3 Phase Wiring

Wiring of 110 V circuits: European vs USA.
	Ground	Hot	Neutral
Europe	Green/White or Green/Yellow	Brown	Blue
USA	Green wire	Black	White
USA-plug	round prong	Small flat prong	Large flat prong

Wiring 230 V single phase: European vs USA
	Ground	Hot 1	Hot 2
Europe	Green/White or Green/Yellow	It makes no difference how the other two wires are matched.
USA	Green wire	It makes no difference how the other two wires are matched.

208 vs 220 vs 230 Volts. All modern motors run well with voltage variations exceeding this range. In other words, don't worry about it. Same is true for 110 V vs 115 V.

50 vs 60 Hz. Europe uses 50 Hz power while USA utilizes 60 Hz. All the machines that we sell are supplied with 60 Hz motors. 50 Hz motors run at 60 Hz (i.e., European motors run in the USA) will run too fast. This is not a big problem for motors run under low load conditions but is serious for medium to high load machines (which is most winery equipment).

Single Phase from a 3-phase outlet. If you have a 3-phase outlet and want only single phase power, simply use the ground and two of the hot wires. It doesn't matter which of the hot wires you use.

4-Wire Single Phase 220 V. This is essentially what is provided to every home in America. This is 1-phase 220 V power with a 110 V power in the same line. It is a ground wire, two hot 220 Volt wires, and a Neutral wire. The voltage across the 220 volt wires will be 220 volts, and the voltage across the neutral and the either of the 220 Volt wires will be 110 volts. You may see this type of wiring also on electric driers, travel trailers, etc in which both 220 V and 110 volt service are used in the same unit.

5-Wire 3-Phase 220 V. Such wiring This is the simply 3-phase power (3 hot wires and a ground) with a neutral wire to provide 110 V.

Wire Gauge. 3-phase power draws less current than single phase (given same horsepower). More current dictates larger wire (heavier gauge). Thus, extension cords and wiring for single phase motors should be larger gauge and shorter in length than for 3-phase motors. As a rule of thumb, use minimum 12 gauge extension cords.

kW vs HP (kilowatt vs horsepower). European motors are often labelled with kilowatts. 0.75 kW = 1 HP.

3-Phase Power and Direction of Rotation. To change the direction of rotation of a 3-phase motor, simply switch any two of the hot wires.

Wiring of 3-phase motors from Europe vs USA
	Ground	L1	L2	L3
Europe	Green/White or Green/Yellow	Brown	Black	Blue
USA	Green	Black	Red	Blue
Phase Rotation Tester This meter indicates which lines are L1, L2, and L3. Sometimes you cannot easily see the wire colors and it is always good to know that the wires were not mixed up when installed.