Powermatic 66 won't start

[James Hart]

Hi,

My Powermatic 66 suddenly won't start. Found a post somewhere online that said it has a "two speed internal start switch". Then it said to pull off the end of the motor and take some 400 grit sandpaper to the contacts to clean them.

It has a 3HP Leeson Motor, model P145K34FC1C. I took of the end cap of the motor that protects the fan. Removed 4 very long screws, then tried every which way to pull the end of the motor off and got nowhere. As you may have already figured out, I have no idea what I'm doing.

Had my neighbor who fixes motors all the time come over and take a look. He gave it a shot, then suggested I go on line and look for a part diagram.

Am I going down the right path? If yes, any tricks to getting the end off? If not, what should I try first? I blew out the magnetic start and it didn't help.

Thanks much for any suggestions,

Jim

[Chris Rosenberger]

More information would be helpful.

There are several things to check before opening up the motor.

Does the motor run at all?

What type motor starter does it have?

Have you checked that you have power to the starter?

If it is a magnetic starter & has power to it, does it make a noise when you push the start button?

When the switch is on, do you have power at the motor?

If you have power to the motor when the switch is on, then it could be a bad capacitor.

[Chris Fournier]

Definitely look into the electrical circuit from the line in all the way to the motor before you start tearing things apart.

An easy first step is to thoroughly blow out the mag start with compressed air and the same for the fan end of the motor.

[James Hart]

Thanks Guys.

It has a magnetic starter. It makes no sound whatsoever when I push the button. I will ask my motor friend to check current to the starter.

[Carroll Courtney]

It could be something as simple as the push button,or maybe an inline fuse.Your starter is not pulling in so I would start there providing that you still have 220 at the starter and haven't lost a leg.I am also assuming that you did try the reset button on the starter that's for the OL's---Carroll

[Steve Griffin]

Right now I have 3 magnetic switches in my shop which don't work. It's not uncommon.

After doing the easy trouble shooting, the next thing I'd do is look at this switch. Test it by bypassing the switch and wire nutting directly to circuit and flip the breaker.

My switches still work on the "off" side, so what I have done is put in standard 220 switches and kept the starter in line. The reason being if the power goes out, the machine still gets turned off automatically which is a good thing and the really the whole point of having this type of switch.

I should just purchase new mag. switches, but they are $70 each and everything is working fine now. (The switches never have failed when I have the luxury of waiting for a new switch to arrive.)

And yes, I have torn into these and cleaned every part I can and they still don't work.

-Steve

[Don Jarvie]

Just to echo above. Make sure the breaker is ok. Flick it off then on just to make sure, works, then open the starter cover and find the 2 hot lines coming in from the plug and get your electrical tester and check to make sure the power is coming in at 220. If ok then check the 2 lines coming out of the starter and going to the motor. If ok then open the cover where the line goes into the motor and check to see if the power is coming into the motor.

This sounds simple but you can eliminate potential problems before you really dig at the motor. Good luck.

[Chip Lindley]

See if the starter resets by firmly pushing in on the "stop" button until it clicks. Otherwise, IF you have line power coming into the starter, AND your motor runs if the starter is bypassed, the culprit is probably a burned out magnetic coil. That can be checked with an ohm meter. A zero reading tells you there is an open (burned out) circuit.

If your PM66 starter is one of the plastic Chinese types, doubtful there are any repair parts available. You will have to spring for a new starter. IF an older Furnas or Gould/ITE, a replacement coil can be found on eBay.

[James Hart]

Finally got my 'electrical friend' back in the desert to test my starter. He pushed the lower part of the piece that's moved when the start button is pushed and it started right up. Immediately stopped when he let it go.

It's a Gould A 202C. Tried googling it with no luck. Any help with where I can get one, or the equivalent, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Josh Bowman]

Try here:
http://www.grizzly.com/search/search.aspx?q=magnetic%20switch

(http://www.grizzly.com/search/search.aspx?q=magnetic%20switch)

[Kirk Poore]

Finally got my 'electrical friend' back in the desert to test my starter. He pushed the lower part of the piece that's moved when the start button is pushed and it started right up. Immediately stopped when he let it go.

It's a Gould A 202C. Tried googling it with no luck. Any help with where I can get one, or the equivalent, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

James:

Sorry I didn't see this when you posted a couple of weeks ago. The part your friend moved is the coil. It sounds like the coil is either bad (unlikely) or you have a loose wire/broken connection someplace. Check any wires that connect to the coil as well as both ends of the wires to your pushbutton station.

Kirk