Anyone use the Hylec DOC contactors and overload relays?

Deuce · Nov 9, 2018

Type:
Hylec-APL | Motor Control Gear | Contactors - https://www.hylec-apl.com/contactors
&
Hylec-APL | Motor Control Gear | Thermal Overload Relays - https://www.hylec-apl.com/thermal-overload-relays

Got a project coming up where I need to remotely start about 20 pumps so looking at Hylec as the cost is very low. The setup will only be used for a few weeks, perhaps 100 cycles at most.

Just wondering if they're... 'too cheap'?

The setup will be both the devices above to form a starter for each pump. With the contactor coil switching taken from each to a single PLC control panel. So quite a lot to throw together and don't want to use kit that is cheap to the point it has a significant reliability issue, or like some cheap kit, is just a bit fragile/awkward and slows you down when you have 20 to put into service!

Also suspicious as I see screwfix sells them

TJ Anderson · Nov 9, 2018

They are alright, I've used them before for motors and they've been fine.

Deuce · Nov 9, 2018

TJ Anderson said:
They are alright, I've used them before for motors and they've been fine.

No annoying quirks like weak screw heads on the clamps etc? I know it sounds like I'm being picky but sometimes you can pick up a simple component and in fitting, end up wishing it had been designed better..

TJ Anderson · Nov 9, 2018

I used them as I needed a couple and they were available. They are not as robust as say, Schnieder, but for what you want they will probably be fine and for a contactor and overload they are very cheap.

MDJ · Nov 9, 2018

Looks like reasonable kit fella.

Deleted member 105018 · Nov 9, 2018

Don’t know anything about the kit you’re looking at and I may be overstepping the mark here but personally I’d like to see any motor contactor coil or solenoid wired to a plc controlled relay rather than the plc output card itself. I presume this isn’t your department though so I apologise now if this isn’t relevant.

Deuce · Nov 9, 2018

Ali-C-123 said:
Don’t know anything about the kit you’re looking at and I may be overstepping the mark here but personally I’d like to see any motor contactor coil or solenoid wired to a plc controlled relay rather than the plc output card itself. I presume this isn’t your department though so I apologise now if this isn’t relevant.

Ha! What sort of fool do you take me for!?

Yes, I know - we also like to keep the flyback voltage away from the PLC too. The siemens s7 PLC at the core is linked to separate relay modules which energise the contactor coils. So if anything goes, it's the one of the relay modules, not the CPU itself. Never happened yet and for our purposes some on the test bed at our workshop have easily cycled at least 1 million times.

The worst is when we hook up 20+ solenoid valves for a SFX sequence and all are de-energised at once. Gave us all sorts of problems until we discovered the varistor connectors for the coils. We had previously been using the standard connectors for no other reason than they valves come packaged with them - and our snubbing arrangement before the varisotor connectors was never quite right.