Delta 36-650 motor dead, or is it?

[Matt Wachter]

When my saw was new, I would turn on my saw, it would start up, you would hear, for the lack of a better term, a click. Lights would dim slightly until I heard this, and after, they would return to normal brightness.

Lately, the lights would stay dim longer and the saw would vibrate until that "click" happened.

Right now, the motor is acting like it is in a stall and won't even turn over, but it's drawing power. The motor is going in to get checked out this weekend, but I would like to hear some opinions on what is wrong.

History of the saw. Hmmm, not much at all. It's coming up on it's 3 year birthday next spring. Weekend warrior, and even that isn't every weekend. I would estimate less than 100 hours on the saw.

[Andrew Ault]

Have you tried, before you turn on the saw, to manually turn the blade or pulley in case the belt has taken a set?

[Tim Burke]

Are you certain that you have about 120v at the motor? Verify the proper voltage under load.

If the voltage is fine, I would UNPLUG THE SAW, and open the end of the motor to look at the centrifugal switch. Make sure that it hasn't gotten dusty or misadjusted. The switch kicks in a starting winding, then when the motor gets up to a certain speed (when you hear the click), it snaps open.

It's possible, given your description, that it wasn't adjusted the best even when new. My new Craftsman 22114 became misadjusted after a set screw on the centrifugal switch came loose. A simple readjustment and tightening, been running fine since.

Link to more indepth explanation: http://www.tpub.com/ceb/107.htm

Tim

[Pete Bradley]

I'm with Andrew on this one. Most likely the machine is mechanically stuck. If this is a band saw, it's probably because the band is gummed up.

The click is the centrifugal switch as the motor comes up to speed.

Pete

[Greg Koch]

Take the belt off and see if it works. Try to spin manually, then under power. The click might be a shut off circuit to protect the motor from heat/overload.

[Matt Wachter]

The belt is off of the saw and it spins about the same. With the saw off and unplugged, it will turn just fine.

As for the voltage, I didn't do any messing around with that. It came with a 110v plug and that's what I've used. The side of the saw states that it could be configured for 220, but that's beyond me.

I'll pull the motor at lunch and check the centrifugal switch to see if anything looks out of place.

[Al Killian]

For starters it sound like it is starving for power(dimming lights),if possible run a thicker cable to the saw. If there is a cap on there it might need to be replaced.Yon can take it to a motor shop and have them check it for you or just take the whole motor.The can tell you if it is shot or needs a overhaul.

[adam quinn]

Sounds like the capacitor to me. Bad caps cause light to dim as the motor is trying to start and cant so it is drawing lots of current. Most motors have at least one cap and it is only used to start the motor. Some motors also have run capacitors.

Take the cap out of the motor put a meter across the terminals measuring for resistance. The resistance should start low and move to infinate. When a meter measures resistance it applies a voltage to what you are measuring. What you see on the meter is the cap charging up.

More often than not when a cap is bad it looks bad. Unless it is bad from the factory.

This is the most commom motor failure I see. it is also usualy a cheap repair. Any motor shop will have a replacement cap for you.

You can also measure the resistance of the windings. They all be about the same.