We’ve already covered some of the important aspects of a control panel,
but some might say that what we’re going to cover today
is the most important of all.
The Main Switch is the one part of a control panel
which has a large impact on progressing a project.
We’ll go into that later, but for now, don’t switch off,
this video is going to be electrifying!
And before we get into the video,
I’d once again like to ask you to like this video if you find it useful.
This really does help us to dream up more
concepts and exciting videos to create for you in the future.
When we look at the panel from the outside,
one of the first things we see is something labeled a “Main Switch”
sometimes called an isolator.
What it does essentially
is applying or disconnecting the control panel from the power source.
The control panel we have here
is powered by a 3 phase supply,
which is rated at 415 Volts AC.
This, in turn, can be used within the panel
to power single-phase devices,
or 230 Volts AC
by using 1 phase of the 3 phase supply.
We can also use transformers to convert AC voltage to DC voltage
to power our 24 Volt and 12 Volt devices
we briefly covered in the Control Panel overview video.
So the main switch applies or disconnects the 3 phase power
that we have in the control panel.
We usually designate the 3 phases with the following labeling system;
L1, L2, and L3 are the 3 phases of the supply.
“N” is the neutral wire.
The neutral wires' purpose is to provide a path back to electrical ground
to complete the circuit.
When I put the main switch in the ‘0’ position,
it indicates that the isolator is in the OFF position,
and it will disconnect the power flow to the control panel.
When I put the main switch in the ‘1’ position,
it indicates that the isolator is in the ON position,
and it will enable the power to flow to the control panel.
On the back of the door,
this switch has wires connected to the terminals on the switch.
You see the identifiers on the cable L1, L2, L3, and N?
These are connected to the main power coming into the cabinet
labeled L1, L2, L3, and N also.
The other side of the switch connects to the distribution unit.
From here one of the phases goes to power these two power supplies;
one phase comes here
and goes to the input for this power supply,
the 24 Volt DC one,
and for this power supply, the 12 Volt DC one.
The input to these two power supplies can be 100-240 Volts AC.
Inside, these power supplies transform the AC signal
into a DC voltage output,
24 volts one case, and 12 volts on the other.
This DC power can then be used for devices in the control panel,
or for devices out in the field too!
Since we are using 1 phase of our 3 phase supply,
our input to these two power supplies
is around 230 Volts AC.
The rest of the 3 phase power goes into this terminal block
and can be used to power the devices that work with 3 phase power.
So the single-phase power,
powers these supplies and we connect the 3 phase power to these terminals here
so that we can use them with devices that work with a 3 phase supply.
When we install this control panel in the field,
the 3 phase supply will be connected to the top of these terminals.
Then through this trunking,
they are going to be connected to the top of the main switch that we have here.
Through the other end of this switch,
the terminal blocks are going to be connected to this terminal block.
From here one phase goes here to power the power supplies
and then all of the 3 phases also will be connected to this terminal block
so that we can use them to power the devices that work with the 3 phase supply.
We have the 3 phase supply connected on the bottom
and the devices can be connected to the top of the terminal blocks.
If we put the main switch to the ‘0’ position
the incoming 3 phase supply power will be disconnected,
and that shuts down the whole control panel,
including all of the devices that work with 24 Volt DC and 12 Volt DC,
and also the devices that work with 3 phase power.
That’s it for this video!
We are starting to get into a bit more detail
about the inner workings of the control panel now,
and thanks for staying with us so far!
If you’ve understood everything we’ve covered so far,
you are now well on the way to having a great understanding of
how a control panel works,
add to that now the main switch function, and why we use them,
you’ll soon be powering on your future!
This video was brought to you by RealPars in partnership with
Pro-control here in the Netherlands.
They are experts at control system design and industrial automation.
They have a team of world-class automation engineers
and have been designing and implementing industrial control systems in different industries
for many years.
If you want to get in contact with them, you can check out their website at pro-control.nl.
That’s pro-control.nl.
We will put a link to their website in the description below the video as well.
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