Minimax wiring help

[elia cohen]

Hi folks,
Wanted to get some guidance here. I originally had an electrician wire up my minimax FS41C and now that I have moved the jointer planer I have different power setup. I'm also questioning what the electrician did since he used a 3 prong angled plug with a hot on L2 and the other on Neural and used the white wire for ground. From what I see, misplaced leads on the block with 2 hots and a ground. No true neutral. Would adding a neutral to this infact anything? What I'm thinking is sliding over the Hots to L1 and L2, adding a neutral and using ground, hopefully pulling that cut neutral lead from the machine forward to use it and getting the actual ground from the cord too. The manufacturers documentation is a bit confusing so I'd love some confirmation from someone that maybe had one of these or understands it better than me.

[Aaron Inami]

CRAP - I totally said this wrong. I stated "PE" when I really meant "N". "PE" is protected earth or ground, like Greg stated.


The plug looks like a standard dryer 220v USA plug. The combination of L1-L2-L3 are only use for 3-phase power sources. These L1-L2-L3 are all A/C that are 120 degrees out of phase between each other.

Here's a chart that shows the difference:
https://www.electpower.com/single-phase-vs-three-phase-power-explanation/

The wiring block in your first picture is just a connection bar from left to right. Since there is no wires connected to L1 or L3 on the left entering into the machine, I would say your machine is definitely single-phase.

There are two scenarios for your wiring:

USA wiring - the "N" is not actually a neutral lead. Instead, both L2 and N are 120V HOT leads that are 180 degrees out of phase (creating a push-pull 240V current). However, in this scenario it "acts" like a neutral lead since it allows current flow from the HOT lead.

Europe wiring - the "N" is a true neutral, but the L2 is a true 230V hot lead.

In either case, the "N" will act as a neutral. For Europe, this is a true Neutral that is essentially grounded to earth. For USA it is a pseudo-neutral with opposite current that allows the HOT current to flow through. I would say the electricians wiring is correct in your case.

[Greg Quenneville]

I would be getting a second opinion. PE means “protective earth”, otherwise known as “ground”. It should never be carrying current in normal (non-shorted) conditions.

In The rest of the world a green + yellow wire is the PE.

In North America 120v systems have a live, neutral and PE.
240v North American systems have two live 180° apart, and a PE

Rest of world 240v systems have a 240v live, neutral and PE

Your 240v US & Canada plug should have two lives and a PE.

In fact, get a third opinion too.

[Bill Dufour]

Voltage, is it all 240 or do you need 120 or controls? I assume single phase.
Bill D

[Bill Dufour]

I think the outlet may be wired wrong. I would use a meter to verify the green wire coming out of the cord is in fact ground.
Bill D

[Jim Becker]

Looks like it was wired with a common 3-wire dryer plug to match whatever receptacle was in your previous shop. Base on your photos, it's actually correct. Here's why...

Green is ground normally, but not on the particular pre-terminated cord that the electrician used. Black and Red are common for the two hot legs for 240v power in the US. In this case, the pre terminated cord uses a white conductor for ground. Why? "Back in the day", appliances (and that's an appliance cord) could combine ground and neutral. There is no neutral in a 240v only device, however, and if there was one because 120v power is required for something in the machine, there would be a fourth conductor in modern gear to provide a neutral connection.

In the US and Canada, the machine requires a 30 amp 240v circuit. It can certainly be configured to plug into a higher amperage circuit if that's what's available, but never a lower amperage circuit. There are multiple 30 amp 240v rated plugs/receptacles that can be used in the US/Canada...pick your style. I personally use L6 twist locks in my shop.

[Phil Gaudio]

FWIW, here is how my FS41e is wired. I think the confusion may be a result of the fact that the mfg. is using a multi-purpose terminal block that is designed to accommodate both single and 3 phase applications in Europe. Their single phase is 230 volts and uses a hot (phase) leg and a neutral, plus an earth ground. When they wire is for North American use, they still use the screw labeled neutral, but that is really a hot (phase) leg over here. So long story short, it does appear that your machine is wired correctly, recognizing that the euro nomenclature does not line up exactly with our practices.
484385

[Aaron Inami]

Phil is correct in how the terminal block works. Please NOTE, I corrected my earlier post regarding "PE" and "N".

[Bill Dufour]

If the original electrician had done his job he would have used a green sharpie or green heatshrink tubing and marked that white wire.There is a reason electrician tape comes in green and white not just black
In north America for building wiring there are only four colors. Green or bare copper(ground), white(neutral) and every other color(hot).
Bill D.

[Bill Dufour]

A house wire from 1949 is very hard to discern white from black wire. No ground to worry about. My current house 1969 very easy to judge wire color.
BilL D

[Aaron Inami]

If the original electrician had done his job he would have used a green sharpie or green heatshrink tubing and marked that white wire.There is a reason electrician tape comes in green and white not just black
In north America for building wiring there are only four colors. Green or bare copper(ground), white(neutral) and every other color(hot).
Bill D.


Unfortunately, companies that manufacturer power cords do not follow US color coding standards like they should. I have seen all sorts of color combinations: GREEN/BROWN/BLUE, RED/YELLOW/WHITE, RED/WHITE/GREEN, and of course the proper BLACK/WHITE/GREEN. For power cord companies, as long as you can tell the difference between the conductors, they think the result is "golden".

If you have concerns, I would double check the RED / BLACK / WHITE wires of your power cord to make sure they connect to the proper prongs on the plug - using a multi-meter or continuity tester.

[elia cohen]

Thanks everyone, this is super helpful! The machine was working properly with the dryer plug and consensus here is that it's wired fine other than the plug's ground wire should have been set up using the green ground wire and not white but in the end, it's going to right terminals on block and plug.

The part I'm still unclear on is if my new outlet is a 4-prong 220 so it has 2 hot, 1 ground and 1 neutral. Does this machine just not use neutral due to the European way and that it's single phase? And my workaround is to either use a 3 to 4 prong adapter or wire in a 4 prong without use of the plug and receptacles neutral?

[Phil Gaudio]

You will want to replace the 4 prong receptacle with a 3 prong receptacle that matches the plug on your machine. You will use the two hot leads and the ground, leaving the neutral unused in the junction box (and tied off with a wire nut).

[elia cohen]

Great, thanks for confirming, really appreciate the help!!