Where is the best place to reverse the leads for a motor?

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zappy

zappy

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CA.
Where is the most common place to reverse the leads for a motor? In the pecker head? In the bucket? In the disconnect? Any reasons why one place is better than the other? Also is it common to write YOB or BOY or whatever, where you changed it? Thank you for your help.
 
Starter, disconnect, or VFD if there is one take your pick. I would probably choose the last in line right before the motor.
 
If there is more than one voltage system in the building, then you have no choice but to make the rotation change at the motor.
Not something that I would ever do, but that what is required by 210.5(C) starting with the 2017 code when the scope of Article 210 was expanded to include motor branch circuits. In 2014 and older codes, motor branch circuits were only covered by Article 430.
 
hillbilly1 said:
Just remember if it is fed by a vfd, do it on the load side.
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You'd be surprised (or maybe not) how many times I've run into that issue, where people complain to me that "The VFD keeps running the motor in the wrong direction no matter how I swap the wires!", because they are swapping on the line side of the VFD.

Personally, as someone OTD, I do it wherever I don't have to bend down as much, so basically almost never at the peckerhead any more...
 
ptonsparky said:
What the heck was the rational reasoning for 210.5?
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NEC wants to be a design manual even though it claims it is not one?

Other reason is to supposedly protect those that don't know what they are doing.

I might care which phase is which if I were trying to balance single phase loads across a three phase source. If majority of load is three phase motors, like it often is for me, rotation is all that matters to me, and my rotation meter can tell me what the rotation is if I need to check that.
 
Could someone post the 210.5 verbiage you're talking about? I don't see anything in the 2017 that would prevent you from having red,blue,black or whatever order you wanted.
 
2020 NEC:

210.5(C) Identification of Ungrounded Conductors.
Ungrounded conductors shall be identified in accordance with 210.5(C)(1) or (2), as applicable.
210.5(C)(1) Branch Circuits Supplied from More Than One Nominal Voltage System.
Where the premises wiring system has branch circuits supplied from more than one nominal voltage system, each ungrounded conductor of a branch circuit shall be identified by phase or line and by system voltage class at all termination, connection, and splice points in compliance with 210.5(C)(1)(a) and (b). Different systems within the same premises that have the same system voltage class shall be permitted to use the same identification.
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How does that prevent you from moving phases left or right in a starter or disconnect as long as the conductors are marked by phase (red, "A", etc.)? It doesn't say anything about left to right orientation like 408 and high-leg placement.
 
Electromatic said:
How does that prevent you from moving phases left or right in a starter or disconnect as long as the conductors are marked by phase (red, "A", etc.)? It doesn't say anything about left to right orientation like 408 and high-leg placement.
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If you identified by phase say A phase was brown if you moved it in the disconnect brown would now be B phase. 99% of the time no one would care.
 
If I've identified a phase as brown and am consistent with that throughout the premises, that to me satisfies the article. It's physical orientation within equipment isn't mentioned. If I make a splice in a junction box, do I have to make sure the brown wire is all the way to the left?
 
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