Electric motor on shaper stalled--Capacitor?

[Bob Vavricka]

I have a 5 hp Delta Shaper that I bought used. I am setting it up to run some sticking for raised panel doors. I set it up to use what I call a front fence, but I have also seen called a back fence where the stock is cut to width as it is shaped. I am using a power feeder and the wood is only 1/16-1/8 inch over the finished width. I ran several short pieces with out any problem, but when doing some longer test pieces 40" or so in length the motor stalled. As best I can tell, the belt wasn't slipping and the pulleys are tight on the shaft of the motor and the spindle. Needless to say I was too busy shutting down the shaper and power feeder to try to open the door and see. My thought is that it could be a capacitor on the motor. What other possibilities should I look for?

[Mike Henderson]

It would not normally be the start capacitor because the start capacitor is taken out of the circuit once the motor gets up to speed. Some motors have a run capacitor and I don't know what symptoms the motor exhibits when they fail.

Mike

[Valk Wilkinson]

:D Points at link ----> http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?108481-Bog-down-5HP-Shaper

[Peter Quinn]

First two things I'd look at are belt tension and are the cutters tight on the shaft? Could be a motor issue but it usually my first line of inquiry with a shaper. Next thing I'd check, is it getting proper power, ie correct circuit size, correct line size on the circuit, etc.

[Lee Schierer]

Did it stall or just quit? If it just quit, then the motor overheated and the thermal protection kick it off. I should reset on its own or there may be a red button on the end of the motor that will have to be pushed in once the motor cools.

[Mike Brewster]

Is the belt glazed? if so it is more likely to slip under load.

[Bob Vavricka]

The cutters are tight on the shaft, otherwise I would have noticed the shaft turning and not the cutters, the belt tension may be the culprit, the belt is a little hard to tension. The shaper is running on a dedicated circuit of proper size installed just for this shaper.

[Bob Vavricka]

The belt is a new belt, but I tightened up the tension and that may have been the problem. The tension is a little difficult to achieve, so I used a scrap piece of lumber to help me hold the tension while locking it down. The lockdown for the tension is at the bottom of the bracket holding the motor which makes it a little difficult to get good tension. Thanks,

[Mike Henderson]

The belt is a new belt, but I tightened up the tension and that may have been the problem. The tension is a little difficult to achieve, so I used a scrap piece of lumber to help me hold the tension while locking it down. The lockdown for the tension is at the bottom of the bracket holding the motor which makes it a little difficult to get good tension. Thanks,
If the motor fully stalled - stopped and wouldn't start up again, it's kind of unlikely that the problem is a loose belt. If it was, the shaper shaft might stop under load, but it would spin when you took the load off.

Lee's idea of thermal protection seems possible if you were running the unit hard before it stopped.

Mike

[Bob Vavricka]

I'm not sure if the motor stopped turning or not--things happened fast and I was concentrating on shutting down the shaper and feeder. I do know the cutters were not turning and the spindle shaft was also stopped. The feeder was still trying to feed the stock so my immediate goal was to turn it off and then the shaper. I don't recall hearing the squeal I would expect if the belt was slipping on the motor pulley, wish I could remember.
I was testing my setup so it hadn't been running much so I don't think it was a thermal protection issue and I was able to start the shaper motor again after clearing the stock. I haven't investigated the motor enough to know if it has a thermal overload switch or not. I'll be running a lot of boards in the next day or two and will see if I have the problem again. Thanks,


If the motor fully stalled - stopped and wouldn't start up again, it's kind of unlikely that the problem is a loose belt. If it was, the shaper shaft might stop under load, but it would spin when you took the load off.

Lee's idea of thermal protection seems possible if you were running the unit hard before it stopped.

Mike

[Dick Strauss]

Did you have the feed rate set too fast for the amount of material removal? Feeding too fast could stall the motor on long pieces while only bogging down the motor on short ones since the load is applied for less time.

[Bob Vavricka]

Dick, Thanks for the information. The feeder has a slow and fast setting and I was using the slow setting--I bought the shaper and feeder used, so I'm not sure what the feet per minute feed rate is on the slow setting. I did have the belt on the higher speed on the shaper, I believe 10,000, but have since moved it back to the slower speed.


Did you have the feed rate set too fast for the amount of material removal? Feeding too fast could stall the motor on long pieces while only bogging down the motor on short ones since the load is applied for less time.