CHAPTER 29
FORWARD-REVERSE CONTROL
OBJECTIVES
After completing this chapter, the student should be able to:
Discuss cautions that must be observed in reversing circuits.
Explain how to reverse a three-phase motor.
Discuss interlocking methods.
Connect a forward-reverse motor control circuit.
The direction of rotation of any three-phase motor
can be reversed by changing any two motor T leads T2
L1
(Figure 29–1). Since the motor is connected to the T1 DIRECTION OF
L2 MOTOR
power line regardless of which direction it operates, a ROTATION
L3 T3
separate contactor is needed for each direction. If the
reversing starters adhere to NEMA standards, T leads 1
and 3 will be changed (Figure 29–2). Since only one
motor is in operation, however, only one overload relay T2
L1
is needed to protect the motor. True reversing con- L2
T1 DIRECTION OF
MOTOR
trollers contain two separate contactors and one over- ROTATION
L3 T3
load relay. Some reversing starters will use one separate
contactor and a starter with a built-in overload relay.
Others use two separate contactors and a separate over-
load relay. A vertical reversing starter with overload re- Figure 29 – 1 The direction of rotation of any three-phase motor
lay is shown in Figure 29–3, and a horizontal reversing can be changed by reversing connection to any two motor T leads.
starter without overload relay is shown in Figure 29–4. (Source: Delmar/Cengage Learning.)
both contactors from being energized at the same time.
Interlocking This would result in two of the three phase lines being
shorted together. Interlocking forces one contactor to
Interlocking prevents some action from taking place be de-energized before the other one can be energized.
until some other action has been performed. In the case There are three methods that can be employed to assure
of reversing starters, interlocking is used to prevent interlocking. Many reversing controls use all three.
L1 L2 L3
F OL
F OL
MOTOR
F OL
Figure 29 – 2 Magnetic reversing starters generally change T leads 1 and 3 to reverse the motor. (Source: Delmar/Cengage
Learning.)
Mechanical Interlocking auxiliary contacts on one contactor in series with the
coil of the other contactor (Figure 29–7). Assume that
Most reversing controllers contain mechanical the FORWARD push button is pressed and F coil ener-
interlocks as well as electrical interlocks. Mechanical gizes. This causes all F contacts to change position.
interlocking is accomplished by using the contactors to The three F load contacts close and connect the motor
operate a mechanical lever that prevents the other con- to the line. The normally open F auxiliary contact
tactor from closing while one is energized. Mechanical closes to maintain the circuit when the FORWARD
interlocks are supplied by the manufacturer and are push button is released, and the normally closed F aux-
built into reversing starters. In a schematic diagram, iliary contact connected in series with R coil opens
mechanical interlocks are shown as dashed lines from (Figure 29–8).
each coil joining at a solid line (Figure 29–5). If the opposite direction of rotation is desired, the
STOP button must be pressed first. If the REVERSE
push button were to be pressed first, the now open F
Electrical Interlocking
auxiliary contact connected in series with R coil would
Two methods of electrical interlocking are avail- prevent a complete circuit from being established.
able. One method is accomplished with the use of dou- Once the STOP button has been pressed, however,
ble acting push buttons (Figure 29–6). The dashed lines F coil de-energizes and all F contacts return to their
drawn between the push buttons indicate that they normal position. The REVERSE push button can
are mechanically connected. Both push buttons will now be pressed to energize R coil (Figure 29–9). When
pushed at the same time. The normally closed part of R coil energizes, all R contacts change position. The
the FORWARD push button is connected in series with three R load contacts close and connect the motor to
R coil, and the normally closed part of the REVERSE the line. Notice, however, that two of the motor T leads
push button is connected in series with F coil. If the are connected to different lines. The normally closed R
motor should be running in the forward direction and auxiliary contact opens to prevent the possibility of
the REVERSE push button is pressed, the normally F coil being energized until R coil is de-energized.
closed part of the push button will open and disconnect
F coil from the line before the normally open part
closes to energize R coil. The normally closed section Developing a Wiring Diagram
of either push button has the same effect on the circuit
as pressing the STOP button. The same basic procedure is used to develop a wiring
The second method of electrical interlocking diagram from the schematic as was followed in the pre-
is accomplished by connecting the normally closed vious chapters. The components needed to construct
this circuit are shown in Figure 29–10. In this example,
assume that two contactors and a separate three-phase
overload relay are to be used.
