Republic of Yemen Faculty of Engineering

Ministry of High Education Electrical of Engineering Department

Sana'a University Level 3

What happens when you run a 60 Hz

motor on 50 Hz

Done By\ Supervised By\

Rabaa Muneer Saif Ebrahim Eng-Tamer Al-Qadasi

AC.NO\ 2020-037
Can a 60Hz motor run on 50Hz power supply?
For a generic answer: yes you can, IF: you reduce the voltage by 50/60, the
equipment doesn't care, you don't care about potentially overheating the motor, the
process/load can tolerate the lower speed/torque, etc. For an accurate answer you
need to provide more information like the motor nameplate rating, voltage, running
speed, load type, etc.

The ratio of applied voltage to applied frequency (V/Hz) should remain the same to
keep the same level of magnetic saturation. To keep the same thermal stress levels
on the conductors and insulation, the shaft output power should also be reduced by
the same ratio (HP/Hz).
At the same time, be aware that operating motor at a lower shaft speed will also tend
to result in a lower peripheral speed for any internal fans which in turn means both
lower volume AND lower pressure for the primary coolant. Less coolant typically
means a higher steady-state equilibrium point with regard to component (including
winding) temperatures.

As an example: a motor rated 60 hp at 460v/3ph/60Hz would be rated 50 hp when

running at 380v/3ph/50Hz (V/Phase/Hz).

What's the difference?

As standard all industrial motors designed for both IEC and US system
voltages/frequency supply: 400V/50Hz or 460V/60Hz. The power supply difference
between 50Hz and 60Hz usually 20% - nominal power at 60Hz higher by 20% of 50Hz
power supply. The data can be found on motor nameplate.

Why the difference is 20%? The main cause to motor heat (temperature rise) is a
load current. From motor output power formula P=SQRT(3)*U*I*cosF*ETA it is clear
that the current will remain about the same when we will use 400V 50Hz motor
power and 460V 60Hz 50Hz+20% motor power.

It is important to note that when it comes to frequency dependent losses such as

Hysteresis losses, eddy current losses, Skin Effect related losses; the change in
frequency often leads to 'non-linear' changes. I.e. a small increase/decrease in
frequency can have a significant increase/decrease in these frequency dependent
components. So one must be mindful to any change in the running motor at base
frequency and its effect on the overall machine operation.

What to do if I want to convert 60Hz to 50Hz?

You can use a Hz converter to convert fix Hz & Volt to adjustable Hz & Volt
60Hz motor running on 50Hz power supply or vice versa
Electric motors, both single and three phase, are designed for running on a
specified power frequency. But sometimes we may use a 'wrong' motor on the
power supply.

The basic, RPM is in direct proportion to Hz. If you decrease the power
supply frequency, the motor will slow down. On the contrary, if you increase
the frequency, the motor will speed up. The RPM change is proportional to the
Hz change.

60Hz motor will run 20% slower on 50Hz power supply

This also results in 20% less power. Basically, running the electric machine
slower usually means it will be demanding less power. That's good, as the
motor also decrease 20% of its power, and the cooling fan is slow down too.
But the critical factor here is the V/Hz ratio. It goes up 20%! Not good. This
means that during parts of every power line cycle the magnetic structure of the
motor will probably be overloaded.

The only recourse here is to correct the V/Hz with the variable value that is
easy to change – V the voltage. Lower the voltage with a transformer to
correct the V/Hz ratio.

50Hz motor will run 20% faster on 60Hz power supply

AC motor kilowatt is proportional to Torque times RPM. As the motor's torque
is not going to change significantly with the increase of frequency, it will now
output 20% more power. A 10kW 50Hz motor will be a 12kW motor on 60Hz
power source.

Running a machine 20% faster is very likely going to increase its power
demand by at least 20%! If the machine cyclically accelerates or decelerates
in operation it will be subject to greater mechanical forces. If the motor is
driving centrifugal loads their demand may even go up by the square of the
speed increase.

Case 1: You have 60Hz power for a 50Hz equipment

Let's say you just got a great deal on an equipment. As it's being wired up you
realized that it has 50Hz on its nameplate and you have 60Hz power supply.

