Think I killed the woodmaster

thechknhwk · December 30, 2015, 04:27:34 AM

I've got an 18" woodmaster planer and I think the motor gave up the ghost. I thought I tripped the thermal overload on the switch (which I've done once or twice before), but afterwards it would not start back up. Motor was too hot to touch. If the motor is fried I thought about upgrading it to the 7.5hp model, but don't know if this one is fried for sure and should probably check into getting it rebuilt.

Al_Smith · December 30, 2015, 06:59:53 AM

I'm not familiar with that brand nor model but I can say a thing or two about electric motors .

One horse power electric is 746 watts .Any company that gives a smaller wattage is using a tricky little term that merely implies it can develop such and such HP .Meaning it can run in an over loaded condition for a certain amount of time and is not true power .

As an example I once build an electric wood splitter using a cheap imported motor I found at a garage sale for 5 dollars .It worked fine but would overload on occasion .It was rated at 5 HP but the wattage came out to about 2.8 HP .

MikeON · December 30, 2015, 07:52:25 AM

Quote from: thechknhwk on December 30, 2015, 04:27:34 AM
I've got an 18" woodmaster planer and I think the motor gave up the ghost.

I have that same planer. I've stalled it out a few times when a board had an extra thick spot from the saw band climbing. It has sometimes taken a long time before the reset button will work. Even over an hour. Keep trying.

sandsawmill14 · December 30, 2015, 08:01:56 AM

i would just go to tsc and get compressor motor if it is set up like the 12" planer it will work fine. i like the woodmaster we have but wish it was 18" instead of just 12"

Al_Smith · December 30, 2015, 08:54:20 AM

Some times it's not all that simple to replace a drive motor .

Some wood working tools have special motor designs and with out some modifications a generic motor will not work .

I have a rather inexpensive 13.5" DeWalt and it would be a chore because of space limitations to go the generic route .

About the only advice I can tender would be get the motor number, frame size, shaft size etc. and possibly some info could be gleaned from the internet .Good luck!

pineywoods · December 30, 2015, 10:52:09 AM

I assume you are talking about the head drive motor, not the feed motor. Any good industrial grade motor with similar rating will work. The feed motor is a special type. If it got too hot to touch, probably toasted the insulation on the wiring, will never be reliable. Check with woodmaster before you take the plunge. I've found them to be in the ball park on replacement parts. I have the 18 inch model with 5 hp motor. With wide hard lumber, not hard to overload the motor. The 7.5 motor would make a big difference.

AlaskaLes · December 30, 2015, 03:18:04 PM

One more thing you can do is check the capacitors.
if your start cap is going bad, it can heat the motor up pretty good and will soon fail to start the motor at all.
If you don't know much about them, a quick schooling on youtube will tell you plenty.

I just went through this with our 5hp Sawstop. All it needed was a new start cap for about 40 bucks and we're better than before.

thechknhwk · December 30, 2015, 09:17:01 PM

Quote from: pineywoods on December 30, 2015, 10:52:09 AM
I assume you are talking about the head drive motor, not the feed motor. Any good industrial grade motor with similar rating will work. The feed motor is a special type. If it got too hot to touch, probably toasted the insulation on the wiring, will never be reliable. Check with woodmaster before you take the plunge. I've found them to be in the ball park on replacement parts. I have the 18 inch model with 5 hp motor. With wide hard lumber, not hard to overload the motor. The 7.5 motor would make a big difference.

Yes I'm talking about the 5hp motor that powers the the planer head. I did not get to check with woodmaster since I worked last night and tonight, so I slept all day.

This is the motor that's on there. Looks like the frame size is 145T? I'm assuming that's the mounting pattern on the bottom?

The motor that I was looking at replacing it with (search ebay leeson 7.5), frame size says 184T, and the shaft diameter is different, 1-1/8" vs 7/8". I'll have to check with woodmaster if it will mount up to the planer frame, and it will probably need a different pulley.

Thanks for all the input, will post updates.

