Bandsaw Motor Is Toast

[Russell Neyman]

Fried my Grizzly G0555 bandsaw's 1-horse motor. The factory wants $220 plus shipping. Any ideas how to find a replacement?

[Adam Herman]

https://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/tls/d/hp-leeson-electric-motor-rpm/6231137243.html


ETC....

[Sid Matheny]

My Grizzly G0555 motor went out a couple of years ago and I just had it rebuilt for about $75 or $80. Ran much better than when it was new!

[Reed Gray]

Probably can buy new as well. There are a number of electrical companies that could help, including Grainger. Tool repair places may be able to swap out a motor for you as well.

robo hippy

[Marvin Hasenak]

Harbor Freight sells electric motors, probably from the factory as the Grizzly tools motors.

[Tom Giacomo]

I bought a motor from HF and when it arrived it had the name plate of a major electrical motor manufacturer on it.

[Michael Schneider]

Take a look at the motor and find the frame size. If you buy a motor with the same frame size and hp. It will be a drop in replacement. In general, the heavier the motor, the better the windings, the longer it will last. If go on ebay, and buy new old stock. They are often spares from a shelf in a factory. I have bought several motors that way.

high effeciency motors are nice, draw fewer amps, and have heavy windings that last for a long time

good luck,
Michael

[Eugene Dixon]

Take a look at the motor and find the frame size. If you buy a motor with the same frame size and hp. It will be a drop in replacement. In general, the heavier the motor, the better the windings, the longer it will last. If go on ebay, and buy new old stock. They are often spares from a shelf in a factory. I have bought several motors that way.

high effeciency motors are nice, draw fewer amps, and have heavy windings that last for a long time

good luck,
Michael

My experience is a little different. NEMA ratings for frames do not specify the length of the motor, for instance. The frame size dictates the mounting bolt pattern, and for the most part the shaft diameter. Some dimensions can/will vary based on the quality of the motor. If you are working in a confined enclosure check the overall dimensions.

[Michael Greco]

You can also check Tractor Supply, they sell electric motors.

[William Bachtel]

Google Electric motor repairs in your area, it may be something simple. Then take the motor to them, so it will fit.

[Ralph Lindberg]

Red's in Bremerton for repairs, not cheap but good.

[Olaf Vogel]

Take a look at the motor and find the frame size.

It doesnt have to be the exact same frame. whats important is that distance from the base to the centre of the spindle.
Almost any other difference doesn't matter. I dont have a Grizzley, but it looks belt driven. so you can change the pulley if needed.

So that allows a huge selective of motors. If you burned it out, go for more more HP.
And there's likely a big selection of second hand. That motor looks pretty generic.

[Russell Neyman]

The guy at Red's is the guy who said it was toast, Ralph, He also said he couldn't find a replacement. It has integral mounting brackets, making it a tough item to duplicate.

As far as having it rebuilt-- $90? I asked two shops about that budget price and they said it would be $400-500. If it was only the capacitor, maybe $75.

Guess I'm going to buy an original from Grizzly.

[Curt Harms]

It depends on how much of a tinkerer you are but I'd look at replacing that Grizzly 1 h.p. motor with something bigger. I had an old Grizzly band saw with 3/4 h.p. motor that was gutless. I replaced it with a 1.5 h.p. motor from Tractor Supply. Talk about a difference! Of course the Tractor Supply motor probably weighed 3 times as much as the Grizzly.

[Larry Copas]

That's a "C" face motor mount on your saw. If your electrician said he couldn't find a replacement it must be a non-standard hole spacing. It would take me about an hour to pull the end bell off a standard C face motor and re-drill/tap for the saw. Of course you could also drill four new holes in the mount.

My experience with motors is the capacitor or bearings fail first followed by the centrifugal switch. Capacitors and bearings are an easy fix at not much expense. Sometimes switches can be difficult, mostly to source. Windings almost never fail and if they do it's because of an extreme overload with no motor protection. Chinese motors all bets are off.

