Need help troubleshooting...

[Mark Pruitt]

...a problem that surfaced tonight: Lathe is a 3/4 hp, Reeves drive unit. I was happily turning a bowl and needed to stop to resharpen the gouge. Returned to the lathe, turn on, no movement. Only a humming sound; the motor itself was not spinning (clearly visible through the vent holes). With the machine still on, I manually rotated the bowl, resulting in it turning by itself a few times, slowly, then stopping. Tried again, same result. Pulled the metal cover; belt from motor to pulley is intact; does not appear to resist my effort to manually rotate it.:confused: :confused: :confused:

I removed the bowl and faceplate from the lathe and tried running it with no load. Same problems.

I have no idea what's going on. I need some advice before I dig deeper. Gee whiz...I barely know how to use a lathe, much less repair one.:eek:

Suggestions anyone?

Mark

[John Miliunas]

Eeeeeek! Bummer! First thing I would try is, if you have a compressor, blow out the motor as best as you can. Seems to me like something past the switch is not making full contact. Good luck and keep us posted! :) :cool:

[Bernie Weishapl]

If your motor has a start capacitor that could be the problem. I just had to replace one on mine. When I turned it on all it would do was hum. Also check the centrifigal switch in the motor. It may be full of dust and need blown out.

[Mark Pruitt]

Well, I've blown out the motor with comprssed air...as much as possible; the motor is actually very well sealed. That has not solved the problem. What I am noticing is that if I let it sit for a while before turning it on, then when I do turn it on and give it a manual spin it will try for a longer period to spin on its own. Then it quits, I turn off the switch, turn it back on and spin it again, and it barely makes a couple of rotations. Does this sound like a capacitor problem?

....And an all-important question: What do I need to know to safely remove the capacitor after I remove the metal housing? I know there is a risk of it shocking the crap out of me; how do I need to handle it?

Electrically illiterate,

Mark:rolleyes: :o

[Andy Hoyt]

Umm - unplug it, maybe. I'm no sparky type, but this kinda makes sense.:eek:

[Gary DeWitt]

If this lathe is under warantee, I'd deal with the people who sold it to me. If not, maybe take it to a motor repair shop?
Capacitors can hold a charge, not sure if motor capacitors do after you switch them off. Be careful.

[Scott Donley]

Hit it a couple times with a big mallet ? Hey, it's late ;) Really though, I think Bernie might have it. I do know that a Capacitor off a car can hold a charge even when not connected to anything :eek: Good luck

[Jason Boushard]

capacitors do hold a charge and motor capacitors can blow a hole in your flesh! discharge it by placing a screwdriver over the posts while you make sure you are not touching any of the metal of the screwdriver or one of the posts. I would say it is the start cap they boost the voltage for a second to get the motor going this is also why they are dangerous. You could always take the entire motor to a place that repairs them and just let them fix it.

[Mark Pruitt]

Thanks guys,
I was pretty sure that the capacitor would hold a charge and therefore be dangerous. I'll see if I can find someone here in town that'll look at it and see if they can provide a replacement.....might be a challenge in this small locale. The lathe is four years old so no warranty.:(

You know, with that Rikon being on sale right now and with a wedding anniversary approaching.....given the present circumstances it might be a good opportunity to by a spinny thing for the LOML....;) :rolleyes:

"Sweetie, can I borrow your lathe...." That's awful.

[John Miliunas]

Thanks guys,
I was pretty sure that the capacitor would hold a charge and therefore be dangerous. I'll see if I can find someone here in town that'll look at it and see if they can provide a replacement.....might be a challenge in this small locale. The lathe is four years old so no warranty.:(

You know, with that Rikon being on sale right now and with a wedding anniversary approaching.....given the present circumstances it might be a good opportunity to by a spinny thing for the LOML....;) :rolleyes:

"Sweetie, can I borrow your lathe...." That's awful.

Mark, if it's the capacitor, that's an easy job. (DAMHIKT:) ) Take the cover off the cap. Visually check to see if there's any leakage, though a cap can still go bad without leaking. (Not typical, though.) Anyhow, like Jason said, put some metal tool across the two posts, making certain you're hanging on to the insulated handle of said tool. Safety glasses are a good idea, too! Once you're sure it's discharged, most caps are hooked up via spade-type terminals. Easy on, easy off. :) :cool:

[Frank Fusco]

This happens periodically with my Grizzly. When the motor simply refused to start anymore, with help from SMC, I had the capacitor tested. It was OK. Then I removed the fan cover and blew out the dust. The centrifugal switch in there was (apparently) dirty. Still works OK now several months later.

[David Foshee]

It sound like a classic centrifial switch failure. I would try to clean the Centrifical Swith.it is located most often on end of the moter that is not connected to the pully. good luck

[Randy Privett]

Mark,

I bet Susan would love that. I agree with the others, probably the capacitor, if I remember you have the 34706 mean green. I had one for a while and the capacitor went on it, acted the same way, cost me $6.00 to fix it.

Randy