Grizzly 514 Bandsaw Problem

[James Jayko]

Hi All-

I've got a 514 bandsaw that I'm having issues with. It had been working fine; went to start it up today and it seemed like it was tripping the breaker (would quickly fire up and die). But the breaker wasn't tripping. I was using an AFCI circuit; replaced that with a standard circuit to no avail. At this point, it powers up but does not spin the blade. Wheels turn freely, drive belt is where it should be. There is definitely an electrical smell when you fire it up. I just unplugged it and stopped screwing with it.

Other tools (tablesaw, jointer) work fine plugged into the same circuit. I pulled off the two covers of the electircal wiring on the saw; nothing looks burned up or anything, but other than that I don't really know what I'm looking at.

I guess my question is A. how do I troubleshoot the motor on this saw, B. am I missing something obvious that could be the issue?

Thanks for any help!

[Matthew Curtis]

Start capacitor?? I had a grizzly planner do a similar thing. It ended up being the capacitor.

[James Jayko]

Friend suggested the same thing. Any idea how I troubleshoot that? Or do I call a pro?

[Curt Harms]

Couple thoughts.

1) Capacitors are cheap. Replace it and see if it helps. The electrical smell would point to this being the problem in my non-expert opinion.
2) This one comes with some risk so think it through. Take the blade off, put your finger on the rim of the driven wheel, push the power button and immediately spin the wheel in the correct direction. If it starts and runs it's likely the start cap or maybe the centrifugal switch.

When I bought my Rikon band saw I had a problem with it not starting and tripping the Circuit breaker after a few seconds. "Hand propping" the wheel got it to start and run as expected. There was no smell with my problem. I never did find out the problem, Rikon sent me a new motor and I disposed of the old one. In hindsight I should have taken it apart just for the educational value.

[Mikail Khan]

There are cheap capacitance testers available from amazon. Bad capacitors may also show signs of leakage or bulging. A clip on ampmeter is also useful for testing and troubleahooting.

MK

[Mikail Khan]

https://www.amazon.com/Honeytek-A6013L-Capacitor-Tester/dp/B0036FQ3FW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1541975474&sr=8-4&keywords=capacitor+tester

[Bill Dufour]

[QUOTE=Curt Harms;2864537]Couple thoughts.

1) Capacitors are cheap. Replace it and see if it helps. The electrical smell would point to this being the problem in my non-expert opinion.
2) This one comes with some risk so think it through. Take the blade off, put your finger on the rim of the driven wheel, push the power button and immediately spin the wheel in the correct direction. If it starts and runs it's likely the start cap or maybe the centrifugal switch.


Remove belt, spin it up as fast as you can, then push the start button with your hands off the moving parts.
S

[Tom Trees]

If its a capacitor problem, you can buy another one for about a fiver, you might need it in the future anyways as they do go, even if its not the issue.
Looking for a replacment from Grizzly will probably be a lot more expensive.
The capicator will have a uF symbol on it with a number... this uF symbol means micro farad.
Look what uF rating it says, thats what you need to get...
Just make sure to measure the old cap dimentions, or see if there's more space in the motor terminal housing for a larger sized one, as equally rated caps do vary in size.


Tom

[Rod Sheridan]

A possible issue is that the arc in the start switch may be tripping the arc detection breaker.

I've seen this with various single phase machines.

However since you're experiencing this on other branch circuits I would check the start switch, the start capacitor and measure the insulation resistance to ground.......Rod

[James Jayko]

So...went through all the troubleshooting with Grizzly. Motor, somehow, is fried.

Next question is...has anyone replaced a motor on one of these things? Grizzly is backordered until March on a new motor, plus the one in it to begin with was junk anyway, so I'm thinking this could be a good time to upgrade. But I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for. Its 3hp, single phase, 220v. Other than that, anyone know what specs I need to buy a replacement? Suggestions for 'the upgrade motor'? Any/all info would be greatly appreciated.

[Richard Coers]

I would take the motor to a motor shop first. My opinion is it's hard to diagnose electrical issues on the telephone. I'd also take the saw blade off, get the wheel spinning as fast as you can, then hit the switch. Hard to believe a motor is bad just because it won't start. The odds of that are slim!

[James Jayko]

I did that...took the motor to a local motor shop. He looked at the switch and the caps etc, couldn't find anything wrong. Said he then took it apart and there were "piece of copper all over the place," sounded like the thing grenaded itself (I don't know anything about electrical motors, so apologies if the description is terrible). Said it would probably cost $1000 to redo all the windings and other internals etc.

He also said that the motor has a weird shaft on it (~3/4", where most motors its 1 1/4" or something). So he wasn't even sure a generic aftermarket motor would work without a lot of modification? Does that sound right?


I would take the motor to a motor shop first. My opinion is it's hard to diagnose electrical issues on the telephone. I'd also take the saw blade off, get the wheel spinning as fast as you can, then hit the switch. Hard to believe a motor is bad just because it won't start. The odds of that are slim!

[Jimmy Smith]

Hello, Motors are identified by Frame, Voltage, Rpm, and Shaft size and Revolution, there are thousands of replacements available, look at tag on your motor, check places such as Surplus Center, Graingers and many others. Good Luck Jim

[John K Jordan]

...Take the blade off, put your finger on the rim of the driven wheel, push the power button and immediately spin the wheel in the correct direction. If it starts and runs it's likely the start cap or maybe the centrifugal switch.


It looks like the motor has bee diagnosed now, but for future reference another way is with a stick - I leave the blade on, move the upper guides to expose some of the blade, turn on the switch, then push the blade down with a stick against the teeth. Use a long enough piece of wood to keep the hands back. If the problem is the capacitor the saw will start and run.

I started and used my 18" Rikon this way for a week until I received the replacement capacitor.

JKJ