Someone like me who needs to connect a contactor to the mains in order to automatically switch between mains electricity and generator power when power goes out. This video does not help in my case at all. Having said that, I'm not the one who thumbed this video down. I'm curious though! How did you know someone thumbed this video down when only the creator can see thus information? Unless you're the creator. In that case, you ought to know that self promotion is an exercise in bad taste.

@@TerryMasri KZfaq used to display the number of thumbs down on a video. They have removed our ability to see this number since the pandemic. I am not the creator of this video.

@@Strongs_G3528 That's exactly my point. Unless... you saw the video before the policy change. I didn't pay attention to the dates. My bad 😕

@@TerryMasri Indeed, my comment was made 4 years ago. All good. Take care.

South Africa is correct. Good point on the safety!

​@@p0we111 hi br Jean... I still need some sort of clarification.... what if I wire my supply through A1 and A2 for L and N respectively and my output at L1 and A2 of the contactor for L and N to the load. Help with clarification please

Thanks Mutsinzi. Been to Rwanda a couple of times. Beautiful country!

@@p0we111 wouaw! !!! Wlcm

Hi. You can buy a 4pole contactor for the 3pases and neutral,that would be best... If you have the info of the current contactor and you can see how much the auxiliary contact can handle (usually in amps) you can use it if you're breaker/amps required is less than the aux amps. It all depends on the load/amps passing through the aux contact...

Normal light switches where I am can only handle 16Amps. Contactors can handle more if you buy a higher rated one. Will also work better for remote starting.

@@p0we111 Thanks! So, what would happen if I accidentaly use a switch or a contactor on a higher current than what it's rated for? Will it melt?

@@GzzLuiz If the switch is rated 16Amps and the current that runs through it is 20Amps it will eventually fail yes. Maybe not in a week or a month but it will. All switches fail eventually, even with less current running through it. But if you double or tripple the allowed current it will fail faster. It will melt yes but I have not seen a switch or contactor catch fire, but surely not impossible.

Hi Renston. My first choices will be Voltex or Electro Mechanica. Otherwise at ACDC shops.

Hi Jebi. Bridge the earth wire to the main earth. The LIVE wire goes to the contactor. The NEUTRAL wire can go on the contactor to be switched or just bypass the contactor and put it on a connector as you only need to switch the LIVE wire through the contactor.

Lex Desuasido Thats correct. Single phase here is 230V and 3 phase is 400V. so when I speak of 230V its single phase. Thanks for picking that up!

Thank you so much for the kind response sir...hope your video may help others to understand more about contactors..

You can use the 12 volt DC only if your contactor coil is rated for 12 V DC. Else, first check the coil voltage specification.. whether it needs AC or DC and at what voltage. Then wire it up accordingly.

@@rjshtk Thanks, I've been learning a bunch of how these things work and now I have a much better understanding. Maybe you could answer one question I still can't figure out? I've seen an option to wire a contactor so that the magnet coil is powered by one of the 3 phases hooked up to the contactor. The question is, wouldn't the coil, by drawing 220V from L1 to keep the magnet energized, draw power away from the motor and influence performance? Or can that totally be done with no downside? EDIT: its a 220v contactor

@@xxDrain The current drawn by the motor would be definitely higher than the contactor coil's energization current. That will not at all affect the working of the motor or have negative influence in performance of the motor. Please let me know if you have further querries. Happy to help!

​@@rjshtk Sounds great. For now I've just hooked up a basic switch since I burned my only contactor (probably) running L1 through the coil to L3, which must've put 380V through it. But I'll try setting up a contactor correctly some time in the future, thanks.

@@xxDrain I am no expert, but 1) the drain would not be significant in any way, 2) I believe that is then a "latching" circuit, meaning the power to the coil of the contactor remains on after the original signal to engage the coil is removed. To switch off the contactor you must then break that loop (push a NC switch that you put into that loop circuit). This way you could have a circuit with 2 push buttons for on and off. Useful if you have 2 "events" that signal the on and the off requests. And it e.g. there is a power outage, when it comes back on the contactor will always be in the off position.

Hi Armando. I cant see why not. One thing I did to protect fridges from an unstable power supply was to put the fridges supply through a contactor that was controlled by a timer. The timer switched the contactor off when power was lost and would switch the contactor back on after 10 minutes when the power was back on.

@@p0we111 OK thank you because I did wire my wall plugs to the contactor but now I have lost of power there power on the plugs but not enough

So am lost don't know why it doing that

@@armandovanas4198 I only wired that for protection against our bad power supply in my country. You do not have to wire a contactor into you're plugs or lights. The most common reason I put a contactor in was because some light circuits have so many lights that the switch cannot handle the amps. I only did this in big factories. With today's LED lights I don't think that it is even done anymore. I don't put contactors into my home wiring,unless for the reason above,or maybe to start a pump.

