Wiring or earth fault

What does 3181 mean?

The drive has detected an incorrect input power or motor cable connection, or an earth fault. This includes scenarios where an input power cable is inadvertently connected to the drive's motor connection terminals, posing a significant electrical safety risk and potential damage to the drive or motor.

• Input power cable (L1, L2, L3) mistakenly connected to the drive's motor output terminals (U, V, W).
• Motor cable mistakenly connected to the drive's input power terminals.
• Severe earth fault in the motor, motor cable, or within the drive's internal power components.
• Short circuit between phases or between a phase and ground in the motor or motor cable.
• Missing or poor protective earth (PE) connection for the drive unit, making fault detection inaccurate.

Click steps to track your progress.

1. 1

   De-energize the drive. Visually inspect all wiring connections at the drive input (L1, L2, L3) and output (U, V, W) terminals to ensure they are connected to the correct points.

2. 2

   Disconnect motor cable from drive output. Measure insulation resistance of motor cable and motor windings to ground (PE) using a megohmmeter (1000V).

3. 3

   Disconnect input power cable from drive input. Measure insulation resistance of input cable conductors to ground (PE) using a megohmmeter (1000V).

4. 4

   Verify continuity of the protective earth (PE) conductor from the main distribution board to the drive's PE terminal.

5. 5

   Check for accidental shorts between phase conductors at both the input and output terminals of the drive using a multimeter.