# Mounting manual motor starter in door of cabinet



## mburtis (Sep 1, 2018)

So this is probably a dumb question but is there any problem with mounting a couple of non enclosed 2 pole toggle style manual motor starter (Eaton B230AN for example) in the door of an larger enclosure with faceplates etc.. Have a couple of chemical feeders that I would like an external disconnect on and it would be a lot cleaner if the disconnect was just in the front of the control cabinet rather than separately mounting one. Looking at moving the starters from inside the enclosure to the door of it. So ok or hacky?


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## John Valdes (May 17, 2007)

Those look like they were made for through the door?
As long as there is no issue with them being available to anyone to mess with I can see no reason to not do this. I mean they seem to be designed for this type of application.

I don't see any issue as far as safety either. But those switches will be in front and anyone can mess with them.


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## 460 Delta (May 9, 2018)

Are you using it for control voltage or will it be used as an actual motor starter?
Like John says it is an open invitation for someone to mess with, but a momentary On/Off push button setup seems to be much less tempting to fool around with. That and a cheap IEC contactor (yeah, better take my temperature) that the push buttons control might be a better way.


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## paulengr (Oct 8, 2017)

Most of those manual motor starters have a handle extension rod and then you mount a lockable handle on the front. Tons of brands although most are actually LSIS (Spain) or Sprecher-Schuh (Polish). I would not be surprised if CH is just private labeling too.

There are also self contained NEMA 4X ones that you can put right next to the feeder. Look on automation direct.com for these.


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## JRaef (Mar 23, 2009)

mburtis said:


> So this is probably a dumb question but is there any problem with mounting a couple of non enclosed 2 pole toggle style manual motor starter (Eaton B230AN for example) in the door of an larger enclosure with faceplates etc.. Have a couple of chemical feeders that I would like an external disconnect on and it would be a lot cleaner if the disconnect was just in the front of the control cabinet rather than separately mounting one. Looking at moving the starters from inside the enclosure to the door of it. So ok or hacky?


 What voltage? I am always loathe to running 230V or 480V up to the door of an enclosure and across the hinge. The consequence of a pinched conductor or something overloading, melting the insulation and going to ground on the door, is a setup for a lethal situation. 120V is bad enough, but less likely to get overloaded and melt the insulation off.


By the way, that is a motor rated SWITCH, not a "motor starter" in that it does not have Overload Heaters. If you need the type with an OL heater(s), then mounting on the door is a bad idea because the heaters typically go in from the front.


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## mburtis (Sep 1, 2018)

These would be for power, 3 in total, 2 would feed small DC drives (mounted inside the enclosure), 1 a fractional hp mixer motor. I actually want them accessible from the outside, that way we can lock any one of the 3 components out separately without opening the cabinet. The old enclosure has these type of starters inside and then the power runs through on/off selector switches on the front anyway so no difference as far as accessibility but these would serve as a more official LO/TO.

I couldn't think of a reason I couldn't get a bare version (no enclosure) and cut square holes in the door, drill and tap the holes for the yoke bolts, and put the corresponding faceplate over it. A lot of work for 3 switches but seems like the simplest cleanest way to accomplish what I need. Just doesn't seem to be something that is commonly done or maybe I just haven't seen it. Seems like they are designed to be mounted in a single gang switch box or surface mounted in the provided enclosures but I don't see any reason I couldn't mount 3 of them in the door of a larger enclosure (24x24).


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## paulengr (Oct 8, 2017)

Just look at the cost of a small 60/30 A disconnect switch. They are so cheap and simple and reliable they can be bolted on almost anywhere.


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## mburtis (Sep 1, 2018)

JRaef said:


> What voltage? I am always loathe to running 230V or 480V up to the door of an enclosure and across the hinge. The consequence of a pinched conductor or something overloading, melting the insulation and going to ground on the door, is a setup for a lethal situation. 120V is bad enough, but less likely to get overloaded and melt the insulation off.
> 
> 
> By the way, that is a motor rated SWITCH, not a "motor starter" in that it does not have Overload Heaters. If you need the type with an OL heater(s), then mounting on the door is a bad idea because the heaters typically go in from the front.


This is pretty low power 120V (the entire enclosure is powered by a single 20 amp breaker in a panel across the plant) and currently the same power runs to 30mm selector switches in the door anyway so really no change there. I don't need thermal protection, the DC drives have it built in and the mixer motor has internal thermal protection.


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