GE Starter Adjustment Dial?

[Steve-O]

Hell0 and thanks in advance for any help on this topic!
Currnetly we have a NEMA size 1 GE starter/contactor controlling our sump motor and we are frequently tripping the overload relay thus (almost ) flooding our dike area.
The motor is rated 4A / 1.15FLA @ 40C
CB feed to starter has 5A fuses
the overload heaters are C466A (4.07 to 4.47 A )
I believe everything is sized properly but I am curious about the adjustment dial on the relay heaters that can tripping current. Is this effecting the heater size or something else?
Thanks again!

 

[sameguy]

Yes, on the door should be a list for the dial for amp rating.

 

[Steve-O]

Thanks for the response..I dont see a rating on the door, our MCC has seen better days. If I turn this dial up or down what will this effect, the point where the heaters trip out? So if our heaters are rated from 4.07 to 4.47 A does this mean all the way down reflects the 4.07 and all the way up reflects the 4.47?
( im guessing its no coincidence that diffence is exactly 10% either way) .

 

[kwired]

I am not extremely familiar with GE starters but I think I know what you are talking about. They have a line of bimetal overloads (not sure if they are still in production as most I have seen are a little older) that you have to select a heater element but also has some type of adjustment dial on the overload assembly. I think this dial is used for ambient temperature compensation purposes if I remember from past experiences with them.

I would find out what model you have and look on their website for instructions for it.

If this is something that has worked and is now tripping you should check out the pump make sure there is not a situation causing increased loading. Maybe bad bearing or debris stuck in pump. The overload is just doing what it is supposed to do if that is the case. Doing anything that will make it trip at a level above motor rating will shorten the life of the motor.

 

[sameguy]

What K-wired said, yes that is what the dial is for.

 

[Jraef]

The dial works to cover the range of the heater element you select; so in your case all the way to the "-" side is 4.07A, all the way to the "+" side is 4.47A. You have a motor rated 4.0A FLC. You have a heater element that is rated 4.07A at a MINIMUM, adjusting it up will hasten your motor death; as a general rule you lose 50% of your motor life for each 10 degrees C over normal operating temperature.

The caveat to that is that the motor has a 1.15SF (Service Factor), which means it is capable of running at 115% overload load for indeterminate periods (the NEMA spec used to say "short time" without defining it, now it does not say). But it is acknowledged that motor life and performance will suffer if run into the SF continuously. Even so, many OEMs chose to do that because all they are concerned with is the equipment outlasting the warranty. So if they need 3.4HP at the motor shaft, they buy a 3HP motor and run it into the SF rather than supply the next standard size up, a 5HP motor. Happens all the time, but the long term consequences fall upon the end user.

Now with ALL THAT said, a sump pump is usually considered an intermittant duty application, it's entirely possible that you can get away with running into the SF with your OL settings. So 115% of 4A is 4.6A, your unit will adjust up to 4.47A, you should be fine. That does NOT however absolve you from investigating WHY the motor is overloading. If it was working fine before and it no longer is, something changed. You owe it to your professional integrity to investigate it rather than just "dial it up".

Here is your OL heater selection guide by the way.