Soft starter

Hello I'm wondering if it is possible to add a forward/reverse to an already existing soft starter

Should be possible as long as the soft starter is stopped when you do the reversing and cannot start unless only one contactor is closed.

+ Alan_505

That's done all the time all you need is a reversing contractor
just make sure you completely stop the motor before restarting

I always was told, and made sure, a motor was stopped before reversing it. Even had Anti-Plugging controls to make sure the rotor was stopped.

Then had the opportunity to work on a shot-blasting cabinet with a jet wheel connected to a 15HP motor, with a reversing starter. The motor only ran in forward, the way it was curved it would not throw the shot very well if run in reverse.

The reverse was to plug the motor. As soon as the forward contactor turn off, no delay at all, the reverse contactor was engaged for 1/2 to 3/4 second to help stop it.

First time that engaged I went looking for the problem and when I finally figured out it was designed that way I wondered who built that thing.

It called plug stopping it was popular like 40 years ago
it dose require a special contactor I believe it is still listed in the code
The contactor s rated for about twice what a jog contactor rating. they were always on a timer about 1 sec. they also put a lot of stress on the motor, winding failures, motor coupler failures and others. they have fallen out of use as Dc injection is a better option less expensive and controllable and causes far less stress on the motor.
In fact some VFD's have the option to use DC injection on start up to make sure the motor is not freewheeling before power is applied