Hitachi WJ200 Series VFDs

Hitachi WJ200-037LF stock photo

Overview

Variable frequency drive (VFD) made by Hitachi. Useful for controlling 3-phase spindle motors on CNC routers. It can be controlled with discrete digital inputs, or over Modbus (RS-485). It can be configured from the keypad, or over USB using Hitachi's software which is much more convenient.

Software

There is Windows PC based software called ProDriveNext which can communicate with the VFD over it's mini-USB port:

Industrial Inverters Software Downloads | ICED : Hitachi America, Ltd. (dead link)

Industrial Inverters Software Downloads | ICED : Hitachi America, Ltd. (page works, but has outdated links on it)

ProDriveNext - Inverter Configurator - Software - Products - Hitachi Automation

The latest version was 2.6.2 at the time of this writing.

Modbus control

VFD parameters

The VFD must be configured for Modbus control of the settings of interest (usually just run/stop, forward/reverse, and electrical frequency which corresponds to speed).

Name	Value	Default	Description
A001	03 (Modbus network input)		Frequency source
A002	03 (Modbus network input)		Run command source
C071	06 (19,200 baud)		Communication speed
C072	1		Modbus address
C074	00 (no parity)		Communication parity
C075			Communication stop bits
C076	02 (disable)		Communication error select
C077	2.0		Communication watchdog timer period (seconds)
C078			Communication wait time

Page 331 (marked B-2 in the PDF) of the instructional manual details how to wire and configure Modbus on the VFD.

Modbus coils/registers

Coils for writing (they can usually also be read):

Coil No. (hex)	Coil No. (dec)	Values	Description
0x0001	1	1: on, 0: off	Operation command
0x0002	2	1: reverse, 0: forward	Rotation direction command
0x0004	4	1: reset	Trip reset

Coils for reading:

Coil No. (hex)	Coil No. (dec)	Values	Description
0x000F	15	1: run, 0: stop	Operation status
0x0010	16	1: reverse, 0: forward	Rotation direction
0x0011	17	1: ready, 0: not ready	Inverter ready
0x0013	19	1: tripping, 0: normal	"running" (tripping?) status

Page 353 (marked B-24 in the PDF) lists the Modbus coil numbers and their functions.

"Holding" registers for writing:

Register No. (hex)	Register No. (dec)	Values	Description
0x0001, 0x0002 (MSB)	1, 2	0 - 40000 (decimal Hz * 100)	Frequency setpoint

Taken from Page 355 (marked B-26 in the PDF) of the instructional manual.

Registers for "monitoring" (reading):

Register No. (hex)	Register No. (dec)	Values	Description
0x1001, 0x1002	4097, 4098 (MSB)	0 - 40000 (decimal Hz * 100)	Output frequency monitor
0x1003	4099	0 - 65530 (decimal A * 10)	Output current monitor
0x1004	4100	0: stopping, 1: forward, 2: reverse	Rotation direction monitoring
0x1011	4113	0 - 6000 (decimal V * 10)	Output voltage monitor
0x1012	4114	0 - 1000 (decimal kW * 10)	Power monitor

Taken from Page 359 (marked B-30 in the PDF) of the instructional manual.

mbpoll

There is an open source utility that can speak Modbus over a serial port (or USB to serial) that has an RS-485 adapter attached. It's called mbpoll:

https://github.com/epsilonrt/mbpoll

mbpoll commands to interact with the VFD:

# write the output frequency as Hz * 100 (2-places fixed point in decimal) to holding register 1
./mbpoll /dev/ttyUSB0 -b 19200 6000 -s 1 -P odd -a 1 -0 -r 1 -t 4

# to turn on, write 1 to coil 1
./mbpoll /dev/ttyUSB0 1 -b 19200 -s 1 -P odd -a 1 -r 1 -t 0 -B

# to turn off, write 0 to coil 1
./mbpoll /dev/ttyUSB0 0 -b 19200 -s 1 -P odd -a 1 -r 1 -t 0 -B

# to monitor the output frequency (displays Hz * 100)
./mbpoll /dev/ttyUSB0 -b 19200 -s 1 -P odd -a 1 -r 4098 -t 4

# to monitor the output current (displays amps * 10)
./mbpoll /dev/ttyUSB0 -b 19200 -s 1 -P odd -a 1 -r 4099 -t 4

# to monitor the rotation direction (displays 0 for stopped, 1 for forward, 2 for reverse)
./mbpoll /dev/ttyUSB0 -b 19200 -s 1 -P odd -a 1 -r 4100 -t 4

# to monitor the output voltage (displays volts * 10)
./mbpoll /dev/ttyUSB0 -b 19200 -s 1 -P odd -a 1 -r 4113 -t 4

# to monitor the output power (displays kilowatts * 10)
./mbpoll /dev/ttyUSB0 -b 19200 -s 1 -P odd -a 1 -r 4114 -t 4

Online Resources

WJ200 Series AC Variable Speed Drives and Inverters | ICED : Hitachi America, Ltd.

Hitachi WJ200 Instructional Manual NT325X

Hitachi WJ200 Series Brochure

Hitachi WJ200 Quick Reference Guide NT3251X