The VW3A46151 is a passive harmonic filter from Schneider Electric, designed to reduce current harmonics on the line side of Altivar variable speed drives. It's rated for 154 A input / 160 A output at 480 V +/- 10 %, 60 Hz, and delivers a total harmonic current distortion (THDI) of 10 % when paired with drives rated 90 kW / 125 hp — covering the ATV61H, ATV61W, ATV71H, ATV71Q, ATV650, ATV630, ATV950, and ATV930 series.
Harmonic performance and standards compliance
A THDI of 10 % means this filter brings the drive's line current distortion well within the limits of IEC 61000-3-4 and IEC 61000-3-12, which govern connection of equipment to public low-voltage supply networks. It also complies with IEC 61000-2-4 (industrial environment compatibility), IEC 61000-2-2 (public LV compatibility), and the UK G5/4 engineering recommendation. For a plant electrical engineer, this is the filter that keeps the site from failing harmonic surveys or triggering penalties from the utility. The filter's power factor (cos phi) varies with load: 1.0 at 150 % of line current, 0.99 at 100 %, and 0.85 at 75 %. That means at full load the filter presents near-unity power factor, drawing essentially reactive-free current from the supply — useful for avoiding PF correction capacitor interaction. Efficiency is listed at 98 %, with thermal losses of 692 W at rated load. That 692 W has to be dissipated inside the enclosure — factor it into your panel cooling budget, especially if the filter shares a cabinet with the drive.
Installation and integration notes
One filter per drive is required for the listed Altivar models at 90 kW / 125 hp. The filter is a three-phase passive device with IP20 protection as standard, and IP55 when mounted inside an enclosure. Terminal connections: control wiring at 2.5 mm² on the X1/X2 blocks, power wiring at 2.5...90 mm² on the A/B terminals. Operating temperature range is 5...45 °C without derating; above that, derate 3 % per °C up to 60 °C. Altitude derating applies above 1000 m — 5 % per additional 1000 m.