any suggestions

[Harry Goodwin]

Any suggestions I have a turncrafter commander 12" lathe from PSI four years old. Few problems till now. it would not start yesterday. Wiggled the wires.
have the light, have the digital readout at 88 although it fluctuates. No motion whatever. switch works as far as digital readout and lamp. any suggestions. Maybe brushes, Thanks for any help. Are there brushes. Harry G.

[Roger Chandler]

perhaps a start capacitor on the motor needs replacing........just something to check out.

[Mark Greenbaum]

Is there a belt? Maybe it came off? Just thinking it may be very simple fix.

[Tony Rozendaal]

If it has a digital readout it is probably variable speed and therefore does not have a start capacitor, and probably does have brushes.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Harry,

Is your lathe an electronic variable speed? Do you move a belt on a pulley for a speed range and then adjust a pot to get the final speed?

I went to PSI's website and looked at the user's manual. They don't show a schematic for the electronics. I agree with Tony. I would unplug the lathe and check the motor brushes.

[Brian Henderson]

Are you getting any sound at all when you turn it on? Or is it making noise and not turning?

[Tom Brouillette]

I had the same lathe. On several occasions it acted just like you describe. I "push started" it and it ran fine. Have you tried giving it a manual spin while you have it turned on? make sure you have the speed turned down to a safe level.

[Michael Greco]

I don't own this lathe but there may be a fuse for the motor itself on the board. Unplug the lathe and take the cover off to the variable speed. There should be a fuse on it that you can get at any Radio Shack. The variable speed is DC the AC gets converted to DC for the variable speed. if the fuse popped the motor won't spin. It's usually a 10 amp fuse.