contactors

[cliffed]

jus a quickie,gotta connect a load of lightin contactors,controlled by various pirs etc,now is it ok to take supplies & load only into the contactor,& of course a switched live/neutral 4 the coil.Reason being 2 limit lotta cables enterin the enclosure of a 20amp contactor.Thinkin out loud, seen this all over the place,butt my brains thinkin bout eddy currents,ie;shud all lives?neutrals enter the contactor all am i jus woorying over nothin cheers 4 your comments,offa 2 play golf now ta ra bab,ps; cabling twin/earth 1.5mm

 

[Richard]

I think this will only be a problem with metal enclosure, if memory serves me correctly.

Rich

 

[bozobro0]

I think the same as richard,if it is a metal enclosure run cables through one hole.Plastic enclosure should not be a problem.

 

[Knobhead]

If you take each pair of cores through the same hole you don’t get a problem with eddy currents. Current flowing in equals current flowing out. It’s only when you separate them there is a problem.

We had a new lighting contactor panel fitted next to a D/B. About a dozen contactors in it, the contractor had done a smart job with looming the cores. He was mortally offended when I told him to rip the lot out and start again. He’d taken all the incoming feeds though one 2” coupling and all the outgoing through another.

I got my arse chewed by the engineering manager who didn’t understand eddy currents until he got a quick lesson in basic physics. Next day he ripping in to the contract manager quoting me word for word!

It’ confusing using contract, contactor and contractor in the same post