An ABB ACS drive type designation packs a lot into one string: the series, the construction, an output-current rating, the voltage class, and a list of +options. Two traps catch people most often. First, the rating field is a current, not power, and the letter A in it is a decimal point. Second, each family uses its own voltage-digit map and its own duty convention, so a number that is a real drive in one family or voltage is sometimes a code that was never built in another.
This guide explains what the ABB ACS Drive Type-Code Decoder resolves: how to read each segment of the code; why the same current code can exist at one voltage and not another; how Normal-Duty and Heavy-Duty ratings differ; when an HP figure is a published value and when it is a labeled conversion; and which families and constructions are out of scope. It covers the six families the decoder handles: ACS180, ACS355, ACS380, ACS480, ACS580, and ACS880.
How to Read an ACS Type Designation
Every supported ACS type code tokenizes into four dash-separated parts, then any options after a plus sign. Take ACS580-01-046A-2:
- ACS580 is the series, which sets the family, the voltage-code map, and the duty convention.
- 01 is the construction (here a wall-mounted IP21 / UL Type 1 drive). On other families this segment carries more: the ACS380 uses 04 plus an EMC digit plus a variant letter; the ACS355 uses 01 or 03 for phase plus E or U for the filter.
- 046A is the rating. The A is a decimal point, so this is an output current of 46 A, not 46 kW and not horsepower.
- -2 is the voltage class. Its meaning is per-family: on the ACS580, 2 = 208-240 V.
Options come after a plus sign, for example ACS880-01-045A-3 +B056 +K454, where +B056 is an IP55 enclosure and +K454 is a PROFIBUS fieldbus module. Read the whole string off the silver type-designation label on the left side of the drive, not the model-info sticker on the top.
Voltage Codes Are Per-Family (the #1 Mis-Decode)
There is no single ACS voltage map. The trailing digit means different things in different families, and on the Gen-B families (ACS180, ACS380, ACS480) it also encodes phase. Assuming one scheme fits all is the most common silent mis-decode.
| Family | Voltage codes |
|---|---|
| ACS880 | 2 = 208-240 V, 3 = 380-415 V, 5 = 380-500 V, 7 = 525-690 V (all 3-phase) |
| ACS580 | 2 = 208-240 V, 4 = 380-480 V, 6 = 500-600 V (all 3-phase) |
| ACS380 / ACS480 | 1 = 1-phase 200-240 V, 2 = 3-phase 200-240 V, 4 = 3-phase 380-480 V |
| ACS180 | 1 = 1-phase 208-240 V, 2 = 3-phase 208-240 V, 4 = 3-phase 380-415 V |
| ACS355 | 2 = 200-240 V, 4 = 380-480 V (phase comes from the construction block, not this digit) |
The decoder hard-rejects a voltage code the family does not offer. For example, ACS580-01-046A-3 is invalid because the ACS580 has no code 3 (its classes are 2, 4, 6), and the tool says so rather than guessing. To decode a real example end to end, open the ABB ACS Drive Type-Code Decoder.
Normal Duty vs Heavy Duty, and the Single-Rating Families
For the industrial and machinery families ABB publishes two motor-power ratings for the same drive:
- Normal / light-overload duty allows 110% for 1 minute every 10 minutes. It suits pumps and fans (variable-torque loads).
- Heavy duty allows 150% for 1 minute every 10 minutes. It is for high-breakaway or constant-torque loads such as crushers, conveyors, and positive-displacement pumps.
A single drive therefore has two power numbers. On an ACS880-01-061A-2 the Normal-duty rating is about 15 kW / 20 HP (58 A) while the Heavy-duty rating is about 11 kW / 15 HP (45 A). Size on the duty your load needs, not the larger headline number.
The ACS355 is the exception: ABB publishes it as a single rating (typical motor power) with 150% overload for 1 minute every 10 minutes, so there is no separate Heavy-duty column. The decoder shows one rating there and never invents a second one.
When kW and HP Are Published, and When They Are Converted
Where ABB prints both metric and imperial power for a row, the decoder shows both as exact. Where it does not, the missing side is shown as a convenience conversion with a ≈ prefix, so you always know which number is ABB's and which is derived:
- ACS380 prints both kW and HP in its catalog, so both are exact.
- ACS180 and ACS355 use one code set and pair the IEC kW with the UL HP, so both are real.
- ACS880 -3 (400 V) and -7 (690 V) are metric-only classes: kW is real and HP is a labeled ≈ conversion.
- ACS580 -6 (575 V) is a US-only class: HP is real and kW is a labeled ≈ conversion.
- ACS480 stores both the IEC code set (kW real, HP ≈) and the UL code set (HP real, kW ≈) as separate rows, because no published cross-map exists.
When you order, use the unmarked figure. The ≈ value is only there so a tech who thinks in the other unit has a ballpark.
Why the Code Is a Lookup Key, Not a Number
On several families the rating code is named after the current at one voltage while the drive's actual current at its rated voltage is slightly different, so reading the code as a number would be wrong. The decoder treats the code as an opaque key and reads I2N from the matched row.
The clearest case is the ACS880 380-500 V (-5) class. By ABB's documented convention the displayed figures there come from the 480 V reference table, so an ACS880-01-585A-5 shows an I2N of 575 A (the 480 V light-duty current), not 585. The values are internally consistent and source-correct; what matters in the field is that motor power differs at 400 V versus 500 V, so confirm your actual supply voltage.
The ACS380 480 V class has a related trap. Its Heavy-duty current was easy to read off the wrong column in an automated extract. The decoder uses the values from the rendered Rev K catalog page, so ACS380-042C-12A6-4 correctly shows a Heavy-duty current of 9.4 A (with 12 A Normal duty), not a scrambled 5.6 A.
The Validity Verdict and What Is Out of Scope
The decoder's most useful job is telling you when a code is not a real drive. A bad family, an unrecognized construction, a voltage the family does not offer, or a well-formed current code that is not in the ladder is rejected with no rating, the reason, and the nearest real drive in that voltage ladder. That is the rescue when you type a number off a dead drive and it turns out never to have existed as written.
Some things are deliberately out of scope, so the tool never fabricates a rating it cannot verify:
- ACS880 multidrive constructions (-04, -07, -14 and similar) are not decoded; only the single-drive -01 construction is.
- Legacy and sibling series are recognized but not decoded, with a note explaining why: ACS800 (a power-indexed code, a different scheme), ACS550, ACS850, ACS350, ACS150, ACS320, and the HVAC/water siblings ACH580 and ACQ580.
- The decoder reports the drive's R-frame (R0 to R9e) for swap compatibility, but it does not size conductors or protection, nor select or certify the connected motor.
Treat every output as documentation context for review, not as an engineering authorization.