Wiring problem

[Michel Labelle]

Hi - I just bought a used King planer, KC 38 (also known CT-380C) with a 2 hp motor, single phase. The guy I bought from seem to have changed the wiring - had it plugged 220 but with 3 wires, black white ground. I want to wire this for 4 wires. My garage is wired for 4 - all my machines work on 220.

I read other articles and followed what they wrote for a similar problem. I melted my starting motor capacitor - LOL.

Question: 1) Can this motor (has 4 wires) be plugged to handle a 4 wire cable? I removed the wiring panel and set up the wires for 220.
2) The power switch is also set for 3 wires - can this be used for the 4 wire?
3) The reason I bought this planer is to use at my cottage which has not electricity so I want the planer to run on a champion 5500 generator - can this be done? It has a plug to 120/240 volt.
4) Would it be a better idea to buy a new motor 3 hp and 3 phase? Or is the single phase okay?

I live in Quebec Canada and know very little about electricity except it goes BOOM when things a badly wired!

-Michel

[Bradley Gray]

Sounds like your shop may be wired for 3 phase. If this is the case any 2 of the 220v phases will give you 220v single phase plus a ground makes 3 wires. If you aren't sure, get professional help so nothing gets fried - including you!

[Charles R Johnson]

You only need three wires for a 220V single phase motor load. Two hots and a ground. The forth wire is a neutral which is used for 110V loads (like a clothes dryer - the heating elements are 220V and the motor and controls are 110V).
With your limited electrical knowledge you should really get some knowledgeable help for making these type of installations.

[Dan Friedrichs]

You only need 4 wires if the machine has both 120V and 240V circuits (like a clothes dryer which uses 240V but also has a 120V light bulb inside it). Your outlets may be wired with 4 wires, but you are certainly only using 3 of them for any 240V woodworking machines. It is totally OK to connect only 3 of the 4 prongs on the plug. Not sure where you got the idea that you need 4 wires - the machine only needs 3.

That said, you should hire a professional for this.

[Michel Labelle]

I will do as you all suggested - I will hire an electrician. I do not mind working with 110 but 220 scares me and I do not understand it.

I guess I will ask the electrician to fix it up to work on the generator too. That is my main goal - I already have another planer 3hp but it weighs 750 lbs - to heavy to bring back and forth to cottage.

Thx all