VFD Input current

[Electric-Light]

I am still having a hard time to understand this. This is quite opposite to what I thought before. As all others pointed out, output power is always less than input power. If the voltage is the same for both input and output, I would think, the output current should be less than input.

Of course, the power factor gets into the mix so "I think", it might not be always the case but...I also have seen other VFD manufacturers data sheets show input current is "WAY" higher than output current. I am totally lost here..

Black = V
blue = I

The front-end topology decides the input waveform.
For each of those waveforms you can computer the RMS values separately and the simple product of the RMS values is the VA
The shape and magnitude of current waveform changes but electronic loads like VFDs tend to not shift phase wise.

To get the wattage over the same time period integrate in multiples of line cycles, or you beak it into many pieces, multiple instantaneous V*I for each segment and average at the end. The voltage waveform stays close to the same at least for the input end. The shape o the current waveform affects the Irms value even if the power is the same.

The latter value is always less than or equal to Vrms * Irms. When you have simple coils and capacitors such as across the line motors, current is higher than what power usage in watts divided by V gives you because the current lags behind. The waveform was close to sine wave so you just had to determine the phase shift to get watts. The actual output current and voltage waveforms from ASD is not a clean current waveform that stretches and shrinks like a bench function generator.

So this has much to do with the current mystery you're seeing.

 

[Open Neutral]

. Some parts of [Japan] are 50Hz, some are 60Hz, and the 3 phase voltage levels are odd too. In the 50Hz sections, they use 200 and 400V, in the 60Hz sections they use 220, 400 and 440V. So their motors, to be compatible everywhere in Japan, have to be designed to accept all of the different V/Hz ratios those represent.

FWIW:
It's roughly half 50 Hz and half 60, a byproduct of dealing with US and UK suppliers. It stays that way to ensure no effective competition in the PoCo business. It's also why the Tōhoku earthquake / Fukushima Daiichi event was not just a radiation disaster but also a national economic one; the 50 Hz side lost a big fraction of its capacity, and oops, many of the [export-creating] auto plants are on the 50Hz side. There are some static frequency converters, but nowhere near needed capacity.

And you didn't mention 100VAC. Look carefully at your laptop switcher supply, and you'll usually see "100-240VAC" as input range.

 

[Jraef]

... And you didn't mention 100VAC. ...

I didn't because the topic was VFDs, not residential single phase services. But yes, you're correct.

 

[Electric-Light]

I didn't because the topic was VFDs, not residential single phase services. But yes, you're correct.

Europe is mostly standardized to 380/400/415 phase-to-phase wye symmetric ground reference.

US has 208 or 480 symmetric ground and 240v high-leg assymetric and corner ground and less common 480v corner ground. The ground reference has design requirement implications.