Improperly wired tools rant

[John Ricci]

The other day I posted regarding setting up and sharpening the knives in my Rockwell 37-220 jointer and extolled the virtue of sharp edges until...I started playing around with larger widths of wood and found that the machine slowed down almost to a stop in the middle of a cut. A length of pine 2x6 choking it down was the clincher.

As I stated in my previous post, this is an old machine inherited with my dads shop and he bought it used from an established/reputable machinery dealer in Toronto. What could be wrong? I had to start looking at the possibilities so out came the motor which turned out to be the original Rockwell supplied 1/2 hp 115/230v in what appeared to be perfect shape. Off with the wiring plate and what do I see? This machine is wired in the 230v configuration it left the factory with but "someone" put a 120v 15a plug on the end of the cord and called it a day before checking the motor voltage. My dad never complained about it that I remember and I never even used it until after he passed away so I never knew there was a problem.

For a lack of a length of cab-tire I wired it to 120v and now it just sings through 3" oak without a hint of slowing down and produces that same mirror finish only a lot faster than before;). I will change it back to run 240v at a later date.

Have any of you run into similar issues where you would assume that given the tool was purchased through a reputable vendor it would be "plug n' play" but it turned out to be another story? Imagine if the same mistake were to be made only in reverse with a 240v plug on a 120v motor:eek:?

Ok I'm done:mad:

J.R.

[Bruce Page]

Not from a dealer, but I did buy a Delta sanding station from a private party. After cleaning it up and mounting the sanding belt and disk I realized it was running backwards. :confused:

[CPeter James]

There is no advantage to runing that motor on 240V. Leave it as you have it.

CPeter

[John Ricci]

There is no advantage to runing that motor on 240V. Leave it as you have it.

CPeter
I really would have to agree with you on that one...save for the fact that I have quad boxes every 4' with a duet of duplex 120/240v 20a outlets down each 30' long wall so I have the power to play it either way and being a "One Man Band" I never really tax the 100a panel at all so I can load it up @ 240v for anything capable of using it with a few running simultaneously. I also have installed a 40a 240v range outlet in the anticipation of a bigger welder or whatever?

J.R.

[Doug Hoffman]

Is it possible your dad put the 115v plug end on?
All of my 230v equipment came without any plug,I had to buy and install the type of plug end I needed. I doubt it was the vendor that did it!

[Rick Christopherson]

I will change it back to run 240v at a later date.

Ok I'm done:mad:

J.R.If you're going to change this back over to 240 volts, then you have no right to rant about the previous owner. You are making the same mistake the previous owner made, except I assume you will at least use the correct plug. This is a 1/2 hp motor that draws less than 5 amps at 120 volts. Your toaster draws more power than this, so anyone that rewires a 1/2 hp motor is...well you decide.

It is stories like this that are the reason why I spend so much time trying to educate people about dual voltage motors! Rewire your motor as you see fit, but don't rant about somebody else making the same foolish mistake.

[John Ricci]

Is it possible your dad put the 115v plug end on?
All of my 230v equipment came without any plug,I had to buy and install the type of plug end I needed. I doubt it was the vendor that did it!
Doug, initially I did consider this but my dad bought his tools ready to go and sadly never used many of them due to very poor eyesight. I couldn't see him being able to wire a plug properly with his eyes. My mom said he never really bought them for himself but for any of his six sons who wanted them. I'm the oldest (51) and ended up with most of his shop with my brother a year younger than me being the only other one interested so he took the 14" Delta bandsaw and the OSS (he carves birds). All said and done, he could have done it but I highly doubt it:confused:.

J.R.

[John Ricci]

If you're going to change this back over to 240 volts, then you have no right to rant about the previous owner. You are making the same mistake the previous owner made, except I assume you will at least use the correct plug. This is a 1/2 hp motor that draws less than 5 amps at 120 volts. Your toaster draws more power than this, so anyone that rewires a 1/2 hp motor is...well you decide.
Rick, I'm well aware of the draw from that motor which is only about 3.5A @ 240v and every stationary tool I have that is capable of using 240v will be run that way if for nothing more than the sake of efficiency in a small shop. The motors start faster, run cooler and should probably live as long or longer than me under those conditions.

To address the issue of "previous owner", I stated that my dad bought the machine from a dealer as I have it now and the 120v 15a plug was installed when he purchased it from them...it was delivered, end of story. I would have expected a bit more thorough inspection of the machine by the dealer before final sale.


