Help diagnosing my problem

phillsam · Post by **phillsam** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 2:21 am

Hey guys, I need some help.

I have been using my shopsmith almost daily for the last few months with no issues.
Tonight I was using the lathe and everything was going fine. I turned it off to go sharpen my gouge.

Now when I flick the switch to start her up, it just hums for a few seconds then trips the breaker.
Doesnt even seem to budge at all. No turning.

There was no noise/smell/odd thing at all that I detected prior. It seemed to be working great...

I have a video but dont know how to post it. I can email it to someone if that would help.

Please help

pieceseeker · Post by **pieceseeker** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 6:03 am

Hi! Sorry to hear about your problem. Until someone chimes in with more experience with actual motor problems, make sure you can turn the machine by hand. Mount the sanding disc if necessary to make it easier to turn. If something was seizing up, I would think you would have heard unusual noises. But just make sure there is no unusual resistance in the drivetrain.

It sounds like it is getting power thru the switch. Switches don't hum, motors do.

My next step would be to remove the lower motor belt to take the drivetrain out of the picture and see if the motor then turns. Just make sure to unplug the SS before proceeding.

You may want to provide the others more info....age of machine, or anything that might help them with diagnosis. Most of the other guys have a lot more experience with a humming motor.

I think video's would need to be put on Youtube first and then the url pasted in the forum thread.

idcook · Post by **idcook** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 7:32 am

’lo phillsam,

You say you use it pretty steadily.

Sounds like it you might need to take apart the headstock for cleaning/oiling.
You’ll certainly have to do so to determine what the problem is.

wa2crk · Post by **wa2crk** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 8:59 am

It sounds like the centrifugal switch has not reset after the last time you had it running. DO NOT KEEP ON TURNING THE SWITCH ON AND OFF BECAUSE YOU WILL DAMAGE THE MOTOR WINDINGS. Remove the belt cover and vacuum the interior of the headstock and then use some compressed air to clean the dust out of the interior of the headstock. You can also put the machine into the vertical drill press mode and TAP the headstock casting with a rubber mallet or a piece of 2X4 to dislodge the dust and then try again. If it does the same thing ONLY DO IT ONCE. Then come back here for more info.
Bill V

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 12:02 pm

As already stated, remove the drive belt from the motor pulley and then see if the motor runs.

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 12:17 pm

OK he's were I chime in. WHEN was the last time ya lube the SS?

phillsam · Post by **phillsam** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 12:44 pm

beeg wrote:OK he's were I chime in. WHEN was the last time ya lube the SS?

Hello again. Thank you guys for the input

Here are some details.

Last time it was lubed was about 6 months ago.

Its a Mark V (mid 80's model)

It was at its lowest speed when I used it last so thats not an issue.
With the sanding disk on, it turns as it should manually so I dont think it is siezing.

Where are the contacts that I need to be sure are clean on the motor?

rcplaneguy · Post by **rcplaneguy** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 12:56 pm

I'll repeat what was said earlier:

1) don't turn it on until:

2) you remove the drive belt from the motor

Then and only then, try turning it back on (quickly, on/off), and see if the motor runs.

phillsam · Post by **phillsam** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 12:58 pm

rcplaneguy wrote:I'll repeat what was said earlier:

1) don't turn it on until:

2) you remove the drive belt from the motor

Then and only then, try turning it back on (quickly, on/off), and see if the motor runs.

Noted. I will remove the belt before anything else

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 1:18 pm

phillsam wrote:Last time it was lubed was about 6 months ago.

Its a Mark V (mid 80's model)

You SHOULD oil it every TEN HOURS of run time. If in doubt LUBE IT. So START with that.