Wiring Plug on 415v 3 Phase Welder

[SpaceRage]

Hey folks,

Just acquired a welding machine today, it is 415v 3 phase and I am in Australia. There is no guidance in the manual at all.

I am really confused about wiring up the plug correctly, the 4 wires from the machine have the following colors:

Brown
Blue
Black
Yellow/Green

I followed the wires into the machine to the the circuit board:

Brown: C1
Blue: C2
Black: C3
Yellow/Green: Connected to casing (earth).

Is it correct that the welding machine does not require a neutral connection (as it is 3 phase) and the three (brown, blue, black) can be connected in any way to L1, L2 and L3?

Any assistance greatly appreciated!

 

[WranglerX]

Pretty sure 3 phase does no require neutral.....

Wire colors sound like they are a "standard".... Must be some sort of chart or document to relate colors to which phase.....

Maybe a little search of i-net to find color coding that matches you Australian standards...

Similar to this....

Wiring Colours | Electrical Cable Colour Coding Standards - Phase 3 Connectors

Dale

 

[Roadworthy]

The yellow - green wire should indeed be ground. No neutral is required. If the voltage the welder expects matches the supplied voltage simply connect the three hot leads in any order and land the ground lead on ground. I know of no standard code for phases with three phase. If connected incorrectly an electric motor will run backward. In that case simply swap two of the wires - any two.

 

[hosspuller]

Roadworthy is correct … I would reiterate the point about correct voltage. American standard is 480 volts, three phase. And check the rotation of any cooling fan if any.

 

[radios1]

neutral is only required if an appliance uses 120 volts for something, so that the load don't go into the ground wire.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Isn't neutral used with a "Y" connection?

 

[radios1]

Isn't neutral used with a "Y" connection?

yes, but also, If it were a 120/240 volt 3 phase 4 wire grounded center tapped Delta red/high leg system also uses a neutral for your 120 Volts. ground should never be used for power..

 

[Industrial Toys]

I applaud people trying to do stuff themselves. but sometimes I cringe, especially when it comes to electiricty and peoples "trial and error" methodology. It's not something you learn or understand overnight or from the Internet. Especially important at those higher voltages. I really hate working on 600 volt because I am NOT qualified! BUT, at least I know most of the risks!

Funny, I bought a large three phase Lincoln MIG welder at Auction. Checked the nameplate and it included 240 volts, so figured single phase. I didn't know there was 240 three phase. Always thought just 600 and 347. Anyway, as soon as you think you understand something, you don't!

 

[BrokenTrack]

What is always interesting to me is how people get concerned with working with 120, 220, 480, 600 volts etc when that has little to do with electrocution. Good gracious, AMPS is what to be concerned about!

75 milliamps can kill a person. We learned this as welders.

People have to look at electricity like water. The voltage is how FAST a stream runs, so a high voltage means the water is running down a steep hill, but if the amperage is low, it means there is very little water on that steep hillside. A person could just step over a fast moving trickle of water, right?

But if a stream is very deep, but on flat ground and flowing slow (high amps and low voltage), you could drown.

That is how electricity works. Always pay attention to the amperage.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Well yes and no. For electrical distribution purposes, VOLTAGE certainly is the factor because of ohms law. Your body, basically has a given resistance, so 600 going through that resistance is going to cause significant more current than 120.

Worse still, is that higher voltages tend to hold you there. I have had MANY shocks in my lifetime, line voltages and high tension but the worst ever by far was a 347 lighting circuit. Shutting off the office lights back in the 80s to work on them would have been unheard of. Heck, finding the breaker, would have cost the boss, time and MONEY!