Contactor stopped working

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Dee96

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Hi all

My sparky tried to connect a contactor to the DB board and after a few minutes, it stopped working and smelt burnt.
At that point, we only connected the sonoff to the contactor to test it and after a few times of hearing the coil being energized, it stopped working.

My question is, was this connected wrong or was the contactor faulty?

The plan was to connect a sonoff to the coil and then connect the geyser to the load and use the sonoff to control the geyser. They geyser was NOT connected to the contactor when it stopped working so that can't be a factor

I have prepared the diagram and pictures of the contactor

Please help as I want to know if I should get a new sparky
 

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Dee96 said:
Hi all

My sparky tried to connect a contactor to the DB board and after a few minutes, it stopped working and smelt burnt.
At that point, we only connected the sonoff to the contactor to test it and after a few times of hearing the coil being energized, it stopped working.

My question is, was this connected wrong or was the contactor faulty?

The plan was to connect a sonoff to the coil and then connect the geyser to the load and use the sonoff to control the geyser. They geyser was NOT connected to the contactor when it stopped working so that can't be a factor

I have prepared the diagram and pictures of the contactor

Please help as I want to know if I should get a new sparky
Click to expand...
If your sparky is real, he should give himself a taai klap. That contactor is for plc usage lol. But ja, elke outjie maak 'n foutjie.

But as we are talking about contactors, I remembered a funny thing that happened a few years back. So with nothing to do for the day, I go and chill in the substation. There are about 400 feeders to equipment there, most with contactors ranging from "tiny" Nema1's up to ones you can barely pick up. Anyways. Most large substation that do not have UPS's tied to their control power has a system called "re-acceleration" where after a dip lasting < x seconds, the contactor will kick back in. Now they all have timers ensuring they stagger start and not all at once sending the substation up in the sky. Now after 50 years of maintenance, upgrades, timer replacements and general idle fingers, you can imagine these blocks are not nowhere aligned anymore.

Now imagine me chilling out, and suddenly a relatively loud THUD as all the contactors falls out at the dip. Got a lekker skrik but am good. Now a mere second or two later, while still in fight/flight mode all these feeders start kicking in sending a cacophony of machine guns bangs going crazy throughout the sub. I sha!t myself halfway out the building then the noise died down since all re-accel finished.
 
Crowley said:
Or thinks he knows, apparently.
Click to expand...
Exactly this. More of a family friend. I thought it was a simple enough job and he was not doing well during Covid and he does have experience with electrical work but obviously, was not a smart move from my end
 
Dee96 said:
I hope so too especially since there are so few open slots on my DB
Click to expand...
I am so confused by the whole thing, aren't contactors by their very nature low to high voltage devices? Much like how a 12V to 230v relay would work?

So when you guys are talking about a 230V contactor, how exactly is it supposed to work? The way I see yours is a 24V used to control a 230V circuit, so how is a 230V one going to work?
 
thechamp said:
I am so confused by the whole thing, aren't contactors by their very nature low to high voltage devices? Much like how a 12V to 230v relay would work?

So when you guys are talking about a 230V contactor, how exactly is it supposed to work? The way I see yours is a 24V used to control a 230V circuit, so how is a 230V one going to work?
Click to expand...

The coil is rated at a certain voltage. So by nature, the Sonoff is made to control mains connected stuff up to a certain wattage. If you exceed this wattage, contacts going to burn. But just installing a better relay (contactor) that can be controlled from the output of the Sonoff, makes that the Sonoff contacts won't burn as the only load on it is the coil (which now has to be able to take 220V ac)
 
thechamp said:
I am so confused by the whole thing, aren't contactors by their very nature low to high voltage devices? Much like how a 12V to 230v relay would work?

So when you guys are talking about a 230V contactor, how exactly is it supposed to work? The way I see yours is a 24V used to control a 230V circuit, so how is a 230V one going to work?
Click to expand...
The 220vac supply used to activate the coil. And using the available contacts to do the switching of whatever load you have.
 
kahoel117 said:
The 220vac supply used to activate the coil. And using the available contacts to do the switching of whatever load you have.
Click to expand...
Okay, I think I am slowly getting the picture now, so if you could be asked to recommend a contactor for this application which one would you recommend? I am interested in seeing the spec of the contactor.
 
thechamp said:
Okay, I think I am slowly getting the picture now, so if you could be asked to recommend a contactor for this application which one would you recommend? I am interested in seeing the spec of the contactor.
Click to expand...
The contactor you had is ok. Just get a 220vac one. Nice that it has 2x switching contacts too.
 
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