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A.O. Smith Debuts AC Drives at AHR Expo 2001

January 29, 2001 - Through its alliance with controls manufacturer Saftronics, the company now is providing packaged motor-drive solutions for HVAC/R customers.

Tipp City, Ohio – Visitors to AHR Expo 2001 will see something at A.O. Smith Electrical Product Company’s booth never seen there before: integral horsepower motors packaged with variable frequency drives.

Through a marketing alliance with Saftronics, a respected manufacturer of solid-state controls, A.O. Smith now is offering motor/drive packages to provide more precise control and increased energy efficiency for heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC/R) as well as industrial applications. Since this year’s exposition is the first since the alliance was formed in June 2000, it is A.O. Smith’s premier opportunity to introduce these packages to the HVAC/R market – and to present "the power of one source" for electric motors to its customers.

A.O. Smith is uniquely positioned to meet the motor/drive requirements of customers in the HVAC/R market. The company has been producing electric motors for HVAC/R applications for nearly half a century and today sells the majority of the 38 million motors it produces annually into the HVAC/R market. It also is distinguished for its Speed Engineered® motors, a line of motors designed and constructed especially for use with variable frequency drives. The company combines its market expertise, inverter-duty motors – and range of HVAC/R products – with a full line of AC variable speed drives to provide compatible motor/drive packages for precise speed regulation in fan, pump and condenser applications.

In keeping with their importance, motor/drive packages are a key feature at A.O. Smith booth 4230. The exhibit launches the all-new FPC5001 drive, designed for improved operation of building management systems. The FPC5001 features a patent-pending design that combines bypass functions and HVAC operation requirements into a seamless, integrated package that can minimize harmonic distortion by 20 percent – and improve full-load system efficiency by four to five percent.

The exhibit also introduces A.O. Smith’s innovative Rapidpak, an ultra-compact AC inverter that is pre-programmed for a range of applications, enabling instant, "Plug and Play" installation; and the FP5 fan and pump AC drive, a dedicated inverter for the HVAC industry that features an automatic energy-saving output voltage adjustment to ensure that motors operate at peak efficiency. The FP5 is designed to enable a smooth transition from bypass to variable frequency drive without a fault trip.

Along with these innovative drives, A.O. Smith is featuring its Speed-Engineered® motors at the exposition. Speed-Engineered® motors eliminate corona, a phenomenon which can cause premature winding failure in motors that are not designed specifically for inverter use. A.O. Smith’s Speed Engineered® Corona-Free solution eliminates the causes of premature winding failure completely.

To meet diverse motor/drive applications, A.O. Smith offers three distinct families of Speed Engineered® Motors:

E-Plus®, the industry’s first high-efficiency, energy-saving motor, meets 1997 EPAct standards.
E-Plus 3® motors offer higher energy performance, exceeding most utility conservation initiatives in addition to meeting the 1997 EPAct standards.
Speed-Plus® motors boast the widest speed range now available in the industry, from 20:1 at constant torque, standard; to 1000:1 at constant torque with the addition of a blower kit.
"We are pleased to be able to take advantage of the opportunity offered by this year’s AHR Expo to introduce our motor/drive capabilities to our HVAC/R customers," said Gary Wolfe, Electrical Products Company marketing manager for integral horsepower motors. "We are committed to serving the full needs of our HVAC/R customers, and we believe that the capability to provide state-of-the-art motor/drive solutions significantly extends our ability to do so."

Speed-Engineered® motors are among a full range of integral, fractional, subfractional, hermetic and DC electric motors, from 1/200 horsepower to 500 horsepower, manufactured by A.O. Smith for HVAC/R applications. These motors are used in furnace blowers, residential and commercial air conditioners, heat pumps, walk-in coolers, refrigerator display cases, chillers, condenser fans, air handling units, compressors, and other HVAC/R products. The company also manufactures motors from 1/800 horsepower to 800 horsepower for industrial, pump and leisure water, and other applications.

A.O. Smith Corporation is a diversified, global manufacturer with a 125-year tradition of engineering expertise and practical innovation. The company employs more than 15,000 people at plants in the United States, Mexico, Canada, China, England, Ireland, Hungary and the Netherlands. A.O. Smith Electrical Products Company, based in Tipp City, Ohio, is the corporation's largest operating unit, with 2000 sales of $884 million.