The invention relates to a frequency converter with a
rectifier (1) on the input side and at least one support
capacitor (3) arranged downstream of the
rectifier (1). The
rectifier (1) has multiple half-bridges (6), via which a respective input-side phase (U, V, W) of the rectifier (1) feeds the support
capacitor (3). The input-side phases (U, V, W) are connected to grid-side phases (L1, L2, L3) of a multiphase supply grid (5) via a preceeding circuit (4). Each grid-side phase (L1, L2, L3) is connected to one of the input-side phases (U, V, W) within the preceeding circuit (4) via a respective phase
capacitor (9). Each grid-side phase (L1, L2, L3) is additionally directly connected to another input-side phase (U, V, W) within the preceeding circuit (4) via a respective switch (10) such that the grid-side phases (L1, L2, L3) are short-circuited with the input-side phases (U, V, W) when the switches (10) are closed, and each phase capacitor (9) connects
two grid-side phases (L1, L2, L3) or two input-side phases (U, V, W) together. The frequency converter has a controller (11) which keeps the switches (10) open when pre-charging the support capacitor (3) and closes the switches when a specified charge state (Z1) of the support capacitor (3) is reached.