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Build A Contactor/relay


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Will this contactor be no good for me then? Can I put 2 together? i.e. 2 on each contactor or twin them up

hi jurassic

not good practice, Telemecanique are the best contactors, you need a 3 pole n/o.

Im not just doing this to annoy you but what about a 4 pole? then I can have one spare pole

no probs, yes thats ok, but protect ballast with suitable fuse.

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Will this contactor be no good for me then? Can I put 2 together? i.e. 2 on each contactor or twin them up

hi jurassic

not good practice, Telemecanique are the best contactors, you need a 3 pole n/o.

Im not just doing this to annoy you but what about a 4 pole? then I can have one spare pole

no probs, yes thats ok, but protect ballast with suitable fuse.

Each ballast has a 13mamp plug on it and fuse. Also the plug going from the consumer unit (Contactor) will be fused at 13amp? is that ok?

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OK What I can buy locally is as follows:

thumbnail.jpg

4674990.jpg

I like the latter, with a big ON OFF SWITCH? What do you think?

Edited by jurassic
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Will this contactor be no good for me then? Can I put 2 together? i.e. 2 on each contactor or twin them up

hi jurassic

not good practice, Telemecanique are the best contactors, you need a 3 pole n/o.

Im not just doing this to annoy you but what about a 4 pole? then I can have one spare pole

no probs, yes thats ok, but protect ballast with suitable fuse.

Each ballast has a 13mamp plug on it and fuse. Also the plug going from the consumer unit (Contactor) will be fused at 13amp? is that ok?

i use a 1 amp for my contactor coil.

13 amp for 600w ballast sounds way too high.

consult manufacture or handbook for your equipment.

i always cut off any moulded plugs and use real plugs.

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Will this contactor be no good for me then? Can I put 2 together? i.e. 2 on each contactor or twin them up

hi jurassic

not good practice, Telemecanique are the best contactors, you need a 3 pole n/o.

Im not just doing this to annoy you but what about a 4 pole? then I can have one spare pole

no probs, yes thats ok, but protect ballast with suitable fuse.

Each ballast has a 13mamp plug on it and fuse. Also the plug going from the consumer unit (Contactor) will be fused at 13amp? is that ok?

i use a 1 amp for my contactor coil.

13 amp for 600w ballast sounds way too high.

consult manufacture or handbook for your equipment.

i always cut off any moulded plugs and use real plugs.

See above post with pics, what you think?

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a two pole will be fine dont put your earth through the contactor you only need to switch your live and neutral the earth should be ALWAYS connected via an a common earth point as some time a pole on a contactor can fail and if that one is the earth you would be running with out knowing that there was no earth. Just switch the L and N and join the two earths(ideally to a brass screw on the side of a metal box you mount the contactor in this would also earth the box). Merlin Gerin,Telemecanique and allen bradlly are all good makes i use these make everyday at work and dont have any major problems,RS are quiet expensive you could try some were like city electrics

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a two pole will be fine dont put your earth through the contactor you only need to switch your live and neutral the earth should be ALWAYS connected via an a common earth point as some time a pole on a contactor can fail and if that one is the earth you would be running with out knowing that there was no earth. Just switch the L and N and join the two earths(ideally to a brass screw on the side of a metal box you mount the contactor in this would also earth the box). Merlin Gerin,Telemecanique and allen bradlly are all good makes i use these make everyday at work and dont have any major problems,RS are quiet expensive you could try some were like city electrics

Will 20amp be enough for my 2.4kW of lighting?

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a two pole will be fine dont put your earth through the contactor you only need to switch your live and neutral the earth should be ALWAYS connected via an a common earth point as some time a pole on a contactor can fail and if that one is the earth you would be running with out knowing that there was no earth. Just switch the L and N and join the two earths(ideally to a brass screw on the side of a metal box you mount the contactor in this would also earth the box). Merlin Gerin,Telemecanique and allen bradlly are all good makes i use these make everyday at work and dont have any major problems,RS are quiet expensive you could try some were like city electrics

Will 20amp be enough for my 2.4kW of lighting?

that would be plenty contactors are normal used to start motor which allow for a large start up current

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a two pole will be fine dont put your earth through the contactor you only need to switch your live and neutral the earth should be ALWAYS connected via an a common earth point as some time a pole on a contactor can fail and if that one is the earth you would be running with out knowing that there was no earth. Just switch the L and N and join the two earths(ideally to a brass screw on the side of a metal box you mount the contactor in this would also earth the box). Merlin Gerin,Telemecanique and allen bradlly are all good makes i use these make everyday at work and dont have any major problems,RS are quiet expensive you could try some were like city electrics

