I've been asked by a friend to help wire in his 3ph 2 post car lift. I've had a look at the control box, but can only find connections for the phase wires and the earth, and nothing for a neutral.

I know that 3ph motors don't need a neutral, but equally I don't want to damage his new lift! I can't find a wiring diagram anywhere for it, it's a Cascos C3-2 incidentally, so just wanted to ask here if anyone has wired one up before? If not I'll just wire it up with no neutral and go from there.

that sounds right, phase 1,2,3 and earth. swap any two phase wires to make the motors run the other way

Hi,

imho, unless you are an electrician you should not be wiring in the lift, especially if its in a garage/workshop where members of the public can enter.

Having said that it is very likely that there is no neutral needed and will work off the 3 phases and earth. Even if it did require a neural i doubt if there would be any harm done, the system just wouldn't work.

be careful

Jonny

With all due respects....

If you get it wrong....

240v single phase HURTS

3 Phase KILLS. (415v between the phases)

If you do not know or are unsure. DO NOT play with it.
Pay the money and get in an electrician who does know.

Your life or more to the point, later on someone elses could be at stake. Consider if you get it wrong and the lift drops on someone, or it fries them. You would be the one getting sued, let alone having to live with what you have done.

If you are going to do this, make sure you are 150% right.
You cannof afford to make even the tinyest mistake with 3 Phase (or 240v for that matter).

Also the regulations for wiring up with different phases are strict on the distance between other electrical items in the vacinity etc etc.
You need to be SO careful here, it sounds like you have not read the IEE regs on these sorts of installations.

Sorry if I offend anyone, but 3 Phase isnt like woking on 12v DC (cars).

I cant emphasise the above enough.

Hi SI
To be on the safe side why not try the uk office, for safety reasons they may insist on connecting themselves, and providing a safety certificate as required for insurance purposes.

Cascos (UK) Ltd
Kent « Garage Equipment « Sittingbourne « Cascos (UK) Ltd

Cascos (UK) Ltd
Unit 2
Conyer Farm Estate
Sittingbourne
Kent ME9 9HH
Telephone:
01795 522201
Fax:
01795 522281

Factory http://www.cascos.es/ingles/index.html

[Edited on 8/7/11 by Myke 2463]

Thanks for all your concerns, and whilst I am not an electrician and my friend is aware of this, I am quite aware of the dangers of 3 phase wiring as I work with the mains and meters for a living so I know to be ultra careful. Hence me asking on here to confirm what I thought before I start.