Fuses in place of motor "heaters"? (induction motor protection)

Looking to provide switching for 1-phase, 220 AC, 1/2 hp motor that doesn't include use of a contactor. I appreciate the need for precise current limit (LRA) that a branch breaker can't provide.

So, I choose to not have a contactor but instead, this, which provides the power-fail protection:

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This has a relay (rated 1/2 hp) that drops out on power fail, and has external connections for additional e-stop mushroom switch. But no provision for motor protection.

Would 2 precisely-matched (ie, to the 1/4 amp), slow-blow HRC fuses be sufficient to protect this motor?

Thanks.

Reply to
DaveC
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Why do you need two fuses for a single-phase motor?

Do you know the motor's actual i-squared-t overcurrent limit requirement?

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When I ran a lab at Mitre an engineer kept asking me to buy him more and more Polaroid film for his scope camera. I finally asked him why and found that he was trying to discover the principles of how a fuse blows. He looked really sheepish and subdued when I handed him a Littelfuse pamphlet of current vs time curves.

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jsw

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

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When I worked one Summer at Bell Labs, one of the engineers told me he was trying to figure out how much detail the eye could see in color. What he didn't know (and I'd forgotten that I knew) was that this information was part of the design of the NTSC system.

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

As a chemistry student I was expected to learn a lot of practical detail and hands-on procedure that I later noticed new electrical (and some mechanical) engineers often lacked. jsw

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

because it's got two live inputs, and either could develop a short to ground.

Reply to
Jasen Betts

The panel circuit breakers protect the wiring from that. The separate fusing is for a motor overload condition.

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

Fuses ARE heaters. They have thermal action and the slow ones are meant for motors. I would say that fuses are "overload heaters for the poor".

I spent some effort when replacnig electricals on my three phase bandsaw, and finally found a contactor with the exact heaters that the motor needed. Very happy about it.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus8074

"Jim Wilkins"

** Cos the AC supply is two phase.

The OP is an American.

They have spit phase power where 240VAC is split into a pair of 120V lines with a common neutral.

While 120V appliances use one or the other, some ( usually high powered ) ones are rated at 220 /240 and connect across the pair.

..... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

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In the UK, you don't, because 240 VAC comes with one side grounded. However, in the USA, 240 VAC is normally supplied with a grounded center tap, so if you have only one fuse -- or have two but only one blows, you still have 120 VAC live in the motor's housing, and potentially available for contact and personal zapping. :-)

:-)

And I'm not sure why he feels the need for precision current limiting on the motor. Most motors will handle a fairly wide range of time vs overcurrent exposures. (An exception is a permanent magnet DC servo motor which can be partially demagnetized by a sort spike over the rated current limit.

Enjoy, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

I assumed it was wired with a 20A double-pole breaker at the panel protecting from shorts and a smaller fuse sized (how?) to blow before the motor burned out.

jsw

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

Panel breakers are there to protect the upstream wiring from excessive load current, not to protect the load.

Matching the I-squared-t of a breaker, or fuse, to startup and running conditions of a motor is not trivial. Motors are subject to starting inrush currents sometimes tens of times the rated full-load current. Be guided by the data published by reputable manufacturers. There's plenty of it.

Reply to
Fred Abse

Most motors are tough old buzzards. Why the op needs more protection is unknown, I would think some kind of thermal or time delay overload is sufficient which may already be in the motor.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff Thies

You have three options.

1 - Fuse block for 2 fuses. Slo-blow type.

2 - Overload Line heaters with control cicuit to kill the relay if either one of the overloads trip.

To size the heaters or slo-blows you need a MAX AMP rating if possible, if not then size it for the RLA or FLA times the service factor. Typically SF

1.15 If the motor is rated at 115/230 Volt 7.2/4.1 FLA and you are using 230 then use the 4.1 Amp times 1.15 or whatever the SF is. Size and buy the heaters for the closest amp range above the amp rating of the motor. Fuses, same thing, fuse at the rating or the next step above.

With the heaters you can reset them after they trip. (once you determine the cause of the overamping.)

If your belt is too tight the motor can over amp. If your actual voltage is

200 not 220/230 get a buck n boost transformer. 200 is way to low, and with cause motor failures, high energy costs and loss of HP.

By all means buy an amp clamp to verify operation especially after changing belts. Many people over tighten their belts.

The third option, get a linecontactor, 2 pole with contacts on each pole, and get the line contactor with an overload 2 pole heater block attached directly to the line contactor. They are not that expensive and the control circuit can also be routed through your switch.

Fuse blocks can be deadly as one might blow, but not the other, same with single wire protection. With one line hot motors can go to ground on the unprotected line and zap you into the next world ready or not.

This is not a place to take shortcuts.

The circuit breaker should be rated at least 20 % over the normal load on a dedicated circuit. Do not fuse at LRA's I have seen motors get crisp at half that rating, that is pretty much the same as no protection at all.

Next time post to an electrical Where you will find professionals in that trade. I snipped the other NG's outside of woodworking.

Reply to
Blue

I got this in an email from someone who wasn't able to post directly:

Obviously, I can't post to the newsgroup.

Jeff Angus

Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

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