Resolving SINAMICS DCM 6RA80 Fan Speed Fault F60167

1. Problem Overview

The SINAMICS DCM 6RA80 DC converter monitors the rotational speed of its internal cooling fan (and any auxiliary fan stages, depending on the device rating) through a tachogenerator / Hall-effect feedback circuit. When the measured fan speed deviates from the expected envelope, the converter raises fault F60167 ("Fan speed fault") and trips the pulse enable, bringing the drive offline. Field reports consistently describe a pattern in which:

• The fault is raised only after the motor has been enabled and is running.
• The fan itself is already running from the moment the converter is powered up (i.e. the fan is healthy and physically rotating).
• Re-arranging the wiring so that the fan and the motor start at the same instant suppresses the fault, which is a strong indicator that the converter is interpreting a transient feedback reading as a stalled or slow fan.

Because the fan is a service-critical component, the F60167 fault cannot be permanently disabled on the 6RA80 platform. The control firmware reserves the right to trip on a confirmed loss of cooling airflow, even when the message is reclassified. The only legitimate remedies are: (a) repairing the root cause, or (b) demoting the F60167 message from a fault to a warning (alarm) or a no-message event, while the underlying signal is still monitored.

2. Fault F60167 — Definition and Trip Behavior

F60167 belongs to the cooling-system fault group of the SINAMICS DCM. On the standard BOP20 / AOP30 operator panels, the alarm buffer and the fault memory list the event in the format shown below:

Tripping is governed by an internal plausibility check: the firmware expects the measured fan speed to follow a specific ramp when the fan start command is issued. If the measured speed drops below a threshold for a defined dwell time, F60167 is raised. The same check is executed in two states:

1. At power-up, when the fan is commanded to run before the motor is enabled.
2. At run enable, when the fan command is re-applied in synchronism with the motor.

3. Root Cause Analysis

The fact that the fan is verifiably running (audible, visible, mechanically sound) but the firmware still reports a speed fault points to a feedback-side or signal-conditioning problem rather than a mechanical fan failure. The four most frequent root causes, in order of likelihood, are:

Note that the second cause is the one most often reproduced in the field: when the motor contactor closes, the inrush current momentarily disturbs the fan tach signal because both share a common return path through the A2 board. By making the fan command coincide with the run command, the firmware's tach check window is delayed long enough for the transient to pass undetected.

4. Diagnostic Parameter Map

The 6RA80 firmware exposes a tightly scoped set of read-only parameters that let you observe the cooling system without dismantling the drive. The table below is the minimum set you should record before doing anything else.

Cross-check rule: r50030[0] must agree with r53135[08] Bit1. If r50030 reports a healthy RPM but r53135 reports tach-not-OK, the CUD1 input stage is suspect. If r50030 is erratic or zero, the XV connector or the fan itself is suspect.

5. Hardware Inspection — XV1, XV2, XV3, CUD1, A2

Follow the procedure below before you change any parameters. Replacing a card is more expensive than seating a connector, and the diagnostic is fast.

1. Power down and lock out the converter. Wait at least five minutes for the DC-link to discharge below 50 V (verify on the front-panel DC-link LEDs).
2. Inspect XV1, XV2 and XV3 at the CUD1. These are the fan tach feedback connectors on the lower edge of the CUD1. Remove each one, inspect the pins for oxidation or pushed-back contacts, re-seat until the latch clicks, and pull-test to confirm retention.
3. Verify the wiring scheme. The fan return path must not share a common cable with the motor armature or field wiring. If you find a shared conduit, separate them and re-test.
4. Re-apply power and record r50030[0..3] and r52310 with the motor still OFF. All fan speeds should be in the rated band and the supply rail must be at nominal voltage.
5. Run the motor and re-record the same parameters. If the fault re-appears, capture the fault buffer (r0947 / r0949 on the AOP30) at the moment of trip.
6. If r50030 is healthy at both points but the fault still trips, replace the CUD1 card (the leftmost control card; the right slot is CUD2 and is optional).
7. If r52310 droops under load, the A2 power-interface board is failing under the motor inrush and must be replaced. Do not bypass the A2 — it carries the armature-current feedback shunt signal.

