Disconnect switches for your equipment

[jareese]

I’d like to get some ideas for disconnects wire used, and conduits.

What are ya’all using? I have single phase 220 going to my lathe. Going to use a simple disconnect for it because I don’t like having to walk across the shop (garage) to engage/disengage main power. I have a temporary run from my panel to the lathe pigtail using standard 3 wire Romex. (Not ideal) I’m not doing any hard usage at this time.

What wire should I use for the permanent run? The distance will be less than 15 feet.

Here is the disconnect:

General Duty 30 Amp 3-Pole 3-Wire 240-Volt Non-Fusible Indoor Safety Switch

 

[rodm1]

Use flex for the full run or just from the wall to the machine.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Southwire-3-4-Liquid-Tight-1-Conduit/3622948

Watch before wiring

 

[jareese]

Like seal-tite? What about wire?

 

[Jake M]

The best advice is only going to be good if we know better what you're doing?

What machine, what's the full load amps on the motor?

Conduit in the wall, on the wall, on the ceiling, other?

Generally speaking, if you're see more than a few upgrades coming, gettting a bender, learning to use it, and running EMT would be most appropriate. Or PVC conduit (proper conduit, not drain pipes) is less ideal, but pretty easy to piece together for a small job. Or MC cable which stupid easy to put in, but gives it that "hand crafted" look.... All of those are at the home improvement stores.

Wire? Although others may be acceptable, THHN would more than likely be your best choice. Bog standard building wire basically, and probably what you'd get if you didn't ask for anything different. Any flexible cords (from the wall to the machine) I'd go straight to an SJOOW with the right gauge and wire count.

Wire size? Breaker size? that comes back to the motor.

Disconnect? Pretty much any one you want, just so long as it's rated for the volts, amps, and to accept the wire gauge and type that you're using. (Gauge, solid/stranded, number of wires under a lug, and material if you find some old stash of aluminum wire somewhere....).

 

[rodm1]

Photos of all motor tags are needed or just watch the video for sizing wire.

 

[jareese]

The best advice is only going to be good if we know better what you're doing?

What machine, what's the full load amps on the motor?

Conduit in the wall, on the wall, on the ceiling, other?

Generally speaking, if you're see more than a few upgrades coming, gettting a bender, learning to use it, and running EMT would be most appropriate. Or PVC conduit (proper conduit, not drain pipes) is less ideal, but pretty easy to piece together for a small job. Or MC cable which stupid easy to put in, but gives it that "hand crafted" look.... All of those are at the home improvement stores.

Wire? Although others may be acceptable, THHN would more than likely be your best choice. Bog standard building wire basically, and probably what you'd get if you didn't ask for anything different. Any flexible cords (from the wall to the machine) I'd go straight to an SJOOW with the right gauge and wire count.

Wire size? Breaker size? that comes back to the motor.

Disconnect? Pretty much any one you want, just so long as it's rated for the volts, amps, and to accept the wire gauge and type that you're using. (Gauge, solid/stranded, number of wires under a lug, and material if you find some old stash of aluminum wire somewhere....).

Thought I posted this already….

I figure conduit on the wall...
The motor is 3ph 5hp 13.7A
The VFD is a Yaskawa V1000 3ph wired in single phase 240v and a 30 amp double pole breaker. (am I too big with this breaker?)
VFD Output is AC3PH 0-240V 0-400Hz 30.0A/25.0A
The pump motor (not sure I'll use it) is 1/8hp 0.36A

 

[jareese]

 

[projectnut]

Early on I tried hard wiring some of my machines. As time went on, I realized it wasn't going to work all that well since I kept adding machines and rearranging things to get them all to fit. I finally decided to use outlets strategically placed in the ceiling and soft power cords with appropriate plugs.

Here are a few pictures of some machines with the cords going to the ceiling mounted outlets. All machines use either 12 ga or 10 ga wires. It's not necessary for the amperage load, but more so because of the type of insulation available. Some outlets use twist lock plugs while others use standard 20 amp or 50-amp grounded plugs. Note these pictures were taken in 2018. Since then, at least 3 more machines have been added and the floor plan has been rearranged at least twice.

 

[rabler]

I have to second @projectnut, just use outlets for anything 50A or less. Disconnects or pin plugs are necessary when you get over 50A, but that's getting pretty serious for hobby use. I have a disconnect for my RPC, I like having a big red handle that is off or on. And at 125A in, it isn't amenable to a plug. Everything else is outlets/plugs so far.

 

[Ischgl99]

For wiring a VFD, you need to size the wire at least 125% of the VFD input current rating to be compliant with the NEC, the motor size does not matter with wiring calculations into the VFD. Your VFD is rated at 7.5 kw for normal duty, so that is the input parameters you need to use for your calculations. The 5.5kw rating is for heavy duty operation, but that is not enough power for your 5hp motor run on single phase input to the VFD anyways. So, take 37 amps x 1.25 to get a minimum wire ampacity of 46 amps. That’s some pretty big wire, so a disconnect might be better than a plug at that size.