I was working (playing) with my tools yesterday...mostly getting things ready for a walnut cabinet I'm going to make for my Dad's new TV. So I was gluing boards, planing to the right thickness, etc. and I even worked on a little decorative box for one of my girls. Everything was working fine. The planer is a 15", 3HP Jet. Model number JWP15HO.
Late in the afternoon, I went to plane a board an extra 1/8", turned the planer on and all I heard was a hummmm from the motor. It almost sounded like it didn't have enough juice to get it turning, so I check the electrical box to make sure one of the wires didn't come loose (220 line...and yes, I turned it off first :D ).
Everything in the box looked good...everything was tight. I checked the table saw (which runs on the same circuit) and it worked fine. I checked the wiring in the switch of the planer and it looked good too. Only think left I can think of is that the motor finally died. The planer is about 15 years old and while it was unused for several years, I have given it a pretty good workout in the last year or so.
I called a local electric motor repair shop and they said that on a 3HP motor, it would be cheaper to replace the motor than to have them work on it. I checked the part number from Jet on a new motor and I'm looking at $500 for the motor (plus installation, which I might be able to do myself, but to be honest, I've never done that kind of work before...I don't know how finicky putting that in would be.
Any ideas on what this could be OTHER than the motor, or does this sound like a motor issue.
Could the planer be sold as is for anything (I paid around $1200 for it 15 years ago...a comparable model today is the 20" that runs over 2K) to someone who knows how to fix motors? I've been looking for an excuse to get a woodmaster anyways, but I'd rather not spend the money if I don't have to.
Any ideas would be appreciated. I think Woodmaster is running a special right now, but it ends soon so I'll have to make my mind up one way or the other really soon.
I'd do some more nosing around before making any rash decisions. Can you turn the motor by hand? If not, disconnect it and see if the motor or the planer is froze up. While you have it disconnected from the planer, see if the motor will run without the load on it. If so, it could just be the starting capacitor. If the problem is indeed the motor, try another motor shop...sounds like that one just didn't want to mess with it. ::) If it turns out that you have to replace the motor, you can probably beat that $500 price by a good bit. If all else fails, just send the planer to me and I'll scrap it for ya, no charge. ;D
Changing out a motor is not difficult on most machines. I'm with DanG it sounds like it might be hung or a start capacitor might be shot. open up the cover and find the battery looking canister with a couple of leads on it. The easy way is to get a friend to simultaniously touch both contacts. If he decks you its good. Hopefully he won't in which case you need a new start cap. If there are a couple of capacitors there the start is usually the round black one. A run capacitor is usually oblong and metal cased.
The start cap gives the motor a kick in the pants to get it rolling. If you are careful and can get it rolling by hand then hit the switch that'll sometimes confirm it. Sometimes you can take the belts off, wrap a pull cord on the pulley, jerk it to get it spinning and when the cord is free hit the switch. If that works its the cap.
Another way if you suspect the capacitor and have any junk buddies, find the label that tells how many uF the capacitor is rated at and find something close to try. Make sure it is rated for more volts than you are feeding it.
If you scrap it, lets talk, I've got some idees for a big beam planer on my circle mill track.
I bet it is a start capacitor, I just replaced one on a 2 hp it was 80 bucks at a shop. Check around, shops are hungry and they should give a free test and quote.
It could also be the high-low switch that kicks the capacitors in for starting, it has a set of points that can get a little dust in them. Take the motor apart, label the wires as you go and look for loose or burnt wires and blow it out and clean the hi low switch points which are on the opposite end of the pulley. Before you start give the shaft a turn to see how the bearing sound, it would be a good time to put new ones in if they are rough. These motors are not hard to work on, a good shop should be able to go over one in 30 to 45 minutes. Steve
Well, after getting absolutely no help from the only place in town that works on motors, I was about to buy a new woodmaster 712 (or a used 718)...the only thing stopping me was not knowing what molder blade I wanted. Then, mostly out of boredom, I decided to see how hard it was to take the motor off and check it out. It really wasn't too bad getting it off of there...especially after I turned it on it's side so I didn't have to crawl underneath it.
