Does this motor could work with 110V on low speed only ? It is actually connected with 220V, on high speed there is 220V between the high and low terminal, but when the low speed is activate the voltage between the low and high terminal is 110V, and 110V also between the low and neutral terminal.

 

Volts 230 tells me that it is single voltage motor.
You, the user, can do whatever you want.

 

The speed is shown as 3450 and 1725 RPM .... the speed is dependent on the frequency (60Hz ) of the mains supply not the voltage ...
the speed is in RP Minute ... so 60 Hz x 60 secs = 3600 RPM (in practice 3450 due to slippage)

If you ran the same motor in the UK with 50Hz supply the speed is 50x60 =3000 RPM

So if you supply 110V 60Hz you will still be able to get (almost) the same two speeds you can at 220V with no load.... But the power output will be much less , so at 110V you cannot put much load on the shaft before it stalls . Putting it on low speed setting will help it keep turning under higher shaft torque ..

 

Does this motor could work with 110V on low speed only ? It is actually connected with 220V, on high speed there is 220V between the high and low terminal, but when the low speed is activate the voltage between the low and high terminal is 110V, and 110V also between the low and neutral terminal.

In a word no. The motor speed is designed, as oz93666 mentioned, based on the power frequency. The motor's speed, RPM, is also based on the number of poles.

Speed = 120 x frequency (Hz) / poles of the motor

So in the case of a two pole motor here in the US or Canada running on 60 Hz we get 120 * 60 / 2 = 3600 RPM with no load. Under load that drops to about 3450 RPM. That is a result of pole slips.Pole slips are the difference between the flux speed and actual rotor speed. Your motor has the option, based on the wiring, to change from 2 poles to 4 poles so it's not about the voltage but frequency and number of poles.

Ron

 

Posts #3 AND #4 are both correct. Somehow this motor is able to run as either a 2-pole or a 4-pole induction motor, thus the difference in the speeds. It will probably also spin when run on 120 volts but the torque will be at best a quarter as much with the lower line voltage. This motor would be classed as a "definite purpose" motor and given the very large difference in current drawn at the two different speeds it would be rather limited on what it would be useful for.
Also, the nameplate showing it is an A.O Smith device means that probably it is made by a different company for Smith, which I believe is a water heater company.

 

Also, the nameplate showing it is an A.O Smith device means that probably it is made by a different company for Smith, which I believe is a water heater company.

A. O. Smith has made many things over it's life time. At one time they made silos for farms, steel with porcelain coating, think they still do. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._O._Smith

 

A. O. Smith has made many things over it's life time. At one time they made silos for farms, steel with porcelain coating, think they still do. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._O._Smith

Undoubtedly true. But presently I was aware of the expensive line of water heaters. And some of those with the vent blower might be where this motor is used, or was used.

 

Undoubtedly true. But presently I was aware of the expensive line of water heaters. And some of those with the vent blower might be where this motor is used, or was used.

I have one of those A.O. Smith hot water heaters with the powered vent but alas the motor on mine is only a two wire, white and black, blower. A friend of mine installed it in a business and a few months later they were told to demo the building so he yanked the new heater and gave it to me which was fine as my old unit had just failed. The thing has a control board, it looks at temperature and back pressure and no clue what else but just a two wire single speed motor. The price was sure right at the time. I never gave the name a thought till you mentioned it but:

A. O. Smith Corporation is an American manufacturer of both residential and commercial water heaters and boilers. It is the largest manufacturer and marketer of water heaters in North America. It also supplies water treatment products in the Asian market.

They had a revenue of 2.5 billion USD in 2015 so go figure.

Ron

 

Undoubtedly true

But do you really think every brand makes their own motors?

 

But do you really think every brand makes their own motors?

No, and I did not intend to imply that, but rather that many companies buy motors with their name on them, which is a cheap and easy way of making it harder to replace a failed motor with a less expensive product. Sorry if I was a bit confusing about that. My point was that a water heater company was probably NOT making their own motors.

 

They did - http://archive.jsonline.com/business/111780079.html/

 

In a word no. The motor speed is designed, as oz93666 mentioned, based on the power frequency. The motor's speed, RPM, is also based on the number of poles.