The first step is to place wire numbers on the
schematic diagram. A suggested numbering sequence
is shown in Figure 29–11. The next step is to place the
wire numbers beside the corresponding components of
the wiring diagram (Figure 29–12).
Reversing Single-Phase
Split-Phase Motors
To reverse the direction of rotation of a single-phase
split-phase motor, either the starting winding leads
or running winding leads, but not both, are inter-
changed. A schematic diagram of a forward-reverse
control for a single-phase split-phase motor is shown in
Figure 29–13. Notice that the control section is the
same as that used for reversing three-phase motors. In
this example, run winding lead T1 will always be con-
nected to L1, and T4 will always be connected to L2.
The start winding leads, however, will be changed.
When the forward contactor is energized, start winding
lead T5 will be connected to L1, and T8 will be con-
nected to L2. When the reverse contactor is energized,
start winding lead T5 will be connected to L2, and T8
will be connected to L1.
Figure 29 – 3 Vertical reversing starter with overload relay.
(Source: Delmar/Cengage Learning.)
Figure 29–4 Horizontal reversing starter. (Source: Delmar/Cengage Learning.)
CONTROL
TRANSFORMER
FORWARD
STOP
OL
F
REVERSE
Figure 29 – 5 Mechanical interlocks are indicated by dashed lines extending from each coil. (Source: Delmar/Cengage Learning.)
CONTROL
TRANSFORMER
FORWARD REVERSE
STOP
OL
F
Figure 29 – 6 Interlocking with double acting push buttons. (Source: Delmar/Cengage Learning.)
CONTROL
TRANSFORMER
FORWARD
STOP
R OL
F
REVERSE
F
R
Figure 29 – 7 Electrical interlocking is also accomplished with normally closed auxiliary contacts. (Source: Delmar/Cengage
Learning.)
L1 L2 L3
F OL
F OL
MOTOR
F OL
CONTROL
TRANSFORMER
FORWARD
STOP
R OL
F
REVERSE
F
R
Figure 29 – 8 Motor operating in the forward direction. (Source: Delmar/Cengage Learning.)
L1 L2 L3
F OL
F OL
MOTOR
F OL
CONTROL
TRANSFORMER
FORWARD
STOP
R OL
F
REVERSE
F
R
Figure 29 – 9 Motor operating in the reverse direction. (Source: Delmar/Cengage Learning.)
L1 L2 L3
CONTROL
TRANSFORMER
F R
MOTOR
Figure 29 – 10 Components needed to construct a reversing control. (Source: Delmar/Cengage Learning.)
L1 L2 L3
1 2 3
F OL
3 4 4 7 7
OL
2 F 6 6 8 8
MOTOR
OL
1 F 5 5 9 9
3 R 5
2 R 6
1 R 4
1
3
CONTROL
TRANSFORMER
10 16
FORWARD
STOP
R OL
10 11 11 12 12 13 14 15 16
F
11 12
REVERSE
F
11 17 17 18 19 15
R
R
11 17
Figure 29 – 11 Placing numbers on the schematic. (Source: Delmar/Cengage Learning.)
L1 L2 L3
1 2 3
3
CONTROL
TRANSFORMER
10 16
F
1 2 3 1 2 3
11 12
17 18 5 6 4 4 6 5
11 18 11 13
12 19 17 14
R
11 17 14 F 15 19 R 15
12 13
S
15 4 6 5
10 11
16 7 8 9
7 8 9
MOTOR
Figure 29 – 12 Components needed to construct a reversing control circuit. (Source: Delmar/Cengage Learning.)
L1 L2
FORWARD
STOP
OL
REVERSE
T1 RUN T4
SPLIT-PHASE MOTOR
T5 START T8
R
R F
F R
Figure 29 – 13 Reversing a single-phase split-phase motor. (Source: Delmar/Cengage Learning.)