Changing 3 phase motor voltage

[ammklq143]

A customer bought some equipment with a 460v motor. It's able to be converted to 230v but the diagram and nameplate a little hard to read. The nameplate looks like it says .83-5 after the HP. It says Volts 44-230/88-460. I'm a little confused by the 44 and 88 and also the .83 (if that's what it actually says) on the nameplate. Anyone know what they mean? The Amps label says 13.5/6.75.

The real question I have though is this. I rewired it for 230 volts as best I could given the diagram that was somewhat deteriorated. I think it looked like I was to just pull the wire numbers 4,5, and 6 out of the wire nuts where they were tied together with (I think) 7, 8, and 9 and I think that's what I did and then just capped 4, 5, and 6. I looked online and saw someone posted that to rewire this for the low voltage side it should go like this:

1 and 7 together to L1
2 and 8 together to L2
3 and 9 together to L3
and 4, 5, and 6 tied together.

I don't think I tied 4, 5, and 6 together. I think I just capped them. Today, I started the motor and the current draw was around 40 amps. My question is this. If I didn't tie the 4, 5, and 6 wires together would the motor still run and would that cause it to draw roughly 3 times the current...?

 

[ptonsparky]

A customer bought some equipment with a 460v motor. It's able to be converted to 230v but the diagram and nameplate a little hard to read. The nameplate looks like it says .83-5 after the HP. It says Volts 44-230/88-460. I'm a little confused by the 44 and 88 and also the .83 (if that's what it actually says) on the nameplate. Anyone know what they mean? The Amps label says 13.5/6.75.

The real question I have though is this. I rewired it for 230 volts as best I could given the diagram that was somewhat deteriorated. I think it looked like I was to just pull the wire numbers 4,5, and 6 out of the wire nuts where they were tied together with (I think) 7, 8, and 9 and I think that's what I did and then just capped 4, 5, and 6. I looked online and saw someone posted that to rewire this for the low voltage side it should go like this:

1 and 7 together to L1
2 and 8 together to L2
3 and 9 together to L3
and 4, 5, and 6 tied together.

I don't think I tied 4, 5, and 6 together. I think I just capped them. Today, I started the motor and the current draw was around 40 amps. My question is this. If I didn't tie the 4, 5, and 6 wires together would the motor still run and would that cause it to draw roughly 3 times the current...?

. Yes it would. You only have half of the windings connected. Hopefully you didn’t run it too long.

 

[ammklq143]

. Yes it would. You only have half of the windings connected. Hopefully you didn’t run it too long.

I only ran it for a few seconds. Just long enough to see the amperage readings were off. Thanks for the help.

 

[romex jockey]

^^^ this is probably what you have ammklq143, the .83 sounds like SF (service factor)


~RJ~

 

[ammklq143]

^^^ this is probably what you have ammklq143, the .83 sounds like SF (service factor)


~RJ~

Thanks for the diagram. That helps. The one that's with the motor isn't very legible.

 

[drcampbell]

The internal wiring:

 

[kwired]

A customer bought some equipment with a 460v motor. It's able to be converted to 230v but the diagram and nameplate a little hard to read. The nameplate looks like it says .83-5 after the HP. It says Volts 44-230/88-460. I'm a little confused by the 44 and 88 and also the .83 (if that's what it actually says) on the nameplate. Anyone know what they mean? The Amps label says 13.5/6.75.

The real question I have though is this. I rewired it for 230 volts as best I could given the diagram that was somewhat deteriorated. I think it looked like I was to just pull the wire numbers 4,5, and 6 out of the wire nuts where they were tied together with (I think) 7, 8, and 9 and I think that's what I did and then just capped 4, 5, and 6. I looked online and saw someone posted that to rewire this for the low voltage side it should go like this:

1 and 7 together to L1
2 and 8 together to L2
3 and 9 together to L3
and 4, 5, and 6 tied together.

I don't think I tied 4, 5, and 6 together. I think I just capped them. Today, I started the motor and the current draw was around 40 amps. My question is this. If I didn't tie the 4, 5, and 6 wires together would the motor still run and would that cause it to draw roughly 3 times the current...?

As mentioned by leavingt 4-5-6 open you left half the windings in open circuit condition and only was running on half the windings. Unloaded it probably would have run fine and you would have not known you did anything wrong.

Your first question - though I can't recall ever seeing such a thing, my guess is motor HP is rated .83 hp at .44 volts when wired for low volts or .88 volts when wired for high volts.

Probably also means it will have reduced frequency at those low ratings should be about 12 Hz would be typical when being driven by a VFD

Whether running at 12 Hz or 60 HZ (or anywhere between) the amps on the nameplate would still be rated full load amps at that voltage/frequency.

 

[Jraef]

Can you have your customer snap a picture of the nameplate? That seems very odd and I'm curious.

One trick I use when looking at old nameplates is to snap a picture with my phone, then using a photo editing ap, convert it to a negative image, then start playing with the contrast and brightness settings. You'll be surprised at the added detail that brings out in what appear to be faded or scratched lettering.