3 phase motor

The electron man

Senior Member
Location
Nyc
Occupation
Electrician
So we know when it comes to a 3 phase motor that if we want to reverse motor ration we just have to switch 2 of the phase's

But there was this one time we had a temp construction hoist and it was working fine but when the utility brought in the power we hand an issue with it since the utility doesn't match there cables to our phase's

So we switch 2 phase's and it still did not work so we switch it again

For example

Black and red

And then

Blue and black

We had to do this a few times till it worked
Each time using a different combination

Why did this happen
 
Any one swap would change the phase rotation, what does "had an issue" or "did not work" really mean? Did it turn the wrong way or not function at all (and are electronic controls involved)? Did someone swap the phases at both ends of feed? That moves the color but doesn't change anything else.

The phase rotation to a VFD should not matter at all.
 

TwoBlocked

Senior Member
Location
Bradford County, PA
Occupation
Industrial Electrician
Nah, if it was powered by a VFD, it would not have been a problem to start with. Maybe confusion as to which button was up, and which button was down on the hoist control.
 

petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
One of my customers just got a deal on five bridge cranes that I have to hook up now, $836 each. $5000 in freight. Everybody is moving out of California, so no one bid on them.
I have started to hear about all kinds of deals coming out of California and NYC as the mass exodus continues.

A couple decades ago there was a mass exodus of companies out of the area I live in. Lots of industrial equipment to be had for pennies on the dollar. Some of the closed buildings are still empty.

I have also seen reports that there are serious deals in used cars at the auto auction sites right now. If you know someone with access to buy there and are looking for a used vehicle, might want to consider going that route. There are even brokers that will handle the transaction for you.
 

Jraef

Moderator, OTD
Staff member
Location
San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA
Occupation
Electrical Engineer
So we know when it comes to a 3 phase motor that if we want to reverse motor ration we just have to switch 2 of the phase's

But there was this one time we had a temp construction hoist and it was working fine but when the utility brought in the power we hand an issue with it since the utility doesn't match there cables to our phase's

So we switch 2 phase's and it still did not work so we switch it again

For example

Black and red

And then

Blue and black

We had to do this a few times till it worked
Each time using a different combination

Why did this happen
Another possibility, revolving around the definition of "didn't work", could involve the use of a Phase Monitor Relay that is looking for a SPECIFIC and EXACT phase sequencing. I have run across this before. They look for A, followed by B, followed by C, relative to the first time it was hooked up. So until you get that exact sequence correct, it will not engage to enable the machine to work. I have no idea of the value of this feature, maybe it was just an unintended consequence of how they chose to design the monitor, but I have run into it twice. VERY frustrating because you don't expect that to make any difference, i.e. A-B-C is the same as B-C-A is the same as C-A-B... Yet, there it was. Move the machine and reconnect the leads B-C-A and it wont work. It said it right in the instruction manual, but who the heck reads that?
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Another possibility, revolving around the definition of "didn't work", could involve the use of a Phase Monitor Relay that is looking for a SPECIFIC and EXACT phase sequencing. I have run across this before. They look for A, followed by B, followed by C, relative to the first time it was hooked up. So until you get that exact sequence correct, it will not engage to enable the machine to work. I have no idea of the value of this feature, maybe it was just an unintended consequence of how they chose to design the monitor, but I have run into it twice. VERY frustrating because you don't expect that to make any difference, i.e. A-B-C is the same as B-C-A is the same as C-A-B... Yet, there it was. Move the machine and reconnect the leads B-C-A and it wont work. It said it right in the instruction manual, but who the heck reads that?
Rotational sequence shouldn't matter and it shouldn't know any difference. Now if there is a corner ground or high leg that possibly could matter if not in the correct position, if designed to detect that.

Otherwise to know what is actually "A" it would need a reference to some known "A", wouldn't it?
 

TwoBlocked

Senior Member
Location
Bradford County, PA
Occupation
Industrial Electrician
Rotational sequence shouldn't matter and it shouldn't know any difference. Now if there is a corner ground or high leg that possibly could matter if not in the correct position, if designed to detect that.

Otherwise to know what is actually "A" it would need a reference to some known "A", wouldn't it?
For a hoist, rotation could matter.
 
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