The equipment will be running 20% faster! Is this going to be a problem? If it

is, can the speed be returned to design speed by changing a pulley size to
drop the speed 20% back to where it was?

Once this assessment has been done and sheaves are changed or other
modifications are done to help mitigate the speed/power issues, move on to
the next step. Read the nameplate to get the Full Load Amperage commonly
known as the FLA rating for the motor at the voltage you'll be running it with.

Using a clamp-on ammeter, run the machine and check to see the amperage
is below the FLA. If it is you can proceed with running the equipment as
desired. Do check to see that it's still under FLA when fully loaded. If it's over
FLA you must do some sort of load mitigation.

Case 2: You have 50Hz power for a 60Hz appliance

You receive an appliance and since you are in 50Hz power source, the 60Hz
label is bothering you. As well it should!

Again, realizing the appliance will run 20% slower, will it get the job done? In
this case you cannot change pulley sizes to correct the speed because the
motor just lost 20% of its horsepower nameplate rating. If you change pulleys,
it will likely be overloaded - seriously.

If the appliance can run 20% slower there may still be hope. Even though it is
going to lose cooling with its internal fan running more slowly, running the load
slower and with a 20% less powerful motor will likely even out. The V/Hz
increase may still get you.

At this point if your assessment shows you will probably be alright with the
slower speed, again check the nameplate for the FLA. Run the appliance and
quickly check the running current with an ammeter. If it's below FLA proceed
to load the appliance while closely monitoring things. If you stay below FLA it
will probably be OK.

But! Running at FLA now that the cooling fan has reduced ability is still
possibly going to be a problem. You should monitor the motor's temperature
and assure yourself that after extended running time, under load, it remains
below the nameplate temperature rise.

If even unloaded you're seeing FLA or more you will need to reduce the
voltage because the motor is probably saturating. Before going to the bother
of adding buck transformers, seriously consider changing out the motor for the
correct 50Hz power supply. Remember you may need to up the rated kilowatt
if you're going to change gear ratios to return the equipment back to its
original speed.
Dangers of 60Hz Motor Run on 50Hz Power Supply:

1. Severe heating, no-load current increasing

When the power frequency decrease from 60Hz to 50Hz, it means the
flux per pole increases by 20% corresponding, and the magnetic flux
density of each part of the motor will also increase by 20%. Due to the
motor design of the magnetic flux having a very small margin, it will
greatly increase the load current by more than 20%. Since the magnetic
flux density than the original increase of 20%, the saturation magnetic
flux density of the core. In addition, with the speed of the decline in
ventilation effect deteriorating, the motor temperature rises much higher
than running it at 60Hz.

2. The power and rotation speed decrease

If the no-load current approaches or exceeds originally rated current, the

motor cannot be operated; if the load current is still a wide gap between
the motor capacities of at least 20% or less than the original and the
motor speed can be decreased by about 17% at 50Hz running.

3. Starting current increase rapidly, easy to overload

The motor is an inductive load, so the reactance value is proportional to

the power frequency, the lower the power frequency, the lower the
reactance value. The starting current is inversely proportional to the
reactance in, the motor starting current will correspondingly to the
original increase of about 20%.

4. Designed torque severely damage

Torque is inversely proportional to the size of the square of the power

supply frequency. When the power supply frequency is changing from
60Hz to 50Hz, torque is increased. Similarly, the motor maximum torque
and minimum torque will be increased. Motorists know what torque is,
however, the increase in torque where power is not increased but
undermines the design specifications of the motor.
5. Significantly shorten the life of the motor

Iron consumption is about 1.3 and power is proportional to the square of

the magnetic flux density and frequency so that the iron loss increases
14%. Motor output power is greatly reduced, so that the efficiency of a
certain decline, exacerbated by losses in the motor hardware
components to shortens the life of the motor.

Source:

• http://www.50hz60hz.com/60hz-motor-running-on-50hz-power-
supply.html

• https://www.frequencyconverter.org/the-danger-of-running-60hz-
motor-on-50hz-power-supply

• http://www.frequencyinverter.org/can-a-60hz-motor-run-on-50hz-
power-supply.html