Electric Motor Wiring Help

[slughammer]

Need some help with wiring an electric motor for 120v. (I'm in the USA.)
My cord will be (black-hot), (white-neutral) and (green-case ground).

I've had this motor for 20years and dont have any paperwork for it, but the data plates are clear.
(The purple wires are labeled P1 and P2).

Take a look at the pictures.

I also need to wire in an on off switch. Would I use a single pole switch and break the hot leg of my source or do I need a double pole switch for breaking both hot and neutral?

Thanks for the help.

[redneck1]

I am not a big fan Of wiring motors up straight to a switch , a magnetic contactor ( motor starter ) is much safer in case of power loss while it's in use .

But your motor is simple , to use a common switch just wire the two purple wires together and bypass the thermal protection.

Edit ... try it first .. you may not have to wire the two purple wires together .

[Hossfly]

Just wire in a single pole switch to kill hot leg. Jump p1-p2 if not using overload. If you want to use in reverse gets more complicated.

[slughammer]

Any preference of the hot leg and neutral connecting to Line 1 or Line 2?

[Hossfly]

I would hook, blue, brown and orange to switched leg hot or L1. Black, white and yellow to neutral or L2.

[GregLaROCHE]

I’m not up on new motors. Is this one that can be wired both 120v and 240v?

[Hossfly]

Either voltage and is reversable also.

[bikerbeans]

That's what is printed on the label.

BB

[lightman]

It doesn't matter which one you make Line 1 or line 2. Wire it like your top picture using the left hand diagram. You need to break the hot line with the switch. Black and brown appear to be the capacitor leads and you swap them to change direction, if needed. On motors of that size you normally don't see a starter being used. Run a ground wire to it. There is usually a ground screw someplace inside the make up box on the motor or a lug on the base. If you want the thermal protection connect one purple wire to one set of motor leads and the other to your hot from the switch.

[GL49]

I've got to agree with redneck1, a few dollars invested in an inexpensive contactor and a momentary "start" switch will prevent the motor from restarting on it's own after a power outage, unless it doesn't make any difference and you aren't concerned about that. In 120V circuits, L1 is generally considered the "hot", L2 is the grounded conductor (neutral). As Lightman said, it doesn't make any difference which is which, general convention is L1 hot, L2 not.

[slughammer]

Thank you everyone for the help. I hooked it up and it ran fine.
I tried it with the purple wires separate and tied together and it worked both ways.
I did end up swapping the brown and black wires to reverse the rotation.

Thanks Again!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

If your application would lend toward a motor over heating, if sure would make sense to connect the purple wires as lightman states, so the overloads are in series with the switch.

[slughammer]

...connect the purple wires as lightman states, so the overloads are in series with the switch.

OK, after the switch run the hot leg to P1 and then connect P2 to Line 1 (all in series). Now the thermal protection is going to be in place.

Thanks Again

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

OK, after the switch run the hot leg to P1 and then connect P2 to Line 1 (all in series). Now the thermal protection is going to be in place.

Thanks Again

yep, that's how I'd do it.

[jsizemore]

Check the current draw. If your near the max you could start kicking out on thermal overload. I'd use a cord at least 14 gauge and 12 would be about perfect. Of course that depends on how long a cord you use.

[lightman]

Glad it worked ok for you. Just curious, what job does that motor do?

[slughammer]

Glad it worked ok for you. Just curious, what job does that motor do?

23 years ago I built an automated sizer/lubricator as my senior project in college. (Got an A and lots of well done's). Unfortunately the motor was used and shorting out, the lube system had temp control and pressure issues. I've moved 4 times since and never got back to making it work again.
Step 1 is to get it working to use as a push through sizer to save wear and tear on my arm.
With the 1725rpm motor, 1.6 reduction on pulleys and a 36:1 gearbox it has a rate of 1800 cycles per hour. ( then I could run them through the Star with little effort or switch to a tumble lube)
Step 2 would be to get the lube system working, maybe with 50/50 instead of the heated lubes? (Doesn't matter, one step at a time)
I should probably start a thread over in the special projects area once I get rolling.

[lightman]

Cool project!