Need Help!- Connecting the on off switch...

[Dubliner]

Ive assembled a rotary phase convertor, and regenerative pump, its all wired and I'm getting 240 out of each leg so no problems there. What I'm having trouble with tis the on/off switch on top on the contactor case. It was not there when I got the units so I have no idea what goes to what. I have a red/blue & white coming from the low voltage side of the contactor. Not sure if its clear in the pics, but red goes to 21nc and 13no, Blue goes to 14no and 22nc, white (110 neutral) goes to 95-96 nc and is jumpered to back lug on 14no=21nc. Hot leg of 110 goes to switch I imagine but no idea which lug. I have the switch to install and this is all I'm lacking from firing up this nice vac for a cnc router, can you help? tx Dubliner in Texas

[Al_The_Man]

What prints or drawing were/are you working from? Presumably you bought parts for self assembly?
That is obviously the main contactor, the two white wires on #5 is the overload contacts.
The push button usually engages a start capacitor, as soon as it is up to run, then the P.B. is released, but there are other methods, some use a timer.
Here is a drawing that may help somewhat in the MetalWorking drop box.
metalworking.com - /dropbox/_1998_retired_files/
Look for Fitch Williams files FRW- etc.
Al.

[Dubliner]

Well I'm not working from any drawings actually. The pump came with the contactor already wired to it, and the Phase convertor did have a drawing with it, so I just copied what was already there. I have 1ph in, 3ph out, and as I said I just need to wire the switch. This contactor does have a timer on it so I presume thats the method here. I looked in the pics from FRW I'm afraid either I dont understand it or its not specific to my situation. If anyone needs better pics of a specific point I'll be delighted to post whatever might help. TIA Dubliner

[Al_The_Man]

Are you trying to get the RPC wired or the pump?
I had assumed it was the RPC, If a 3 phase motor is what you are trying to control then there are plenty of simple stop start circuits to Google
e.g. Motor Starter Wiring Diagrams - OWWM Knowledge Base (Wiki)
Al.

[Dubliner]

The vacuum. There is a cap bank starter for the RPC. RPC & Vac are wired, now just need to momentary on switch to kick the vac on after RPC is running.

[Al_The_Man]

It looks like you have a stop/start button there, Telemecanique by the look of it.
Also looks like you have the N.O. N.C. contact pair?
Al.

[Dubliner]

Yes pic 2 is all Telemecanique, pic 3 is the starter for the RPC. I looked at the switch that came wired(pic 3) and it has three wires in, and one jumper between two lugs so I presume I should mimic this. I'll put a meter on the switch and see what I have. Sorry I couldnt really understand the wiring diagram in the link. I've tried to get 2 electricians over here, but no joy and I really think this is the simplest part but the NO/NC thing is baffling me. Sorry to be a pest.

[Al_The_Man]

I will see if I can describe it, the P.B.s are wired from the supply with voltage suitable for the coil voltage is, yours could be 120v or 240vac?
If you wire the two P.B.'s in series feed the supply into one PB and out the second into the overload on the contactor, out the other N.C. terminal on the overload and then to the coil, the other side of the coil is of course the neutral or other 240v feed.
The last thing left is to wire the N.O. auxiliary contact on the contactor to the N.O. P.B. so that it is in parallel with the N.O. P.B.
In other words all are in series which each other except the N.O. contacts, which are in parallel with the N.O. on button.
A way to save on the number of wires is to start with the feed, to the NC PB jumper out to the NO PB out of the NO PB to the O/L out of the O/L to the coil.
From the wire that comes from the NO PB to the O/L.
OK I have made a DXF for clarity.
Al.

[Dubliner]

They dont call you Al the Man for nothing do they :-), thanks a million Al, that makes it easier to understand.

[Dubliner]

Al, its me the pest again. I hooked it up and when I held the green button in, ***hurray, vacuum***, when I let it go it stopped. So I figured I had the wiring backwards/mixed up, but no other configuratation would close the contactor. I'm wondering if it might be bad & not hold, or do you think I have to have some of the wiring mixed up. I followed your diagram as closely as I could, but all I have for reference on the block in nc/no or position numbers. Would it be possible to id what you mean on the contactor if I got a better picture & wrote in what the position, and closure(nc/no) type was? tx Neville

[Al_The_Man]

It sounds like you do not have the (N.O.) normally open auxilliary contact on the contactor connected across the start button?
This is what holds it in when you release the start PB.
Looks like 13 & 14 on the contactor?
Al.

[Dubliner]

Al, hopefully you can see more clearly in these pics. Where the wires are connected to the switch & back to the contactor positions. The black wire is a 110v and neutral is connected to 95/96 NC on contactor beside timer/reset dials.