6. Demoting / "Bypassing" F60167 via p2118 / p2119

If, after the hardware inspection above, the parameters still show a healthy fan, you may re-classify the message. The 6RA80 firmware uses two parameters to control message type:

To demote F60167 specifically, write the fault number into an unused index of p2118 and set the corresponding p2119 entry to either 2 (alarm / warning) or 3 (no message). For example, using index [3]:

p2118[3] = 60167
p2119[3] = 2   ; ALARM (warning is logged but no trip)
p2119[3] = 3   ; NO MESSAGE (no log, no trip, no display)

Then perform a power-cycle (OFF / ON) so the new mapping is latched into the active fault handler. From the next start, F60167 will no longer trip the drive.

7. Parameter Access Procedure (BOP20 / AOP30)

The 6RA80 has two parameter roots: the Control Unit (CU) and the Drive Object (DO). p2118 / p2119 / p0003 live on the CU; the F60167 message itself lives on the DO. If you select the wrong object on the BOP, the parameters are invisible. The exact key sequence is:

1. From the operator panel, press and hold FN + the UP arrow key simultaneously. The active drive object indicator in the top-left of the BOP display starts to flash.
2. Press the DOWN arrow until the display reads 1. The number 1 corresponds to the CU; the number 2 is the DO. Confirm by pressing P.
3. Press UP until you reach parameter P0003. Press P to enter edit mode.
4. Use the UP / DOWN arrows to set P0003 = 3 (Expert access level). Press P to confirm.
5. Press UP to navigate to P2118, press P, and edit the desired index. Press P again to commit each value.
6. Press UP to P2119 and set the corresponding index to 2 or 3.
7. Power-cycle the converter. The new mapping is active only after a full OFF / ON cycle.

8. Drive Object vs. Control Unit — Quick Reference

If you change p2118 on the DO, it has no effect on F60167. If you change it on the CU, it takes effect for every drive object hosted by that CUD. This is intentional: a single CUD can host up to two drive objects, and a fault demoted on the CU applies to both.

9. Verification Procedure

After the demotion or repair, run the following acceptance check before returning the drive to service:

1. With the drive stopped, confirm r50030[0..3] reads in the rated band and r53135[08..11] Bit0 = 1, Bit1 = 1 for every fan.
2. Confirm r52310 is at the nominal fan supply voltage with less than ±2 % drift across a 10-minute observation.
3. Enable the drive, run the motor at 25 %, 50 % and 100 % of rated speed for five minutes each, and confirm that F60167 is not raised.
4. If the message was demoted, confirm the buffer (r0947[0..63]) does not record a fresh F60167 entry. A historical entry from before the demotion is acceptable.
5. Verify that thermal protection still functions: induce a brief fan stop and confirm that F30004 or F30005 is raised (this proves the firmware is still watching the heat-sink, not just the message text).

10. Operational and Safety Considerations

The cooling fan on a 6RA80 is not a convenience accessory. Under continuous rated load, the IGBT modules and the armature thyristor stack dissipate enough heat to require forced-air cooling. The firmware uses a real-time thermal model of the heat-sink and will derate or trip on temperature long before the fan monitor would catch a stalled fan, but a stalled fan still means the safety margin is gone. The table below summarizes the safe operating envelope after a message demotion:

11. Related Faults and Edge Cases

F60167 is part of a broader cooling-system fault cluster. The table below lists the codes most commonly seen in the same context and the diagnostic parameter that distinguishes each one:

An edge case that occasionally confuses the field engineer: if a 6RA80 has been retrofitted with a non-OEM fan (different tach pulse rate), r50030 will read a value the firmware considers out of range. The OEM tach is specified for two pulses per revolution on most ratings; a third-party fan with three pulses per revolution will cause a permanent +50 % reading. The remedy is to re-fit the OEM fan, not to demote the message.

12. FAQ