Motor Seems To Bind

[dale]

A while back my son was in the middle of turning a pen on an HF 34706 lathe. He stopped to check his progress, and the lathe wouldn't start up again. He didn't set the speed to the lowest setting like the manual says is required, but we never did that before, either.

I just had some time and took the cover off and poked around a little. I could spin everything around just fine, unless the power was on. With the power on the motor seemed to bind up in one spot. Any thoughts on what might cause that?

[RayintheUK]

The only thing that comes to mind is a damaged field winding. Has the lathe been stalled to a complete stop before, as that could have caused it?

Ray

[dale]

Hmmm... I can't recall the lathe stalling before. If it's a damaged winding would you guess I'm looking at replacing the motor?

[crokett]

If the winding is damaged then yes, probable replacement. I had a motor I needed rewinding on and the 4 shops I talked to all said it would be cheaper to replace. The only ones they rewind now are the big 'uns in commercial equipment.

[eddy merckx]

Hi Dale

I don't know if this will be helpful, but it worked on my Jet lathe (similar to yours). My centifugal switch once came loose, causing the motor to hum instead of start. The solution was to remove the fan cover, remove the fan and reposition and tighten the switch (just behind the fan). It slides onto the motor shaft and locks in place with a collar. Total time about 10 minutes. Worth a try before you junk the motor.

You might want to blow the dust, etc out of the motor while you've got the cover off.

If that doesn't work, you could remove the little capacitor cover on the side of the motor and see if all the smelly black junk leaked out of the capacitor. That's a pretty cheap fix.

Whichever solution (or neither) works, the design of these lathes causes dust from sanding to get sucked directly into the fan housing. For future planning, it is a good idea to make a dust shroud or something to block that. I use one of those mega mouth dust collector hoods. It fits perfectly between my lathe bed and the motor with the help of a bunch of magnets.

Best of luck,
Eddy

[dale]

Fixed It!

I got some more garage time today. I finally figured out how to get the fan cover off (grab both sides and pull) and discovered that the centrifugal switch was indeed loose. After looking at all of the pieces I took my best guess on how to position it, tightened it up, and it started running like a champ! Thanks for the advice, guys.

[eddy merckx]

That's great Dale!

There's nothing better than a repair which is easy and free.

Eddy

[RayintheUK]

That's great Dale!

There's nothing better than a repair which is easy and free.

Eddy

Yes, there is - the guy who passed it on! Well done Eddy!

Ray.