Will 20amp be enough for my 2.4kW of lighting?

that would be plenty contactors are normal used to start motor which allow for a large start up current

How would I wire this contactor? Which wire goes where.

post-54829-0-36018100-1302866859_thumb.jpg

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your live(brow wire) from your plugtop would goto 1 and and the neutral(blue wire) from your plugtop would goto 3

The live(brown wire) out to your ballast would goto 2 and the neutral(blue wire)would goto 4

A1 and A2 are your coil so these come from your timer

A1 = live

A2 = Neutral

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you need a 3 pole norm open, so when contactor operates it switches L N E. make sure ballast is protected by a suitable fuse

surely not ?

hi compostverte, you want your ballast to be earthed dont you?

A third pole on an industrial relay will be because it's designed to switch three live phases with the neutral commoned.

There may be a spare terminal on the body of the contactor to common the earths, but the earth should most definitely not be switched using the spare terminal.

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your live(brow wire) from your plugtop would goto 1 and and the neutral(blue wire) from your plugtop would goto 3

The live(brown wire) out to your ballast would goto 2 and the neutral(blue wire)would goto 4

A1 and A2 are your coil so these come from your timer

A1 = live

A2 = Neutral

My ballasts alraedy have a plug top on them. My plan was to plug all the 4 plug tops into an individual plug socket (like the ones you have in your house) then wire from them plug sockets to the 2 + 4 terminals. Would I be ok doing it like this? So effectively I would be using 1 x 2 PLUG Socket in House.

Plug one for timer and plug 2 for the contactor. From contactor I would then connect to a further 4 plug sockets with each being connected to a ballast.

I plan on using 1.5mm 3 core for the timer and a 2.5mm for the rest? That all sound ok?

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your live(brow wire) from your plugtop would goto 1 and and the neutral(blue wire) from your plugtop would goto 3

The live(brown wire) out to your ballast would goto 2 and the neutral(blue wire)would goto 4

A1 and A2 are your coil so these come from your timer

A1 = live

A2 = Neutral

My ballasts alraedy have a plug top on them. My plan was to plug all the 4 plug tops into an individual plug socket (like the ones you have in your house) then wire from them plug sockets to the 2 + 4 terminals. Would I be ok doing it like this? So effectively I would be using 1 x 2 PLUG Socket in House.

Plug one for timer and plug 2 for the contactor. From contactor I would then connect to a further 4 plug sockets with each being connected to a ballast.

I plan on using 1.5mm 3 core for the timer and a 2.5mm for the rest? That all sound ok?

The wiring and cable size are fine but 2.4kw is about 10 amp it may blow the 13amp fuse when you first switch it on as ballast have a large start up current than running current so thinking about it a 4 pole contactor would be better using 2 separate supply for each 1kw light and just conect the heater to one of the pole used for one light

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your live(brow wire) from your plugtop would goto 1 and and the neutral(blue wire) from your plugtop would goto 3

The live(brown wire) out to your ballast would goto 2 and the neutral(blue wire)would goto 4

A1 and A2 are your coil so these come from your timer

A1 = live

A2 = Neutral

My ballasts alraedy have a plug top on them. My plan was to plug all the 4 plug tops into an individual plug socket (like the ones you have in your house) then wire from them plug sockets to the 2 + 4 terminals. Would I be ok doing it like this? So effectively I would be using 1 x 2 PLUG Socket in House.

Plug one for timer and plug 2 for the contactor. From contactor I would then connect to a further 4 plug sockets with each being connected to a ballast.

I plan on using 1.5mm 3 core for the timer and a 2.5mm for the rest? That all sound ok?

The wiring and cable size are fine but 2.4kw is about 10 amp it may blow the 13amp fuse when you first switch it on as ballast have a large start up current than running current so thinking about it a 4 pole contactor would be better using 2 separate supply for each 1kw light and just conect the heater to one of the pole used for one light

Can you explain what you mean by 2 seperate supply for each?

Ive got a digital ballast if that makes any difference? I attach my plan in a drawing.

post-54829-0-80754000-1302869676_thumb.jpg

Edited by jurassic
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hi sexisarh

no that has only 2 normally open contacts, you need 3.

Thanks mate,

You couldn't point me in the right direction please for a contactor for a 600w light.

hi sarha

Item number: 150587427146, make sure the ballast is protected by a suitable fuse.

Ok, got this mate,

While you're here could you tell me what goes where? There seems to be a lot of terminals!! I'm perfectly capable of putting it all together safely just need to know what to put where. Thanks in advance.

Ss

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