It is stories like this that are the reason why I spend so much time trying to educate people about dual voltage motors! Rewire your motor as you see fit, but don't rant about somebody else making the same foolish mistake.
So what is it exactly that you are trying to educate me about with regard to dual voltage induction motors? BTW, I'm having a minor rant about the mistake of a "professional" in the field.

J.R.

[Mike Henderson]

Rick, I'm well aware of the draw from that motor which is only about 3.5A @ 240v and every stationary tool I have that is capable of using 240v will be run that way if for nothing more than the sake of efficiency in a small shop. The motors start faster, run cooler and should probably live as long or longer than me under those conditions.
J.R.
This has been addressed here many times so I won't go into all the detail, except that I'll point out that there's no difference between running a motor at 120V and 240V (assuming the motor is wired correctly). Unless the feeder wire is too small, the motor will start the same, generate the same heat, and use the same amount of power (KWh).

Mike

[John Ricci]

Mike, I agree that there is no actual power saving involved with either voltage however personal observation with my 15/7.5a 1.5hp compressor motor has shown me the efficiency (particularly during startup) seems to increase in a very large way...there is no spool-up to speed, rather a "jump and run" kind of start and the motor does stay cooler after cycling on 240v.
My .02Cdn.

J.R.

[Ed Aumiller]

It will operate the same with either 110v or 220v if it is properly wired...

A friend just bought an 8" jointer from a well respected national company...when it arrived the motor was wired for 220v but had a 110v style plug on the end of the motor cord which went into a 110v style outlet controlled by the on/off switch that had a 220v plug wired to it......if you bought it and plugged the 220v plug into 220v, everything was ok...however if you needed to plug in a 110v tool for temporary use and plugged it into where the jointer motor was supposed to be, the 110v tool would have been smoked because it would receive 220v....and since this outlet/switch was about 3' off the floor, it would have been very, very easy to do.....

We removed the 110v plug & outlet and wired it direct to the switch....this eliminated the possible problem of accidently using an outlet with 110v connectors but actually having 220v on it....

Hopefully they have corrected this problem, but doubt it at this time...

When you buy anything that can be used either 110/220, check for correct wiring/connectors......

[Bruce Wrenn]

To some extent, I share your frustration. This week, I bought an ice maker from goverment surplus agency. It has a cord and plug set. However, there was no cable clamp where cord passes through hole of power box. Only the wire nuts and ground screw were holding cord set in place. Remember, this came out of a goverment building. Last summer I bought a Delta 12" turrent style radial saw from same surplus agency. Name plate plainly stated 220 volts only. Some idiot cut 220 plug off and added a 110 plug. Saw wouldn't run, so off to surplus. It is truely amazing what a 220 plug did for this RAS!

[Mike Henderson]

Mike, I agree that there is no actual power saving involved with either voltage however personal observation with my 15/7.5a 1.5hp compressor motor has shown me the efficiency (particularly during startup) seems to increase in a very large way...there is no spool-up to speed, rather a "jump and run" kind of start and the motor does stay cooler after cycling on 240v.
My .02Cdn.

J.R.
The only difference is if you have losses in the wires feeding the motor - that is, if the wire is too small to provide the amps without significant voltage loss. That will cause the motor to start slow and could even cause the motor to run hot (because of lower voltage supplied to the motor). If you have the proper wiring, it really will run exactly the same on either 110V or 220V - same start up, same heat generation, same power draw.

If you have a wiring problem at 110V, and can't correct it, it may make sense to use 220V (with the proper wiring). But the differences you are seeing are due to the wiring (and the voltage drop caused by the improper wiring) and not the difference in voltage connection of the motor.

Mike

[added note] A 1/2 HP motor draws significantly less amps so even if your wiring is too small, you're less likely to see any difference on the 1/2 HP motor, especially compared to the 1 1/2 HP motor (which draws more amps).

[Rick Christopherson]

[added note] A 1/2 HP motor draws significantly less amps so even if your wiring is too small, you're less likely to see any difference on the 1/2 HP motor, especially compared to the 1 1/2 HP motor (which draws more amps).Exactly! With a 1/2 hp motor, you will not notice even a startup difference, not even with an underpowered circuit.

I was joking when I first wrote it, but I went out and checked my kitchen toaster. My 2-slot toaster draws 900 watts. That's equivalent to 1.2 horsepower, which is over two times what this motor draws.