keypad the ACS880 appears modern and up to date.

ABB’s UK staff and Drives Alliance Partners (soon to be AVP) have received their initial product training and basic technical introduction to the ACS880; in addition we all took part in a number of practical exercises to gain familiarity which allows us to give a first opinion of the new product. After speaking with my engineering & sales colleagues, the best way to do this is to go down a list of bullet points.

First of all the keypad operation is reassuringly familiar with some key enhancements. The new graphical display is intuitive, high contrast, high-resolution and enables easy navigation around all of the menus.
The new programming tools within the inverter means that many applications can be successfully implemented without the Adaptive Programming tools needed in the ACS800. A huge step forward we think, time will tell.
New “Drive Composer” PC programming tool. We used the entry level free software (from the ABB website), which we found to be more than adequate for everyday use. If you need to do more advanced programming then you will need the “Drive Composer Pro”. The good news is that you can plug your PC into the USB port on the keypad.
Big range, the ACS880-01’s (wall mounted units) are available up to 250kW fan and pump rated, and 200kW heavy duty rated @ 400V. Yes really, 250kW out of the box and onto a (strong) wall.
One really clever feature is that you can daisy chain inverters through the drive-to-drive link without the need for any additional hardware.
There is a fantastic range of options for both hardware (I/O, communications, networks, monitoring, encoders etc) and software applications (cranes, hoists and so on).
Safe Torque Off built in with dedicated safety module available shortly. This will simplify safety circuits in many applications.

You can peruse the brochure if you want to learn more about the ACS880’s features and benefits via the ABB website or by contacting us on 0115 9441036 or emailing [email protected]

Our colleagues at ABB have worked hard to ensure that we get the best inverter suitable for our market. The ACS800 is a tough act to follow but on first review it looks like the ACS880 goes way beyond what we expected and ABB has given us a product to take us even further beyond our competitors. We are looking forward to trying the ACS880 out on some complicated applications!