If you spent the money on a new Grizzly motor what would the saw be worth? I might shop for a new Euro saw or an old made in the USA saw before sending more money to Grizzly.

[Olaf Vogel]

The guy at Red's is the guy who said it was toast, Ralph, He also said he couldn't find a replacement. It has integral mounting brackets, making it a tough item to duplicate.

As far as having it rebuilt-- $90? I asked two shops about that budget price and they said it would be $400-500. If it was only the capacitor, maybe $75.

Guess I'm going to buy an original from Grizzly.

Pull the little budgy metal off the side and pull out the capacitor. there will be a number on the side, indicating the specs. Order a new one - these should be less then $20. There's two wires, so easy to swap.
If the windings are toast, then you need to rewind. For small motors like this, its usually not because labor exceeds the value of the motor. However, $4-500 is way out of line.
Keep in mind that most electricians are not that adept at motors. You need a motor shop. They should be able to ID the frame size, which will let you order a new one.

[Paul Engle]

Proprietary stuff is hard to find to replace with otc... I have same problem with all Grizzly tools .. good luck indeed!

[Peter Christensen]

I had a carbide grinder given to me 6 or 8 years ago. It was a 2 speed motor that had one set of windings fried. I took it to an electrical motor repair company and the old guy there took one look at it on the bench and said rewinding would be over $400 at a minimum. He said that rewinding stocks motors under 50 hp wasn't economical anymore due to labour and wire costs. He said that unless a motor was very specific or special, rewinding wasn't worth it. Someday I was going to remove the windings, turn off the armature and put on a pulley, cut the side of the case open and drive it with another motor. I gave up on the idea when we had to move here and scrapped it along with a lot of other someday stuff. If a motor repair shop tells you it ain't worth it then you have to check into alternatives.

[Russell Neyman]

Motor arrived from Grizzly today; $260 including freight. Considering the problems I probably would have encountered fitting the pulley onto a generic, I'd say it was a fair price.

Save me a half hour's worth of thinkering: my bandsaw has two pulley speeds. Which one will work best for cutting blanks?

Logic tells me faster is better for wood.

[Roger Chandler]

Motor arrived from Grizzly today; $260 including freight. Considering the problems I probably would have encountered fitting the pulley onto a generic, I'd say it was a fair price.

Save me a half hour's worth of thinkering: my bandsaw has two pulley speeds. Which one will work best for cutting blanks?

Logic tells me faster is better for wood.

I use the higher speed pulley on my G0555LX, and for thicker blanks the extra speed and a slower feed rate makes for an almost ideal situation for cutting blanks on this saw. Good luck with your new motor.

[david privett]

just remember getting it to hot from to much load repeatedly will take out any electric motor, which could happen from just forcing a dull blade.

[Russell Neyman]

What happened this time was I was cutting wet wood, friction caused the wood to swell, pinching the blade, and -- for whatever reason -- the wire fried and circuit didn't trip.

[Reed Gray]

Russell, that type of binding sounds more like a dull blade, and/or a blade with no set to the teeth. You can get that type of binding with kiln/kill dried wood, but usually that type of dried wood will spring to a concave shape length and/or width wise.

robo hippy

[Russell Neyman]

Russell, that type of binding sounds more like a dull blade, and/or a blade with no set to the teeth.
--robo hippy

Probably a valid analysis. It was an old blade. As woodturners, with all the tight radii we cut in thick wood, we tend to abuse the kerf.

[Curt Harms]

Probably a valid analysis. It was an old blade. As woodturners, with all the tight radii we cut in thick wood, we tend to abuse the kerf.

Are you using a band intended for turning blanks? Here is one example:

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/woodturners-bandsawblade.aspx

[Russell Neyman]

Are you using a band intended for turning blanks?

Yep. Of course. Skip tooth all the way.