I've finally gotten fed up with the on again-off again (or more often, neither on nor off without standing on one foot while reciting Jabberwocky and pressing the button "just so") performance of the radio control switch I have on my dust collector. I want to replace it with hard-wired switches located in 3-4 positions in the shop, wired with 4-way switches so that the collector can be turned on or off from any switch. This has led me to the world of "contactors" for remote control of motors.
My DC has a 3hp 240v motor and runs happily on a dedicated 20 A circuit.
I think that what I need to control it is a 2-pole contactor rated for a 3hp single phase 240 V motor with 120 V control circuit.
My question is that as I look at devices that seem to be described in exactly the same way the prices vary from $12.99 to over $600, and I don't have a clue what distinguishes them. Models that are called "motor starting contactors" seem to run about 5x the price of "definite purpose contactors", but I haven't found a description of how these differ from each other. The cheaper ones give motor horsepower ratings, giving the appearance that controlling a motor might be a possible "definite purpose".
Anyway, I'd appreciate if someone can enlighten me as to which I should use. Thanks!