Is this motor okay for a woodshop?

[Mark Gibney]

Is this motor okay for a woodshop? - I would use it on a bandsaw.

The cooling fan draws air through the motor windings, will this jam up the works with dust?
Or can I blow it out with my compressor at the end of the day?

Alternatively can I modify the motor? Maybe by placing filter material over the rear opening?
Or by sealing the motor and using a fan to cool it externally?

The motor is 3 hp 3 phase.

thanks, Mark
395873395874

[Robert Engel]

You'll be ok IMO.

Most band saw motors are external and aren't going to be that affected as compared to say a table saw.

The say you should blow them out periodically.

[Bill Dufour]

A three phase motor will not be much affected by dust. There is no starter switch to worry about.
Bill D.

[Wayne Lomman]

It will work for a while but it is not suited to the environment. Open frame motors like this are intended for dust free environments. Use it but keep an eye out for a sealed motor. Cheers

[Bruce Wrenn]

Open frame motors are what have come on Delta band saws since 1937. So for 80+ years they have worked. The enclosed stand 14" model has an open frame motor, at least mine does. Motor is original

[Darcy Warner]

It will work for a while but it is not suited to the environment. Open frame motors like this are intended for dust free environments. Use it but keep an eye out for a sealed motor. Cheers

I still have open motors from 115 years ago that run better than any TFEC style newer motor.
I have seen motors packed to the gills with sawdust just purring right along.

[David Kumm]

I still have open motors from 115 years ago that run better than any TFEC style newer motor.
I have seen motors packed to the gills with sawdust just purring right along.

They are usually packed full of grease on the inside too. Dave

[Mark Gibney]

Thank you all for your replies. I'll put the motor to use, see what happens.

Is it recommended to blast the inside with compressed air to clean it? - a buddy says this is not a good idea, that it pushes dust into places there shouldn't be dust.

[Mike Henderson]

I used a single phase open frame motor on a table saw for years and never had any problems. And (in my opinion) blowing it out with compressed air is fine.

Mike

[Van Huskey]

I still have open motors from 115 years ago that run better than any TFEC style newer motor.
I have seen motors packed to the gills with sawdust just purring right along.

I have a Reuland (closer to 50yo then 100) that was running fine when I got it but I must have cleaned a full pound of dust out of it, it would have been hard to get any more in it if you actually tried.

To the OP I would just mount it and forget it, if it is in a hobby shop your great great great grandkids may have some issues, if it is in a commercial shop your grandkids might.

[John K Jordan]

I put a couple of layers of HVAC return filter on one motor which gets most of the dust and doesn't obstruct the airflow.

[Bill Dufour]

I would not use compressed air I would use a shop vac. If they used Shielded bearings they will end up drying out. When that happens replace with rs bearings.
Bill D.

[Frank Pratt]

If the motor is used at close to full load, it will most definitely be affected by heavy dust accumulation. There's no start switch to go bad, but the windings will overheat. As long as your careful to blow the dust out you'll be OK though.

[Mark Gibney]

Once again, thank you all. I like John's idea of putting some HVAC filter over the intake end of the motor. I'll put that on my mythical punch list.

[Van Huskey]

If the motor is used at close to full load, it will most definitely be affected by heavy dust accumulation. There's no start switch to go bad, but the windings will overheat. As long as your careful to blow the dust out you'll be OK though.

If the OP wants to be (overly) cautious that is obviously fine. However, it is very hard to load a bandsaw heavily for any period of time, power fed resawing with one person pitching and one catching does it but that is very rare. The next thing to notice is that this is a high quality motor which happens to be an inverter duty motor which means it has very high temp insulation on the windings, probably 200 degrees C. Finally one would assume the OP has at least decent dust collection in his shop that coupled with the fact bandsaws tend to have low dust loads around the motor itself significantly reduces the dust migration into the motor compared to some other WWing machines.

I am pretty sure the OP will be fine no matter which approach he takes.

[Darcy Warner]

You guys worry about stuff that will never happen or make no difference. I will have to see if I can find pictures of the piles of sawdust I have pulled out of motors, which had open greased bearings that still sounded great.

[Wayne Lomman]

You guys worry about stuff that will never happen or make no difference. I will have to see if I can find pictures of the piles of sawdust I have pulled out of motors, which had open greased bearings that still sounded great.
But then there are those of us who have had the shop one is working in burn down around our ears from a fire started in a motor exactly like this. Keep it clean and it will probably be fine. Don't want to ever worry? Get a sealed motor with cooling fins and fan. I still have motors like this on the old vertical borers at work. They weigh 1600kg and beat the crap out of modern motors for torque and quiet running but they are nowhere near dust and are guarded to keep swarf out of them. Cheers