Arkel ARCODE Integrated Lift Control Unit

ARCODE is Arkel’s integrated lift control unit: the control system and the VVVF drive occupy one device instead of two wired together. It is the widest-range unit in the Arkel family — eleven models, 220 V and 400 V, 14 A to 75 A.

Arkel also builds a complete ARCODE control panel around this unit, delivered with the shaft harness, the inspection box and the pit box. That is the choice for a lift being built or rewired from scratch; the unit on its own suits a modernisation that keeps its existing panel.

Where it sits against ARCUBE and ARMAXX

ARCODE is the one to specify when the building is large. It handles 64 stops, 4 m/s and groups of up to eight lifts, against the 16 stops, 1.75 m/s and duplex of the ARCUBE monoblock. The ARMAXX takes a different direction again, putting the UPS and battery inside the unit. If the project only needs a drive and already has a controller, the standalone ADrive is the simpler answer.

What is inside

The EMI filter, the DC choke and the relays that transfer the lift to its emergency supply are built in, so they do not have to be sized and housed separately. Rollback at start is prevented either by pre-torque from a load cell or by a holding function that needs no load cell at all. Motor recognition, digital pit learning and learning control gains cut the number of parameters set by hand. Two door supports allow independent door control at every stop.

Commissioning and service

The AREM hand terminal has a colour TFT screen, speaks several languages and connects at any point on the CANbus, which means a technician does not have to stand at the panel to read the system. Software for every unit updates in one pass. The safety circuit runs at 110–230 VAC — worth knowing before anyone assumes a control circuit is at extra-low voltage. Nazar Elevator supplies ARCODE inside complete traction elevator systems and as a component.