M12V HP Rating???

[Bill Arnold]

OK, like many of you I recently purchased an M12V router from Amazon at a good price. I've run a lot of material with it and it seems to be a solid performer. It's classed as a 3 1/4hp machine. The spec sheet gives the rating as: "15 Amp motor (3.25 Horsepower), heavy-duty power for fast, clean cuts".

So, seeing as 1 hp = 746 Watts = 6.78 Amps at 100% efficiency, how does the M12V get a 3.25hp rating when you calculate 15A @ 110 Volts, get 1650W, divide that by 746W and yield 2.21hp at 100% efficiency?

I checked PC and they use the same rating on their 3.25hp routers.

[Jim Becker]

Bill, "forget" anything that refers to horsepower on these universal motor machines...it's pure marketing hype. Go by amperage and/or watts for routers. 15 amps is what you want for heavy duty work at 120v. 12 amps is great for general all-around routing in or out of a table. 8-10 amps is great for edge work and non-demanding tasks where lower weight in the tool is important.

[John Shuk]

Hey let's all get in a class action suit so we can all get a coupon for a router bit or something and the lawyers can make millions like they did suing Delta/Devilbliss.

[Jim Dunn]

I'm not going to second that till I talk to my lawyer :)

[Bill Arnold]

Bill, "forget" anything that refers to horsepower on these universal motor machines...it's pure marketing hype. Go by amperage and/or watts for routers. 15 amps is what you want for heavy duty work at 120v. 12 amps is great for general all-around routing in or out of a table. 8-10 amps is great for edge work and non-demanding tasks where lower weight in the tool is important.
Jim,

Thanks for your response. Now that you mention it, I've heard something like this before. I guess I'm just one of those guys who wants the math to work. In this case, it gets more complex than that.

Regards,

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Jim is right...in fact forget horsepower at all anywhere...even with cars and trucks. What matters is true power...for electrical tools it's amps...for mechanical vehicles it's torque...both can be measured and verified.

Peak HP is the classic of all times.....'as far as it can go before blowing up'...who runs their tools like that?