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Delta / Wye Motors

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Snapped-off

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Can anyone educate me on the differences of Delta and Wye configurations?

I'm not finding much that helps me understand. I get that Delta has 3 wires and Wye has the 4th neutral added in. But... Why? What applications do we use one over the other?

Thanks.
 
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wyliesdiesels

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Snapped-off said:
Can anyone educate me on the differences of Delta and Wye configurations?

I'm not finding much that helps me understand. I get that Delta has 3 wires and Wye has the 4th neutral added in. But... Why? What applications do we use one over the other?

Thanks.
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youre mixing up delta and wye service with delta and wye wound motors

Delta services can have 4-wires as well. Delta 120/240v is 4-wires. you would need a 4-wire Wye service if you wanted 120v (on 208Y service) or 277v (on 480Y service). but that has nothing to do with motors...

a wye wound motor would not need a neutral and is powered by 3x phase legs just like a delta wound motor is powered by 3x phase legs and doesnt need a neutral
 
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S

Snapped-off

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wyliesdiesels said:
youre mixing up delta and wye service with delta and wye wound motors

Delta services can have 4-wires as well. Delta 120/240v is 4-wires. you would need a 4-wire Wye service if you wanted 120v (on 208Y service) or 277v (on 480Y service). but that has nothing to do with motors...

a wye wound motor would not need a neutral and is powered by 3x phase legs just like a delta wound motor is powered by 3x phase legs and doesnt need a neutral
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Well that just made it even more confusing 😂

I guess I didn't get it. I was looking at a diagram for a 3ph motor, Wye had the 3 phases tied into a neutral. Delta had each phase tied in separately.
 
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Mzungu

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Maybe you are confusing motors with transformers. Just to confuse you even more a wye/delta motor can have 6,9, or even 12 wires in the connection box. With 6 and 9 wires being the most common. None of those wires are a neutral. The wye versus delta connection is based upon the 3 phase voltage source that you will be connecting the motor to. The connection diagram will normally be found on the motor or inside the motors connection box.
 
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Snapped-off

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Mzungu said:
Maybe you are confusing motors with transformers. Just to confuse you even more a wye/delta motor can have 6,9, or even 12 wires in the connection box. With 6 and 9 wires being the most common. None of those wires are a neutral. The wye versus delta connection is based upon the 3 phase voltage source that you will be connecting the motor to. The connection diagram will normally be found on the motor or inside the motors connection box.
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The motor I hooked up had 12 plus the 3 line wires. I assume I was reading about the wrong stuff when I was reading about 3 and 4 wires between delta and wye.

I couldn't find the diagram I was looking at before but I found another one that labeled a "neutral point" in the wye diagram. That's probably where I got confused on the whole neutral thing, thinking it was a neutral wire.
 
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Mzungu

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Snapped-off said:
The motor I hooked up had 12 plus the 3 line wires. I assume I was reading about the wrong stuff when I was reading about 3 and 4 wires between delta and wye.

I couldn't find the diagram I was looking at before but I found another one that labeled a "neutral point" in the wye diagram. That's probably where I got confused on the whole neutral thing, thinking it was a neutral wire.
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Did the 12 wires have number tags? Did you manage to get it working?
 
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Snapped-off

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Mzungu said:
Did the 12 wires have number tags? Did you manage to get it working?
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Yes! Had no issues wiring it up. I just want to learn more about 3ph motors, as they're now something I have to deal with, and I have no prior experience with 3ph.

My initial research was down the wrong path of power transmission and not motors 😂.
 
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MBfreak

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There is an absolutely wonderful trade school book.
" ELECTRIC MOTOR REPAIR. Robert Rosenberg, second edition 1969" Holt,Rinehart and Winston
Available from book sellers into older books.
Wonderful, starts with basics and goes all the way to advanced stuff.
Drawings, explanations, simple calcs and wonderful layout
I have one and it helped me immensely to rebuild 4 repulsion motors from 1938, now part of a rebuilt FUTURLINER.
Ola
 
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Bert_ said:
Large motors are often made so they can be started in wye and switched to Delta once running. It reduces inrush current and is less stress on equipment. It's less common now with electronic soft starts.
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I read that. Everything I've worked with so far is run off PLCs so that's probably why everything I've wired up is in Delta.
 
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grounded-b

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MBfreak said:
There is an absolutely wonderful trade school book.
" ELECTRIC MOTOR REPAIR. Robert Rosenberg, second edition 1969" Holt,Rinehart and Winston
Available from book sellers into older books.
Wonderful, starts with basics and goes all the way to advanced stuff.
Drawings, explanations, simple calcs and wonderful layout
I have one and it helped me immensely to rebuild 4 repulsion motors from 1938, now part of a rebuilt FUTURLINER.
Ola
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YES. I have a copy at my bench right now.

Received it in my 4th year of apprenticeship, when we covered motors in depth. That was 35 years ago

It's great because it opens up double wide - 3 spirals bindings. Text is on one side, illustrations on the other.
 
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