Bosch Rexroth in our catalogue: where it fits, and when a cheaper drive does the job
Bosch Rexroth is the drive division of the Bosch Group, headquartered in Lohr am Main (Bavaria, Germany). The present-day Bosch Rexroth AG was formed in 2001 by merging Mannesmann Rexroth (whose roots go back to a forge in Lohr founded in 1795) with the drive-and-control business of the Bosch group (Robert Bosch, 1886). It is one of the few vendors that covers hydraulics, linear systems, IndraDrive servo, IndraControl PLCs and frequency inverters under one brand. The «Drive & Control» motto reflects the idea that the drive, the control and the power section are engineered as one system. In our catalogue we stock the Rexroth frequency-inverter line — the VFC 3610, VFC 5610, EFC 3610, EFC 5610, VFC 5615, VFC 3615, Rexroth Fv, EFC 3600 and Converter Fe series. Rexroth directional valves, pumps and cylinders are a different product family; we do not supply those — hydraulics enquiries are best directed to a hydraulics distributor.
An honest frame for the choice. Rexroth in frequency inverters is the premium tier: prices start at roughly UAH 11,500 for the entry-level VFC 3610 and reach hundreds of thousands for an EFC 5610 above 90 kW. The premium is justified when the drive is built into a German machine with a Beckhoff/Siemens PLC over Profinet/EtherCAT, when you need to run a synchronous PM motor (a machine-tool spindle), or when the customer is standardised on Bosch Rexroth across the whole fleet. If it is an ordinary pump, fan or conveyor with no German fieldbus dependency, in practice we recommend the INVT GD200A or the Veichi AC310: the same functionality, two to three times cheaper, in stock by the hundred, warranty through the official service network. That is not the «worse» choice — it is a different budget class for the same job.
What Bosch Rexroth we carry: an overview of the frequency-inverter range
Everything we stock is the wall-mount / panel drive form factor, 0.4–185 kW, with vector control. Below is a map of the series with parameters from the manufacturer datasheet and links to the catalogue filters.
| Series | Power | Supply | Control | Bus / options | From, UAH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VFC 3610 | 0.4–22 kW | 1×220 / 3×380 V | U/f + sensorless vector | Modbus RTU, built-in EMC filter | ≈11,500 |
| VFC 5610 | 0.4–90 kW | 1×220 / 3×380–480 V | sensorless vector, encoder support | Modbus RTU, EMC filter C2/C3 | ≈12,200 |
| EFC 3610 | 0.4–22 kW | 1×220 / 3×380 V | vector, successor to VFC 3610 | no derating up to 45 °C, Multi-Ethernet — option | ≈13,275 |
| EFC 5610 | 0.4–185 kW | 1×220 / 3×380–480 V | vector, synchronous PM motor control | Multi-Ethernet as standard (Profinet, EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP), built-in EMC filter | ≈14,684 |
| EFC 3600 | 0.4–4 kW | 1×220 / 3×380 V | compact vector, previous generation | Modbus RTU | ≈15,277 |
| Rexroth Fv | HVAC range | 3×380–480 V | vector, optimised for pumps/fans | built-in PID, sleep mode, fieldbus options | ≈23,583 |
| VFC 5615 | extended range | 3×380–480 V | sensorless vector | Modbus RTU, EMC filter | to order |
| VFC 3615 | extended range | 3×380–480 V | sensorless vector | Modbus RTU | to order |
| Converter Fe | 0.4–90+ kW | 3×380 V | general-purpose vector, earlier series | Modbus RTU | ≈26,178 |
A note for Ukraine: the entry-level series (VFC 3610/3615, EFC 3600, Converter Fe) are earlier, more budget generations, and some part numbers are supply-to-order (lead time roughly 4–6 weeks). The current workhorses on the shelf are the EFC 3610 and EFC 5610. Always confirm availability against the specific R912xxxxxx part number: the Rexroth catalogue is huge, and two adjacent numbers can differ by whether a fieldbus card or conformal coating is fitted.
Bosch Rexroth frequency inverters: how VFC differs from EFC
The question we get most often about Rexroth is «what is the difference between VFC and EFC if the power rating is the same». In short: EFC is the next generation. The EFC 3610 replaced the VFC 3610; the EFC 5610 is the senior line above the VFC 5610. The practical differences that drive the choice:
- Motor type. The VFC 3610/5610 are designed for asynchronous motors (U/f and sensorless vector). The EFC 5610 adds control of synchronous permanent-magnet motors — which matters when the drive runs a machine-tool spindle with a PM motor. If the motor is asynchronous, a VFC is plenty.
- Industrial network. Modbus RTU is on every series. But Profinet / EtherCAT / EtherNet/IP is the EFC 5610 as standard and the EFC 3610 as an option — the VFC has none of them. If the machine is run by a Beckhoff/Siemens PLC over EtherCAT/Profinet, that immediately narrows the choice to the EFC.
