How to run a 3-phase motor with the

ability to change directions?

A few months ago we started a video series on YouTube to teach you how to wire a
3-phase electrical motor to run with the star-delta starter. This video series is
continuing with the aim of writing a PLC program for the same purpose. You can start
watching the first video from this series
Afterwards, a lot of you asked for a wiring diagram to start the electrical motor with
star-delta starter while still being able to change the motor rotation direction. In this
post, you're going to learn how to wire a 3-phase electrical motor with the contactors
for that specific purpose.
Now let's quickly review how the below diagram works. The idea behind this diagram
is fairly simple. When you have an electrical motor with the ability to change rotation
direction, you'll see two separate start switches. One switch if for running the motor
in the clock-wise direction, and the other is for running the motor in the counter
clock-wise direction.
When you press the CW start switch, the CW contactor is going to be energized and
its contacts are going to be closed. When the contacts are closed, the 3-phase
power flows to the motor and the motor starts rotating in the clock-wise direction.
Since there is also a star-delta starter involved for this diagram, when the CW
contactor is energized and the motor starts rotating in the clock-wise direction, the
star contactor will be energized at the same time to run the motor in star connection
which reduces the start-up or inrush current. So in the beginning, the CW and the
star contactors are going to be energized at the same time.
After a few seconds, the star contactor will be de-energized and then the delta
contactor is going to be energized while the CW contactor is still energized. Now the
CW and delta contactor are active at the same time.

Now what happens when you press the CCW start switch? When the motor is
rotating in the clock-wise direction and also the connection is in delta, if you press
the CCW start switch, two things happens at the same time:

1. The CW and delta contactors are both going to de-energize

2. The CCW and delta contactors are going to be energized
What happens next? The same thing that happened with the CW direction. When the
CCW start switch is pressed and the motor is rotating in the CCW direction in the
star connection, after a few seconds the star contactor is going to be de-energized
automaticity and the delta contactor is going to be energized.
So in both clock-wise and counter clock-wise rotation directions, the star contactor is
going to be energized at the beginning and then after few seconds the star contactor
is going to be de-energized and then the delta contactor is going to be energized. Its
as simple as that.
Therefore, by adding just one contactor (CCW contactor) to the previous star-delta
starter wiring diagram, you'll be able to change the rotation direction as well.
Now you may ask when the motor is rotating in the clock-wise direction and I press
the counter-clock wise start switch, how does the motor change its direction?
Well, when you press the CW start switch, as I said, the CW contactor will be
energized and its contacts are going to be closed. According to the diagram that I
have here in post, when the contacts are closed L1 will be connected to U1, L2 to V1
and L3 to W1 and that's how the motor is going to run in the clock-wise direction.
When you press the CCW start switch, the CW contactor is going to be de-energized
and the CCW contactor is going to be energized. When this happens, according to
the diagram, L1 is going to be connected to U1 BUT this time the other two phases
are going to swapped, meaning this time L2 is going to connect to W1 and L3 is
going to connect to V1. By swapping these two phases, the motor rotation is going to
be reversed. We have a few videos in the RealPars library that go into more depth
on the clock-wise and counter clock-wise rotation for a 3-phase electrical motor as
well as a practical PLC program.