1 HP 230 V Adjustable Frequency AC Drive — Sinusoidal PWM Torque Vector, 0–400 Hz, Single- or Three-Phase Input, Convection Cooled

What this part is:
A GE AF-300B adjustable frequency AC drive (variable frequency drive / inverter) rated 1 HP in the 230 V class. It takes a fixed-frequency AC supply and synthesises a variable-voltage, variable-frequency three-phase output to control the speed and torque of a standard induction motor.

Correcting the source data — this is a 1 HP drive, not a 300 HP drive:
Our previous description said this unit “ensures precise control and smooth operation of motors up to 300 horsepower.” That is wrong by more than two orders of magnitude, and we are correcting it prominently because it is the kind of error that wastes a buyer’s time and destroys trust in a spec sheet.

The 300 in AF-300B is the product family name, not a horsepower rating. GE’s AF-300 line ran through the AF-300B, AF-300C, AF-300E, AF-300 Mini, Micro-Saver and AF-300P series. This particular unit, catalogued by multiple independent repair houses against 6VAF323001B, is a 1 HP, 230 V AC drive. Anyone with a 300 HP motor needs a different product entirely, in a cabinet, at roughly a hundred times the price.

Decoding the order code:
6VAF3 — GE’s AF-300 adjustable frequency drive family prefix.23 — the 230 V voltage class. (The 460 V class units in the same family carry a different pair here.)001 — the horsepower rating: 1 HP. This is the field to read if you want the size of the drive, and it is exactly why the “300 HP” claim above was impossible.B — the AF-300B series designation within the AF-300 family.-A2 — configuration or option suffix. We could not find a published decoder for this block, so we are not guessing what it selects. It is retained in the title and in the cross-references as an undecoded search term. If the suffix matters to your application, GE/Emerson drive support or a repair house holding AF-300 documentation can resolve it from the nameplate.

Published AF-300B family specifications:
Control system: sinusoidal PWM, “torque vector” controlRated output voltage: three-phase, three-wire, 80–240 V AC (230 V class)Rated input: 200–240 V AC, 50/60 Hz, single phase (for the 1/4 to 3 HP units); or 200–230 V AC, 50/60 Hz, three phase (1/4 to 5 HP)Output frequency range: 0–400 Hz, with a 0.2–15 Hz start frequency and a 15–400 Hz base frequencyFrequency resolution — digital keypad: 0.01 Hz up to 99.99 Hz, 0.1 Hz at 100 Hz and aboveFrequency resolution — analogue: 0.02 Hz step at a 60 Hz maximum frequencySetting accuracy — analogue: ±0.2 % of maximum frequency (59–95 °F)Setting accuracy — digital keypad: ±0.01 % of maximum frequency (14–122 °F)Cooling: convection for the 1/4 to 1 HP units — including this one
These are the AF-300B family standard specifications as published in the GE AF-300 manual, and they apply across the 230 V class ratings. Where a figure is rating-specific — output current, overload capability, watt loss — we have not stated it, because the per-rating tables for this exact unit are not in a source we could verify.

What the single-phase input option really buys you:
This is the most commercially useful line in the whole specification and it is easy to skim past. In the 230 V class the 1/4 to 3 HP AF-300B units accept a single-phase 200–240 V input and produce a three-phase output. That means a 1 HP three-phase motor can be run from an ordinary single-phase supply — no rotary phase converter, no utility three-phase service. For a small machine in a workshop, a pump in an outbuilding or a retrofit where three-phase simply is not available at the panel, that capability is the entire reason to buy this drive rather than a modern equivalent that may not offer it at this rating.

The caveat worth stating: a drive fed single-phase draws its full power through two of the three input rectifier legs, so the DC bus ripple is higher and the input current per phase is higher than the three-phase case. Derating and input fusing must follow the single-phase column of the manual, not the three-phase one.

Convection cooling — a maintenance advantage and an installation constraint:
At 1 HP this unit is convection cooled. There is no cooling fan, which removes the single most common wear-out item on a small drive and is a genuine reliability advantage on a machine that runs unattended. The constraint is that all the heat has to leave by natural airflow: mount it vertically, keep the specified clearance above and below, and do not bury it in a sealed box behind a stack of terminal blocks. A convection-cooled drive in a still, hot enclosure will trip on overtemperature and the fault will look intermittent because it depends on ambient.

What is not included:
The drive only. Not included: the motor, any remote keypad or keypad extension cable, a dynamic braking resistor or braking unit, input line reactor or filter, output reactor, conduit or NEMA enclosure kit, and the programming manual. Note in particular that a small AF-300B has limited braking capability without an external resistor — if your load is a high-inertia flywheel or an overhauling load such as a hoist or a downhill conveyor, you need the braking hardware and it is a separate purchase.

Interchange and obsolescence guidance:
Search forms include 6VAF323001B-A2, 6VAF323001B, 6VAF323001, 6VAF-323001-B-A2, 6VAF 323001 B A2 and AF-300B 1HP 230V. Related family members: the AF-300C, AF-300E, AF-300 Mini, AF-300 Micro-Saver and AF-300P series, and the 460 V class equivalents at the same horsepower.

The AF-300 line was a GE product built in partnership with Fuji Electric, which is why a Japanese country-of-origin marking on a GE-badged drive is correct and not a data error. GE’s drives business subsequently passed through GE Industrial Solutions to ABB, and the automation side to Emerson; Fuji Electric’s own FRENIC series is the closest current-production lineage. Third-party repair for the AF-300B is widely available, and note that a working original is often the pragmatic choice on a machine whose control wiring and parameter set are built around this drive’s terminal designations.