- Thermal envelope. The EFC 3610 is rated for no derating up to 45 °C — handy for a densely packed panel. If your shop runs near 50 °C inside the cabinet in summer, look at the EFC and allow a margin on frame size.
- Overload. Like other vendors, Rexroth has a normal (light, ~120 % / 60 s) and a heavy (heavy, ~150 % / 60 s) duty rating — effectively two different allowable motor powers for the same drive. Size pumps/fans by the light rating; size conveyors with frequent starts and presses by the heavy rating, otherwise protection will trip before the mechanism reaches speed.
A commissioning tip: on Rexroth, as on most European drives, the factory configuration expects the RUN command from the terminal block, not from the keypad — if the drive «does not respond» to a start from the PLC, check the command-source parameter (the «Command source / Control source» group in the series manual) before you go looking for a wiring fault.
Bosch Rexroth IndraDrive servo: a brief note on a line we do not supply
For completeness: besides frequency inverters, Bosch Rexroth makes IndraDrive servo drives (compact Cs/Cb and modular Mi/Mx) and MS2N/MSK/QSK servo motors. That is a separate equipment class — for coordinated axes, precise positioning and electronic gearing in machine tools, packaging and printing machinery. The line in the sand: a vector drive without feedback gives you torque and speed regulation with margin to spare, but precise position hold with micron repeatability and tight multi-axis synchronisation is the job of a servo drive with an encoder, not a frequency inverter. We do not carry Rexroth servo drives in our catalogue; if your task is genuinely a servo job, that is a separate enquiry to a servo-line supplier. We mention it here only as a reference point so you do not confuse an EFC 5610 with PM control and a full IndraDrive servo — they are not interchangeable.
Notes from practice: where Bosch Rexroth genuinely earns its price
Who buys Rexroth frequency inverters from us, and why:
- Retrofitting German machines. A German-built packaging, food or woodworking line where the rest of the automation is Beckhoff/Siemens over EtherCAT/Profinet. Here the EFC 5610 drops into the existing network with no gateways or protocol gymnastics. Swapping Rexroth for a budget drive here means adding a protocol converter plus the risk of diagnostics incompatibility; often it is cheaper to fit the «native» EFC.
- CNC machine-tool spindle drive. A PM spindle motor means either an EFC 5610 or a servo drive. An ordinary inverter without PM control will not do here.
- A fleet standardised on Bosch Rexroth. If the maintenance department holds spares, the commissioning engineers are trained on Rexroth, and all the documentation is on this brand, a new unit of the same make saves more on training and mistakes than the price difference on the drive.
And where the premium is not justified: a single water-supply pump, an extract fan, a warehouse conveyor, a crusher — jobs where the drive runs autonomously over Modbus RTU or with no external control at all. Here the price gap between an EFC 5610 and an INVT GD200A or a Veichi AC310 is not paid back by energy savings or by reliability — both give you a built-in PID, sleep mode, dry-run and overload protection. On power-section reliability, modern top-tier Chinese drives in this segment are stable; the difference is more in the depth of fieldbus integration and the service network than in «boards burning out». To be candid: we stopped keeping Rexroth on the shelf for this kind of task precisely because the customer was paying a premium for the same function.
The thermal envelope is a separate caveat for any brand: 80 % of inverter problems in a workshop are not «defects» but overheating from clogged heatsinks, no cabinet ventilation, or a drive sized to too low an overload class. Before you write a drive off, check the cabinet temperature and the duty class it was selected for.
What to check before buying Bosch Rexroth in Ukraine
- Motor type. Asynchronous — any series will do (VFC/EFC). Synchronous permanent-magnet — EFC 5610 only.
- Industrial network. Modbus RTU only — anything works. Need Profinet/EtherCAT/EtherNet/IP — EFC 5610 (standard) or EFC 3610 (option); confirm whether the fieldbus card is already included with the specific R912 part number.
- Overload class (light / heavy). Pump, fan — size by light. Conveyor with frequent starts, press, crusher, hoist — size by heavy (effectively one frame size up).
- Drive-to-motor match. A drive is sized by the motor's rated current and type, not «by the motor's kilowatts» — especially for PM motors and motors from older machines with non-standard windings. Send us the motor nameplate and we will size it precisely.
- Service and spares. For a premium brand this is critical: check availability of replacement fans, control boards and fieldbus modules. The entry-level / earlier series (VFC 3610, EFC 3600, Converter Fe) are partly supply-to-order — allow 4–6 weeks.
- Documentation and setup. Manuals for the Rexroth series are in our documentation section; typical fault codes for inverters from different brands and their causes are collected in the article on VFD error codes. If you need commissioning or parameters for a specific machine, write to us and we will help.
Sizing to the motor and the application, availability checks against the R912 part number, advice on fieldbus configuration — get in touch. If Rexroth is a premium your task does not need, we will say so plainly and offer a drive in the right class: the full frequency-inverter catalogue · 3×380 V drives · 1×220 V drives · soft starters.
