Can Anybody Help w/ Rewiring Jointer Motor?

[Tom LaRussa]

My fixer-upper Davis & Wells jointer is wired for 220, (or 230, or whatever), but says it can be wired at 110. Since I don't have 220 in my shop I need to do this in order to get the thing fired up. (It's only 1/2 HP, so there should be no problem with excessive amps at 110.)

Unfortunately, the manual on this puppy has been out of print since before I was born, so I need some help.

Can anybody point me to a general reference on the subject?

Alternatively, if I crack the case open and take pics of the stuff inside, can somebody walk me through this?

TIA,

Tom

[Steve Stube]

Pictures would sure help. Motor tag, any lead identification (numbers attached to leads or color coded wire insulation), shot of the junction box and terminals (you did check inside the junction box cover for any wiring diagram that may be printed there?), the presence of a start capacitor or not.

I make no promise but without this information it really is a shot in the dark.

[Tom LaRussa]

Pictures would sure help. Motor tag, any lead identification (numbers attached to leads or color coded wire insulation), shot of the junction box and terminals (you did check inside the junction box cover for any wiring diagram that may be printed there?), the presence of a start capacitor or not.

I make no promise but without this information it really is a shot in the dark.
Steve,

I've got a digital camera on order from Amazon, (finally), and it should arrive within the next few days. As soon as it does I'll post pics and all the info I can.

:)

Thanks,

Tom

[Ted Shrader]

Tom -

Have you pulled the cover plate on the motor yet? There may be a wiring diagram on the instide of the plate.

Regards,
Ted

[Tom LaRussa]

Tom -

Have you pulled the cover plate on the motor yet? There may be a wiring diagram on the instide of the plate.

Regards,
Ted
Ted,

I found a wiring diagram. It was right there on the outside of the motor -- underneath several decades of crud.

Anyhoo, it seems to show that the machine is already wired for 110 v. I may have been fooled by the fact that it has one of those round, locking plug thingies on the end of the cord.

The wires are so old it's hard to tell what color the insulation was when it was installed. There is one that looks like light orange -- I'm calling that red. There are two that look yellow, but one of them has a slight greenish tint, so I'm calling that one green.

Here's a my rendering of the wiring diagram I found, (left side of picture), as well as my really untutored attempt to show how it is actually hooked up. Like I say, I'm not sure about the colors, but I think that they pretty much have to align with the 110 v setup, because I'm pretty certain about the black and yellow, which does not leave any possibility that it could be wired 220.

I think.

:o

[Chris Padilla]

Tom,

It sounds like you are referring to a twist-lock style of plug? If so, twist-locks are available for 120 V stuff. If you can read any info off the plug, (like the NEMA style name), I can tell you what the plug is meant for.

[Ted Shrader]

Tom -

It is tough to tell based on your drawings and the colors you referenced. Can't really say for sure based on your drawing of the way it is wired now.

I had an old Atlas contractor saw with a 1½ HP dual voltage motor on it. When I did the conversion, I had to follow the wires as far as I could to see a "real" color. And I use the word, "real", very loosely. Finally resorted to a bright light and magnifying glass to make my decision.

The end result is whether the windings are in series or parallel. For 120V they are in parallel; for 220V, series. Both result in a 120V drop across each set of windings.

Maybe a little closer inspection?.?.?

Regards,
Ted

[Tom LaRussa]

It sounds like you are referring to a twist-lock style of plug? If so, twist-locks are available for 120 V stuff. If you can read any info off the plug, (like the NEMA style name), I can tell you what the plug is meant for.
That's it, twist-lock. I can never remember that term. :o

It does have some writing on it. Unfortunately I don't think it will help all that much.

On one side of the base it says "15A. 125V."

On the other side of the base it says "10A. 250V."

:(

[Tom LaRussa]

I had an old Atlas contractor saw with a 1½ HP dual voltage motor on it. When I did the conversion, I had to follow the wires as far as I could to see a "real" color. And I use the word, "real", very loosely. Finally resorted to a bright light and magnifying glass to make my decision.
Tried that, but the wires just seem to get dirtier the farther in I look.



Maybe a little closer inspection?.?.?
Uh-oh. I was afraid of that.

I'm not sure how to take it apart without destroying it. The casing, (which seems to be made of cast iron), is held together with four long bolts that run the length of the motor. If I take those out am I going to have pieces dropping out all over the place?

[Chris Padilla]

Tom,

Let's wait for you to post the pics before you start taking stuff apart and nuts, washers and stuff begin falling into irretrievable areas!! :) Get me a pic of the plug and I can at least tell you pretty quickly (I have a big chart here at work of ALL the plug/receptacle styles in the US and Canada) what the plug is meant for...but this doesn't mean the plug was used correctly unfortunately. I'll need a straight-on (2D) shot and a shot at an angle.

