wiring a 3 phase plug - strange wire colours?

[adamgreen240]

Hi folks.

We have recently purchased a 3 phase industrial machine, which county of origin is Germany.

I need to wire in a 3 phase plug, but not sure which colour correcsponds to the L1, L2, L3 and Earth.

The colours in the wire are Black, Red, Blue and Grey.

Could anyone help with this?

Thanks,

Adam

 

[mark1979]

In the U.S., the circuit numbers of a three phase system are identified as follows. The following chart is true for 3 phase power (Black, Red, Blue) and 277/480 (Brown, Orange, Yellow) installations. The purpose of the standardized circuit number to wire color is for future troubleshooting. For example, if an electrician knows that the electrical wire running to a nonworking plug is blue, the electrician can instantly eliminate 2/3 of the remaining circuits.


just found that paragraph on a website. is it possibly made for the US market?

 

[ackbarthestar]

Generally for newish equipment, Euro colours are common across europe. Red is normally associated with machine wiring
IMO:
Red = L1 or L2
Black = L2 or L2
Grey = L3
Blue = N

What about G/Y???

If you have a problem with the colour identification, I would suggest that you first measure the resistances across the phases and then across blue to be sure that your connected up correctly

 

[jar]

Open the machine and look inside. You sometimes get a diagram inside. What type of machine is it ?. try googling the manufacturer. I have come across three phase coffee machines from the continant that need converting to single phase two cores for line two cores for n one core for earth. Remember to mark the cores with proper colours or phase markings.

 

[Engineer54]

Hi folks.

We have recently purchased a 3 phase industrial machine, which county of origin is Germany.

I need to wire in a 3 phase plug, but not sure which colour correcsponds to the L1, L2, L3 and Earth.

The colours in the wire are Black, Red, Blue and Grey.

Could anyone help with this?

Thanks,


Adam

PM ''netblindpaul'' his main core business is industrial machines tools etc. He should able to to put you right on your colour identification problem...

 

[adamgreen240]

Hi Guys, it is an hydraulic clicker press. I have opened it up, and there is no info inside. The machine is quite old (at a guess about 10yrs?)

So theres no definite answer to wiring it up?

 

[netblindpaul]

adam,
There is NO straight answer.
IF your employer is the end user then you should advise them that they could get into "issues" if the machine does not comply with the current H&S regs.
You need to open up the panel and "trace" the cores back and wire appropriately.
Following this then your employer (as it seems this is the situation) MUST undertake a full PUWER98 assessment of the installed machine and undertake upgrades etc. to comply with this statute law and others before putting the machine into use.
HTH