Pump controller system and method
A method and apparatus for a pump control system. One or more embodiments of the invention include a pump controller that can perform a self-calibrating procedure, can provide precise motor speed control, can provide a limp mode before shutting down the motor when system parameters are exceeded and/or fault conditions occur, can detect fault conditions, and can store fault conditions for later retrieval.
1. A method of detecting a fault condition in a pool or spa, the pool or spa being coupled to a pump and a motor, the method comprising:
supplying a single-phase input to a controller from an AC bus;
measuring a voltage and a current being provided to the controller;
correcting a power factor based on the voltage and the current;
coupling a temperature sensor to a heatsink of at least one of the motor and the controller;
measuring a DC current on a DC bus to power inverter drives of the motor;
generating a variable frequency three-phase output from the inverter drives to the motor;
analyzing whether fault conditions have occurred based on (a) the DC current having a value less than a pre-set threshold indicative of a foreign object obstruction to the pump and (b) a temperature of the heatsink measured by the temperature sensor; and
shutting down the motor when at least one of the fault conditions have occurred.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising indicating to a user that the at least one of the fault conditions have occurred.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising inputting programming information to the controller by at least one of a terminal or serial data bus.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the controller stopping the inverter drives to the motor when a short circuit is detected.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the temperature on the heatsink of the controller is measured and the inverter drives are shut down if the measured temperature is greater than a predetermined threshold.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein a second temperature value of the heatsink is measured with the temperature sensor and the controller attempts to restart the motor if the second temperature value is less than a predetermined temperature limit.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the motor is one of an AC induction motor, a brushless DC motor, and a switched reluctance motor.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured with at least one of auxiliary relay inputs and auxiliary relay outputs.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises at least one of a digital signal processor and a microcontroller.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein a power factor correction and converter/rectifier module is connected to the inverter drives of the motor via the DC bus.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of shutting down the motor comprises shutting down the inverter drives of the motor.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein correcting the power factor comprises operating a power factor correction module to regulate the power factor.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein correcting the power factor comprises determining the power factor to be 0.9 or greater.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein correcting the power factor comprises determining the power factor to be 0.98 or greater.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pump circulates fluid through the pool or spa.
16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising analyzing whether the fault conditions have occurred due to the presence of a foreign object obstruction to circulating the fluid through the pool or spa.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein correcting the power factor comprises operating a power factor correction module to regulate the power factor to a constant value under varying pump loads.
18. The method of claim 1 , wherein correcting the power factor comprises operating a power factor correction module to regulate the power factor and voltage to constant values under varying pump loads.
19. The method of claim 1 , wherein correcting the power factor comprises operating a power factor correction module to regulate the power factor over an operational range of the motor.