Knife switch for reverse

[dcastillo]

Any reason I couldnt use one of these to reverse the current direction through the Armature of the series motor to obtain a cheap manual reverse setup?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-Amp-Dis...cuit-Breaker-Backup-Generator-2-/170881623181


thanx
Danny

 

[itsid]

Hmmmm...
I can't see why not, then again didn't you have a curtis controller?
that should be able to do that for you IIRC.
(basically a low voltage toggle switch is all you would need then)

'sid

 

[dcastillo]

actually, ive got a kelly controller...
I could use a 48V reversing contactor, but was hoping for a cheaper manual solution, that way if my voltage ever changes it wont matter...
Looks like Kelly sells a 150A one for $50, I guess thats not to bad.

thanx
D

 

[Half-breeder]

I personally have little~no experience w/ electric motors. But I did a science experiment where I 'made' a motor (type) mechanism that showed how an electric motor turns/runs. From those studies(1980's), I found that motors given rotation was determined by an integrated 'kicker', of sorts, that actually 'kicks' the motors initial rotation. Im probably wrong, but thought Id add my ignorant .02 cents in.

I however, am unsure if the direction of the 'kicker' is governed by polarity/current direction or if it's mechanically set to a certain direction upon current contact.

 

[itsid]

While that is true for some motors (mostly AC) it's not the case in series wound DC motors.

all that matters is the polarity to turn the motor in a certain direction;
it's not even important if you reverse the polarity of the Armature or the Sstators
(just not both at the same time )

Those 'kickers' are almost always capacitors (sometimes a shaded pole) to affect the phases of the motor at start up.

'sid