Thank you

Hi Marc You dont need to connect the neutral through the contactor. Just bridge the neutral with a connecting block and only switch the live.

Hi Satsiwat. Yes,a control circuit would be wise. A simple switch would be sufficient as a control circuit or a push button start/stop with overload depending on your needs.

Hi Max. Make sure that the pressure switch can handle the 220v and the load of the contactor. Then just let the pressure switch break the A1 connection on your contactor. The pressure switch wil usually have a normally open (NO) and normally closed (NC) switch. Just pass the wire through the connection that you need.

@@p0we111 yes this well has been In operation for years now but it seems to be burning contacts on these square d pressure switches you buy from big box stores even though its rated for my pump size. I believe the inrush current off 55 amps is too much for the pressure switch and causing it to arc. Since the contactor is cheaper than heavy duty pressure switch i thought I would go that route. So line in one side and load in the other side and then the pressure switch will be wired to contacts on the side of contactor correct?

@@truthhurts2149 Good idea yes. I will try and talk you through it. Let me know if something is unclear. Live (L) wire from mains to - pressure switch contact 1 and contactor normally open switch (NO) contact 1. From pressure switch contact 2 to A1 (coil) on contactor. From contactor normally open (NO) contact 2 to pump Live. Neutral from mains (N) to A2 (coil) on contactor and pump neutral (N)

@@p0we111 ok so I have 4 spaces on my pressure switch. Does the coil to pressure switch control wires go on each side of the pressure switch or the same side

@@truthhurts2149 There are too many different types of pressure switches to guess that. Look for writing on the switches contacts. Maby a A1 and A2. NO/NC maybe?

Vincent Masanja You will only need a contactor on a spotlight system if your switch cannot handle the amount of amps that passes through it to switch on the lights. If the switch can handle 10amps and your total amps of the lights is 15amps you will need to put in a contactor that can handle 15amps which in turn is switched on by the switch.

thank you for your training.

The basic idea is to control large current drawing devices (big pumps/fans/be it any heavy current drawing load)using small current drawing device(control contactor). Here in your case, if your spotlights are of high wattage, you can switch them on using a contactor, that way you don't need a control switch that is rated for the wattage of the whole bank of spotlights, instead you can use a contactor whose main contacts rated for your load and the control wires to switch on the contactor with a lower amp rating. A bonus in this way is that you can place that small control switch anywhere you want in a house.

@@rjshtk I have been trying to understand why a contactor is needed for a float switch to turn on a pump. I wondered why the float switch can't connect directly to the pump. This is the best explanation I have found.

@@chadandhayleysmom You are welcome!

Hi Niko Ek sal definitief n contactor op elemente sit. Kyk net of die controller die contactor kan aansit,want selfs die contactor se stroom is soms te groot vir die controller. Dan moet jy die conrroller gebruik om n relay aan te sit wat dan jou contactor aansit. Hoop dit help!

Hi. The best would be two contactors that interlock (one cant switch on unless the other one is off) but that is basically what a changeover switch does. The automatic changeover of today is so cheap it would be more expensive to buy two contactors...

@@p0we111 I am feeding the house straight from the inverter, meaning I have a std wall plug that I plug into a wall outlet, feeding the house like that, straight from the inverter. I'm not using my DB box as point of connection. All I do is switch off the mains. Plug in my inverter and I got power in the house. So...on that line. how would I connect a switchover without having it connected on the main power inlet to the house? Will a contactor not work better for this way? I have seen inverters that plug into the wall outlet, feeding the house like that, that switches over automatically. my inverter however does not have that function. I need to do it manually

Glad I could help!

could it be because it will make the electromagnetic field in the opposite direction (what I mean is, fixed core instead of pulling the movable core, will push it )?

Vahid Hosseini You're right,it will work. I just like to keep things "standard" If I have to work on it again,I will know where I put the phase and neutral as I always try and do it the same way.

PBS #007 Im in South Africa.

Mithun Shaw Sorry Mithun,I dont understand your question. But if you mean connecting the load at the top of the contactor rather than the bottom,that would not make a difference. Either way would work.

no sir, my question is that if we can use a contractor for one way circuit only. AS a diode I want the flow from one side only. please suggest.