Speed = 120 x frequency (Hz) / poles of the motor

So in the case of a two pole motor here in the US or Canada running on 60 Hz we get 120 * 60 / 2 = 3600 RPM with no load. Under load that drops to about 3450 RPM. That is a result of pole slips.Pole slips are the difference between the flux speed and actual rotor speed. Your motor has the option, based on the wiring, to change from 2 poles to 4 poles so it's not about the voltage but frequency and number of poles.

Ron

Very clear thank you for the info. So I should use 220V to avoid any problem and keep the power of the motor. This motor was use as a pump in a SPA, it was connected to a controller to switch from low to high speed. If I want to connect the motor on low speed directly without the controller, I assume that the way to achieve low and high will be to interchange the connection on the terminal low and high. So the 2 hot wire (black and red) should be on the low and high terminal and the opposite for the other speed. The controller is in my opinion a relay switch that do the same internally. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

Very clear thank you for the info. So I should use 220V to avoid any problem and keep the power of the motor. This motor was use as a pump in a SPA, it was connected to a controller to switch from low to high speed. If I want to connect the motor on low speed directly without the controller, I assume that the way to achieve low and high will be to interchange the connection on the terminal low and high. So the 2 hot wire (black and red) should be on the low and high terminal and the opposite for the other speed. The controller is in my opinion a relay switch that do the same internally. Correct me if I am wrong.

OK, so we know the motor is designed for 220 VAC 60 Hz operation, it will also run just fine on 240 VAC. Something interesting which was pointed out is the motor current which I assume to be 12.0 Amp when running high speed. With that in mind if you want to switch between Low and High speed whatever you use be it a manual switch or relay needs to be able to handle 12 amps AC plus some overhead room. The motor name plate shows the connections for low and high speeds. I would use a relay or switch with contacts rated for 16 Amps minimum to allow overhead.

Since the motor was used for a spa pump I assume galvanic isolation. Here in the US residential power is 240 VAC nominal in a split phase configuration so either hot leg to neutral is 120 VAC and hot to hot is 240 VAC. Neutral/Ground is normally White with the Hot sides being Black and Red from your entry panel. Appliances like electric driers and electric burner stoves are typically 240 VAC. Your mains power delivery depends on your location. Here in the US one hot lead would go to the terminal labeled Common Line 1 while the other hot (line 2) would connect to either the high or low speed terminal, L2 would be switched to select the speed.

Ron

 

With this motor there is a significant difference in current between 2 pole and 4 pole, normally the overload and any motor fusing would also alternatively be switch in, according to the RPM mode used.
Max.

 

With this motor there is a significant difference in current between 2 pole and 4 pole, normally the overload and any motor fusing would also alternatively be switch in, according to the RPM mode used.
Max.

Yeah, that's a good point. The 4.4 Amp to 12 Amp is a big step as was mentioned. I would fuse each low and high speed.

Ron

 

One method normally used is a separate contactor and O/L with proper fusing ahead of each contactor.
Max.

 

There exists a slight possibility that the controller originally used with this motor did have two different overload protection devices, but since that adds cost I doubt it. So to answer the question posed in post #12, yes, run the thing on 220 or 230 or whatever voltage is between the two hot leads in your area. But since all 3 power leads are not the neutral in this instance the white wire should be blue. Or have a black stripe. I just add a stripe with an indelible felt marker and that is adequate for inspectors around here.

 

There exists a slight possibility that the controller originally used with this motor did have two different overload protection devices, but since that adds cost I doubt it. .

Although the code demands it if installed properly.
Max.

 

In Canada residential power is 240 VAC nominal in a split phase configuration so either hot leg to neutral is 120 VAC and hot to hot is 240 VAC. I will finally use a generator to connect to my motor to the 240V. I will only use the low speed. The generator will not be connected to the house panel.

My generator connector has 4 wire (2 hot,1 neutral and ground), my motor has 3 wire (2 hot and 1 ground). When I try to connect the motor (2 hot to the motor terminal and the ground), the braker trip on my generator. Do I need to connect the ground and neutral together to solve the problem ?

 

My initial guess is that the inrush of the motor starting is what trips the breaker. You mentioned two speeds for the motor but the drawing shows nothing about motor connections. All we see is plug connections. AND, I have not come across a single phase motor that had three power connections. Something does not seem right about that part.