What am I doing wrong?? Blower wiring for fan

[OGRE]

Hello everyone. Im trying to wire a GE electric motor to an outlet. The motor is out of an old HVAC unit. I will be using it along with the blower housing it came with as an exhaust fan for my garage. Now....

After installing a new recepticle which seems to be fine. I ran a temp extension cord from the motor and plugged it in. The motor started to smoke after a few seconds.(I immediatly unplugged once I saw smoke). Is my recepticle putting out to many volts or maybe not enough?

Heres a break down of items used for the outlet/recepticle
1. 10/3 wire
2. 30 amp DP breaker
3. 30 amp 125/250 outlet
4. 30/50 amp dual power plug


Earlier in the day I took this motor to a local shop that deals with electric motors. They informed me all I needed to do was to connect the black, and yellow wires for power. Stating also that the other wires are for speed control and are not needed for what im using it for. My question is could they have been wrong by chance??? Do I not need anymore of the leads to have this motor work properly? Here is an image of the motor and motor specs:

GE
V. 208-230
HP. 3/4
PH. 1
HZ. 60
RPM. 1075

 

[Grumpy365]

We need a picture of the motor plate and wiring diagram / legend.

 

[OGRE]

We need a picture of the motor plate and wiring diagram / legend.

Heres the info on the plate:
GE model# 5KCP49SG1010S
V. 208-230
HP. 3/4
PH. 1
HZ. 60
RPM. 1075

This is what I was told my wires are by a local electric supply, and repair shop.
2 purple cap.
Blk. Hi
Blue. Med
Yellow. Common
Brown. Med Low
Red. Low
Orange ???

 

[OGRE]

Can't find actual diagram online for model motor...?

 

[OGRE]

 

[philjafo]

Was it out of the squirrel cage when you test ran it? These motors need a load on it to run correctly, out of the housing and no fan on it will overspeed and fry the bearings. If it just smoked and didn't spin at all the capacitor may be bad. If you have a multimeter with a mfd setting its easy to check, there is a way to test them with cheaper meters to but I can't remember it off hand. Also double check the outlet is wired correctly, you need 120 to ground on both sides from separate phase so it adds up to 240.

 

[philjafo]

You may be able to find a wiring diagram for the air handler that it came out of. When you get it running your going to need to block about half of the opening on the side that the motor doesn't stick out of. That's if there's no ductwork, not enough load like I mentioned before. Best way is to find the amp draw rating for it and using a clamp on meter, cover the opening untill it matches the amp rating. It's kinda counterintuitive but the fan will use less electricity and move more air by blocking part of the intake.

 

[OGRE]

Yes it was out when tested. The outlet is wired correctly for 240v.

If using the 4 prong plug. Which wires from the motor should I connect to the to my 2 hots?

Where should the white neutral from the plug go

Finally should the ground (from the plug) just connect to the side of the squirrel housing along with the motors ground?

 

[philjafo]

Should only need three wires

Ground goes to the same spot as the motor ground

L1 to the yellow

L2 to one of the other wires, each one would be a different speed.

Neutral not needed

 

[OGRE]

Hooked it up like you stated above. (Before I read your reply)...Fan came on full speed... Im happy fan slows down (on its on) then huge spark and that horrible smell??? im not so happy anymore I think it may be dead now. Im getting ohm readings from all wires, but the yellow now.

black to blk
white to yellow
green to green

 

[OGRE]

Should I not even attempt running it again after the pop/spark?

 

[OGRE]

Why does the breaker not trip BEFORE the motor shorts is a new concern of mine?

 

[Milton Shaw]

Breaker trips at 15 20 amps. The wires actually inside the motor are rated for the load/hp of the motor, not for a wired wrong short. Sounds like that motor is toast. The original wiring diagram from the air handler/furnace is what should have been used to hook the motor up. The interior wires of a motor could burn out as low as one amp or less depending on what type of motor and its application when shorted out.

 

[brewchief]

The google told me that the motor you have might be a lennox motor, I took a shot in the dark on davenet and found a diagram on a rooftop package unit that matches up with your colors, not sure if it's for your motor for sure or not but here's what it calls out.
Black-Hi
Red-Lo
Yellow-med low
Brown-med hi
Blue-med
Orange-common
Purple-capacitor


Hooking two of the speed wires up to power probably let the smoke out for good.

 

[OGRE]

Yes, I was told it was out of a lennox furnace. It must be really old because the two times I took it to the shop the guys all were like "Where'd you get that"?

Im affraid to try it again, but given the info you found what wires should I have hooked up to my cord?

 

[brewchief]

Orange and whatever speed wire should have made it run IF the info I found was for that motor.

It MIGHT run on one of the speeds other then the black or yellow but I don't think I would trust it knowing what happened.

 

[OGRE]

I just tried it again after reading your post, but I think its finally dead. After turning it on at the breaker box. It hummed, and began to smell, and I saw a slight spark.
I wired blue, and orange to plug.

 

[chevelle67]

Why does the breaker not trip BEFORE the motor shorts is a new concern of mine?

The breaker is for protecting the wires, not the load. That would be a fuses or motor starters job.

 

[chevelle67]

Fuse's

 

[Montysmith]

better to give it to a mechanic for repairing you would better be resolved with the problems you are facing right now