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32a three phase isolator neutral bar?

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BiddeldyBwah

BiddeldyBwah

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Came across one of these today at work. Had L1 L2 L3 and switched Neutral, but also had an N link bar inside.

Just wondering what it's for?
 
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I'd like a view of it before commenting, too.
Although, it seems like a switch that can accommodate different supplies...as most 3 phase switches do.
ie, some machines don't require a neutral......but then again WTF is it feeding?
 
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We also often see a 4 pole isolator that has a neutral and earth bar internally as well. It's just to acommodate different wiring options with switched or unswitched neutrals as far as I know.
 
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Marvo said:
We also often see a 4 pole isolator that has a neutral and earth bar internally as well. It's just to acommodate different wiring options with switched or unswitched neutrals as far as I know.
Click to expand...
Reminds me of one job where we used a 4 pole isolator for a large motor. 3 poles for the motor and the 4th for the cooling fan, with the fan neutral unswitched.
 
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[ElectriciansForums.net] 32a three phase isolator neutral bar?

Hey i took a picture.

The supply eventually came into L1 L2 and L3, and the N on the right hand side of the device. But there's still the metal N bar on the right. Just wondering at what configuration you would put the neutral in there instead of into the switch.

They are feeding welding machines.
 
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As above, looks like a standard enclosure that the manufacturer could use for everything from single to six-pole isolators. Yours clearly started life as a 3-pole, with the 4th tacked on. I can think of at least 3 scenarios where your neutral would not go through that pole, from isolator feedback to forced air cooling to switching the armature and field of a DC motor. I think you might be getting a bit hung up on this 'extra unneeded neutral bar'. It likely adds about 10p to the cost of the isolator, so use it or don't as appropriate.
 
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ElectroChem said:
As above, looks like a standard enclosure that the manufacturer could use for everything from single to six-pole isolators. Yours clearly started life as a 3-pole, with the 4th tacked on. I can think of at least 3 scenarios where your neutral would not go through that pole, from isolator feedback to forced air cooling to switching the armature and field of a DC motor. I think you might be getting a bit hung up on this 'extra unneeded neutral bar'. It likely adds about 10p to the cost of the isolator, so use it or don't as appropriate.
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I'm a trainee so was just wondering why it was there.
 
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BiddeldyBwah said:
I'm a trainee so was just wondering why it was there.
Click to expand...
Ah, that explains quite a bit, and means I must also apologise if I went a bit hard at you. I was treating your question like a tradesman was asking "What's a screwdriver for?" rather than a learner looking to learn.
 
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As it's for a trainee I'll just add that if it's a Neutral contact will be early make / late break compared to the L1, L2, L3 contacts.
But I'll leave them to find out the importance of that.
 
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Even magnified it doesn't appear to have a marking on the 4th contact, jut the arrow in the plastic case.
From the style (plastic screws) it looks to be a Europa, which also appears very similar to older Klockner style disconnectors.
There's space on the left side for another contact so it may be that the 4th contact is auxiliary and could have a 5th.
The 4th contact will have details on the side.
 
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snowhead said:
Even magnified it doesn't appear to have a marking on the 4th contact, jut the arrow in the plastic case.
From the style (plastic screws) it looks to be a Europa, which also appears very similar to older Klockner style disconnectors.
There's space on the left side for another contact so it may be that the 4th contact is auxiliary and could have a 5th.The 4th contact will have details on the side.
Click to expand...
32A 4 Pole Surface Mount Isolator IP65 - https://www.yesss.co.uk/32a-4pole-surface-mount-isolator-ip65 It's one of those. We're basically using them as an emergency stop.
 
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BiddeldyBwah said:
No it's just bare. The guys i am working with said it was the N though. Incidentally we were hooking up machines with no neutral anyway.

It's an 'Eris Industrial' 32a/20a from Yesss.
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Strictly speaking the neutral is the separate terminal on the enclosure. The fourth switch terminal I would consider an auxiliary as it is not marked for a specific purpose and can be used for several things.
 
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westward10 said:
Strictly speaking the neutral is the separate terminal on the enclosure. The fourth switch terminal I would consider an auxiliary as it is not marked for a specific purpose and can be used for several things.
Click to expand...
Is there any advantage/disadvantage to the way we've done it? The machinery we're hooking up doesn't use neutral so it's not used anyway.
 
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