[Ted Shrader]

. . . Let's wait for you to post the pics before you start taking stuff apart . . .

Tom -

Concur with Chris on this one. With a picture or two, maybe amongst all the talent here we can jointly assemble a "clue". Then you can make a firm decision on 120V or not.

Regards,
Ted

[Tom LaRussa]

Tom,

Let's wait for you to post the pics before you start taking stuff apart and nuts, washers and stuff begin falling into irretrievable areas!! :) Get me a pic of the plug and I can at least tell you pretty quickly (I have a big chart here at work of ALL the plug/receptacle styles in the US and Canada) what the plug is meant for...but this doesn't mean the plug was used correctly unfortunately. I'll need a straight-on (2D) shot and a shot at an angle.
Chris,

Waiting sounds like a good idea to me too.

I finally broke down and bought a cheap digital from Amazon, and UPS says it should be here tomorrow. Assuming it doesn't take me too long to figure out how to use it I should be able to post some pics pretty quick.

:)

[Ralph Barhorst]

Your jointer is connected for 115VAC.

The diagram on the jointer indicates that the top diagram is for 115VAC and the bottom diagram is for 230 VAC. Your hand written diagram is basically the same as the jointers top diagram.

The jointer motor has two 115Volt windings. These windings are between B and R as well as between G and Y.

For 115 Volt operation the two windings are connected in parallel as shown in the top diagram. This applies the 115 Volts to both windings and the total current is split between the two windings.

For 230 Volt operation the two windings are connected in series as shown in the bottom diagram. The current enters the B-R winding and then the Y-G winding.

You will find that the current rating of the motor on 230 Volts is half that of the rating on 115 Volts.

[Bill Turpin]

Try it on 115v, if it runs at speed and sounds OK then it is wired for 115v. If it is wired for 230v, it probably won't come up to speed or sound right. If it is wired 230v, you will not hurt it if you run it for a FEW seconds with NO load. This test is not safe the other way around. 230v input will smoke a 115v motor.If there is an amp draw on name plate, measure amps after starting with a clamp-on meter. A 230 volt motor will not pull proper amps on 115v.

Bill in WNC mountains

[Tom LaRussa]

Your jointer is connected for 115VAC.

The diagram on the jointer indicates that the top diagram is for 115VAC and the bottom diagram is for 230 VAC. Your hand written diagram is basically the same as the jointers top diagram.

Hi Ralph,

That's my "read" as well, but I'm a bit uncertain because I'm pretty much guessing at the wire colors.

[Tom LaRussa]

Tom,

Let's wait for you to post the pics before you start taking stuff apart and nuts, washers and stuff begin falling into irretrievable areas!! :) Get me a pic of the plug and I can at least tell you pretty quickly (I have a big chart here at work of ALL the plug/receptacle styles in the US and Canada) what the plug is meant for...but this doesn't mean the plug was used correctly unfortunately. I'll need a straight-on (2D) shot and a shot at an angle.
Okay, here are the plug pics.

How's it look?

[Tom LaRussa]

Tom -

Concur with Chris on this one. With a picture or two, maybe amongst all the talent here we can jointly assemble a "clue". Then you can make a firm decision on 120V or not.

Regards,
Ted
Okay, here are some motor pics:

[Tom LaRussa]

Okay, here are some motor pics:
And a few more motor pics.

[Tom LaRussa]

Try it on 115v, if it runs at speed and sounds OK then it is wired for 115v. If it is wired for 230v, it probably won't come up to speed or sound right. If it is wired 230v, you will not hurt it if you run it for a FEW seconds with NO load. This test is not safe the other way around. 230v input will smoke a 115v motor.If there is an amp draw on name plate, measure amps after starting with a clamp-on meter. A 230 volt motor will not pull proper amps on 115v.

Bill in WNC mountains
Bill,

I'll give it a try, but if I electrocute myself I'm going to haunt you. :p

[Chris Padilla]

Okay, here are the plug pics.

How's it look?
Tom,

This plug can be used for either 120 or 240 V--it will universally fit into a 120 V twist-lock receptacle and a 240 V twist-lock receptacle, I think. The thing that makes it universal is the fact that the ground wire blade is not bent into a rough L-shape (or backwards L if you like)...it is straight as far as I can tell from your pictures. Is this correct?

[Chris Padilla]

Bill,

I'll give it a try, but if I electrocute myself I'm going to haunt you. :p
Be sure to tie/bolt down the motor before cranking it up and put the current clamp around only 1 of the wires except the green wire. Do a continuity check for each wire to the motor frame to find the true green wire...it should read 0 ohms while the other to should read infinite impedance or a very large impedance.