Contactor voltage coil

[SimpleSimon]

Hi Guys

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between contactors that require 230v coil voltage and 400v coil voltage?
We are swapping over a contactor serving a bank of lights. The original contactor was 230v and the one I accidently ordered was 400v and didn't start up on power up. Could someone please explain the reasons why?

Simon

 

[Marvo]

The coild of a 400v contactor would require 2 phases to make it operate, the coil of a 230v contactor requires 1 phase (live) and neutral.

 

[Marvo]

If the contactor is the same make and form factor you can swap the coils as long as they're both AC. Don't ever put a DC coil in an AC contactor (or vice versa) without checking the spec sheet first.

 

[Knobhead]

Simple answer, the coil is only getting 1/4 of the power it needs. Try and get the correct coils and swap them.

 

[ayjay]

try to get it right at the wholsalers dinlow

 

[SimpleSimon]

try to get it right at the wholsalers dinlow

Now now, I made a simple mistake because I didn't check. But I've sorted it tonight, I was just trying to understand why it wouldn't work.

 

[Knobhead]

How did you "sort it"?

 

[SimpleSimon]

Bought anotger contactor at 230v coil voltage.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Marvo]

Just for future reference, you can buy just the coil for most makes of contactor which works out cheaper. Also if you put 230v across a 400v contactor coil it will have survived so keep the 400v one for stock.

 

[telectrix]

generally speaking, a 400V coil contactor is used on 3 phase where there is not a neutral present. coil voltages are often as low as 24V in situations where the control circuit needs to be ELV for safety reasons. ( only a general comment, there are other variations )