So, I pulled out the motor and saw a little part that was attached to the outside of it. I take it off and it doesn't say what it is, but I guessed it was the start capacitor. I took it into one of the electrical stores in town. He looked at it, scowled, and said, "no, I don't have anything like that...doubt if anyone does." I asked if he had any way of testing it to see if it were bad or not. "no," was his reply. I begin to wonder if I have a big ole' "treat me like an [I have typed a profane word that is automatically changed by the forum censored words program I should know better]" sign on me.
I leave and go to another place nearby. I take it in and the counter guy is talking to a couple of local contractor-types and he asks what I need. I show him the part and he checks his parts list and says that he doesn't have one like that, but that the store across town (a competitor) might. The guys he was talking to asks what it was out of and if I was sure it was bad. I responded that I wasn't, but nobody seemed to be able to test it to find out. He tells me to hold on a sec, runs out to his truck, brings in a meter and hooks it up. "yep," he says. "should read about 500, and it is reading 70".
I got the impression that what he had was something that every electrician in the world uses every day.
Well, I took it on down to the place across town and he looked at it, took it back to check his stock, and came back with another. "It isn't quite the same, but it'll work." I took it. Came home, put it all back together and tested it.
Worked fine.
Only cost $10. Save myself about $1,800.
It shouldn't surprise me, but I still am amazed at how rude and/or unhelpful some people can be to potential customers (the motor shop and the first place I went to). Conversely, it is nice to know that there are some people out there who will go out of their way to point someone in the right direction even if it means not making a sale.
I worked in a hardware store many years ago, we carried just about everything (except lumber).
We discovered that A) telling people they could return merchandise that they didn't want, and B) referring people to competitors if we didn't have what they needed ultimately increased our sales.
Many times with an oddball plumbing fitting, or if we were out of stock, I'd pick up the phone and call down to the other store to see if they had it. They started doing the same to us, so in essence, playing nice helped both of our businesses.
I'm glad you got your planer running again.
Quote from: Osric on August 18, 2008, 02:49:12 PM
Well, after getting absolutely no help from the only place in town that works on motors, I was about to buy a new woodmaster 712 (or a used 718)...the only thing stopping me was not knowing what molder blade I wanted. Then, mostly out of boredom, I decided to see how hard it was to take the motor off and check it out. It really wasn't too bad getting it off of there...especially after I turned it on it's side so I didn't have to crawl underneath it.
So, I pulled out the motor and saw a little part that was attached to the outside of it. I take it off and it doesn't say what it is, but I guessed it was the start capacitor. I took it into one of the electrical stores in town. He looked at it, scowled, and said, "no, I don't have anything like that...doubt if anyone does." I asked if he had any way of testing it to see if it were bad or not. "no," was his reply. I begin to wonder if I have a big ole' "treat me like an [I have typed a profane word that is automatically changed by the forum censored words program I should know better]" sign on me.
I leave and go to another place nearby. I take it in and the counter guy is talking to a couple of local contractor-types and he asks what I need. I show him the part and he checks his parts list and says that he doesn't have one like that, but that the store across town (a competitor) might. The guys he was talking to asks what it was out of and if I was sure it was bad. I responded that I wasn't, but nobody seemed to be able to test it to find out. He tells me to hold on a sec, runs out to his truck, brings in a meter and hooks it up. "yep," he says. "should read about 500, and it is reading 70".
I got the impression that what he had was something that every electrician in the world uses every day.
Well, I took it on down to the place across town and he looked at it, took it back to check his stock, and came back with another. "It isn't quite the same, but it'll work." I took it. Came home, put it all back together and tested it.
Worked fine.
Only cost $10. Save myself about $1,800.
It shouldn't surprise me, but I still am amazed at how rude and/or unhelpful some people can be to potential customers (the motor shop and the first place I went to). Conversely, it is nice to know that there are some people out there who will go out of their way to point someone in the right direction even if it means not making a sale.
Now that you got started fixing things don't stop, many times it's something simple and easy to fix and if not it was shot anyway. Even if you had to take the motor apart they aren't that hard. Steve
My 2 HP Grizley 15" planer would not turn on today. Took the capicitor out and will pick one up tomorrow. 2nd time the capicitor went out. I should not be supprised, it did have "China" in plain print on it. ::) ::)