News archive

Centrifugal blower is brushless for greatly increased service life in commercial automotive applications

Meeting the ever increasing demand for more comfort in coaches, buses and commercial vehicles, ebm-papst Automotive & Drives’ ‘brushless’ K3G blower operates with greatly reduced wear and tear, offering commercial vehicle operators the very desirable combination of excellent performance and reduced total cost of ownership.

The main application areas for the K3G blower are air-conditioning systems for buses and coaches, front boxes (duct heater), refrigerated transport systems, and cabin air-conditioning for tractors and trucks.

ebm-papst has used state of the art electronics and a specially designed ASIC in the K3G – the company’s second generation of brushless blowers. A higher integration density, subsequent reduced component count and a reduced number of solder joints all contribute to the unit’s enhanced reliability.
The K3G offers trouble free operation in excess of 25,000 operating hours, compared to the leading competitor’s time of 5,000 hours. This results in reduced costs for commercial vehicle operators, and of course increased vehicle availability utilization.

With an advanced micro-controller, it is easy to adapt the speed control of the K3G to the control signal of the user. Diagnostic output signals are also provided and can be formatted to suit specific needs.

The K3G employs power de-rating. This ensures that independent of the operating voltage of the customer, the unit is able to perform to its maximum capacity without incurring overload. Additionally the product line incorporates a wider range of operating voltages to cover all automotive applications.

The blower uses impellers made from impact resistant, modified acid proof and alkaline resistant plastic, resulting in safe, low noise operation over a wide temperature range. The motor shaft is made from stainless steel preventing corrosion – especially important when used in high ambient temperatures and high humidity conditions.

Protection is to IP24KM (without plug) and the unit’s motor is protected for over temperature, reserve battery and locked-rotor, load dump, and under-voltage. The unit can be retro-fitted into existing systems, and meets DIN EN 55025, ISO 7 637 Teil 3, DIN ISO 11 452, and interference suppression grade 5 EMC directives.