Mithun Shaw If it is a DC curcuit,I'm sure it will work for one way only. For AC,I dont think it will work as it should. The contactor might still switch on,but will not have the power it should to pull the coil in properly. I had a problem once using a 230Vac contactor with a 400Vac contactor. The reverse feed from the 400v contactor would switch on the 230v contactor when I did not want it to. I also considered using a diode but switched the A2 phase of the 230v contactor to the same phase that the 400v contactor was reverse feeding. Hope that sheds some light.

thank you, do you suggest any diode for 240 volt ac so that reverse current will not effect the supply. basically I was trying with a hooter connected to two supply PID and I want to prevent reverse supply of one to another via hooter. please suggest any diode .

Mithun Shaw I would just put in two contactors,one for each supply but let both switch the same thing (hooter). That way you dont have to worry about a diode that might fail and cause damage. If you want to go with the diode,im not sure which one to use. It will be best to speak with the company that distributes the diodes.

john liba Hi Short answer - No You can switch three phase power with a contactor that has a single phase coil. Just match the coil voltage with the supply voltage and all should be good.

Thank you I apriciate

​​@@p0we111Sorry for late reply kindly, so it means, single phase contactor can work with 3phase supply while three phase contactor cannot work with single phase supply

@@Le_vis254Hi. No. What I tried to say is - a single phase contactor can only be switched on by single phase (LIVE/NEUTRAL) and a 3 phase contactor can only be switched on by 3phase (LIVE/LIVE) but you can have a single phase contactor switched on by single phase power (LIVE/NEUTRAL) but you can run 3phase power through the switched part of the contactor and switch it on and off using the single phase contactor.

@@p0we111 Thanks for the clarification.

Jevon Gullemann The first 3 connections is usually normally open and labeled - L1. L2. L3. and T1. T2. T3. This is were the pump wires or light will be connected. The last connection point is either a normally open or normally closed depending on your apication.

Hi. Just a few guesses: 1. Some contactors has a mechanical timer installed,usually on top. THey are designed to switch off after a few seconds for starting pumps. 2.Try using different contacts of the contactor as there is usually three or more. 3. Does the contactor switch off or stay on when the output switches off?

@@p0we111 it stays off

@@freaklatino13 I'm going to assume you mean the contactor itself switches off after 6seconds as per you're original question. I have never had a contactor coil go faulty and switch on/off. The contactor coil would either break/burn or work correct,so I will assume it has something to do with you're supply or it is a delay off contactor. If you have some way yo test you're supply,I would start there...

Hi Johan Run the Neutral wire directly to the A2 of the contactor (if it is a 230Vac contactor) Run the Live wire to one point of the switch and the other point on the switch goes to A1 of the contactor.

@@p0we111 thanks

@@p0we111 can I connect the black wire to a1(from the light switch ) an connect the red wire (from the switch) to L1 an take a red wire from the McB an put it on L1 wil the switch work or wil it trip

@@peterjunioradams873 Hi. I'm having some difficulty understanding your wiring. I would just break/switch the red incoming wire that goes to A1. Do not put the red and black wire on the switch. Take the red wire out of A1 and put it on one contact of the switch. Then run another red wire from the other end of the switch to A1. Hope that helps

@@p0we111 ok I have a light switch there two wires one red an one black so I connect the red to A1 an the Black A2 it will work thank you @jean

With most contactors you have one A1 contact and two A2 contacts. So you will only connect a wire to A1 and one A2. The two A2s are just for ease of use. Just connect your Live to A1 and Neutral to A2 if its a 24V\110V\230v coil or connect the Live 1 to A1 and Live 2 to A2 if its a 400V coil. Hope that helps.

@@p0we111 then where will your neutral go or are you calling live 2 your neutral ?

@@seremaiarabaraba8280 If the coil is 230v then put the neutral on A2.

@@p0we111 if it's 400v then where will your neutral be connected ?

@@seremaiarabaraba8280 400v means its 3phase. So you will have to connect 1 x live to A1 and 1 x live to A2. Otherwise if you only have 230v 1phase then you will have to get a 230v contactor.

THERE IS NO NEUTRAL BOTH ARE LIVE....AND DEPHASED 180 DEGREEE

Some countries use 230Volt single phase and 400Volts 3phase. It sounds like your country uses 110V 1phase and 230V 3phase. Thus the confusion.

@@jeanboetzkes9820 no dude....im 120 volt 60hertz 240volt 60 hert, 347...600... My point is a 240 volt item will use two hot wire of 120 volt not a wire and a neutral...unless you guys are wired on 480 volt which u will only tap on one phase

Yes. Our country uses 230V 50hz 1phase with neutral and 400v 50hz 3ph when tested phase to phase. (hot phase to hot phase)