Al_Smith · December 31, 2015, 06:36:23 AM

" it will probably need a different pulley." Evidently a belt drive then .Probably good to go that be the case.

sandsawmill14 · December 31, 2015, 06:59:26 AM

frame number determines all about motor mounting base, shaft size, over all size. if your planer has the motor hanging from underneath like ours ( i think model is 712) any 3500 rpm or close will work if it will go in the space, you may have to redrill the mounting plate but thats no big deal. only problem with going up in hp may be the belt wont hold up. does yours have a motor to pull the feed or does the main motor do it all ??? mine only has 1 motor is why i ask

thechknhwk · December 31, 2015, 07:07:13 AM

The feed motor is a separate unit powered off 110v.

GAB · December 31, 2015, 09:50:34 AM

thechknhwk:
Since I own one of those Woodmaster 718's I'd like to know what you find out about the motor change. Also do you know what the HP rating is for the infeed motor?
Thanks,
Gerald

pineywoods · December 31, 2015, 10:07:36 AM

The infeed motor on these machines is a special motor. It's 110 volt DC, I think 1/2 hp, but not sure about that. A reduction gearbox is built into the motor. Closest thing commercially is a treadmill motor. I have replaced 3 of those over the years. Two of them were a manufacturing defect on the brush holder. Brush stuck in the holder, trashed the commutator. Woodmaster replaced under warranty. Last one, hired hand shoved a too-thick board in, stalled the feed motor, left it powered on and went to lunch. Roasted the motor wiring..

pineywoods · December 31, 2015, 10:30:34 AM

While on the subject of woodmaster planers, here's a cheap simple mod that I have found to be very useful. Break the 2 wires between the speed control box and the feed motor. Wire in a double pole double throw toggle switch to reverse the wires in one position, pass through in the other. Instant reverse of the feed rollers to back out a too-thick board..

Kcwoodbutcher · December 31, 2015, 01:45:04 PM

That's a great idea.

pine · December 31, 2015, 04:11:07 PM

I know when I got my 18" woodmaster I upgraded to the heavy duty 5 hp
Frame 184J
Model N184K17FB20B and rpm is 1740 vs your labels 3450 rpm

Might take a look at that

GAB · December 31, 2015, 07:47:48 PM

Quote from: pineywoods on December 31, 2015, 10:07:36 AM
Last one, hired hand shoved a too-thick board in, stalled the feed motor, left it powered on and went to lunch. Roasted the motor wiring..

Recently, someone had a thread about the cost of employees - would this fall under that catagory?
Concerning "Roasted the motor wiring" you are probably very lucky it did not cause a fire. Add that, and lost revenue, to your employee costs.

Thanks for the replies.
Gerald

GAB · December 31, 2015, 07:51:04 PM

Quote from: pineywoods on December 31, 2015, 10:30:34 AM
While on the subject of woodmaster planers, here's a cheap simple mod that I have found to be very useful. Break the 2 wires between the speed control box and the feed motor. Wire in a double pole double throw toggle switch to reverse the wires in one position, pass through in the other. Instant reverse of the feed rollers to back out a too-thick board..

I like the sounds of that. Would you per chance have a sketch of that and also have the specifications of a proper switch to use in this application.
Gerald

DR Buck · December 31, 2015, 08:22:34 PM

thechknhwk The 5HP Leeson in 718 Woodmaster motor label is almost identical except the model number ends in 'E' instead of 'B' like yours. Mine must be newer. I use a spiral cutter head on mine and very seldom over heat it anymore. I will be curious as to what you fine out about the 7.5 HP motor though. Just in case.

gfadvm · December 31, 2015, 09:02:11 PM

When I called Woodmaster to get a manual and belts for my 718, they asked if I had the red or blue 5hp motor. They said the red was a "farm duty" motor (whatever that means). That could account for the different letters in the serial #.

pineywoods · January 01, 2016, 09:50:25 PM

Here's a crude drawing of how to wire a reverser switch to the feed motor. The switch is a generic double pole double throw (DPDT) rated at 10 or 15 amps.

GAB · January 02, 2016, 08:27:37 AM

Quote from: pineywoods on January 01, 2016, 09:50:25 PM
Here's a crude drawing of how to wire a reverser switch to the feed motor. The switch is a generic double pole double throw (DPDT) rated at 10 or 15 amps.

Thanks,
Gerald

thechknhwk · January 08, 2016, 11:36:19 PM

Ok, so here's what I have so far. I took the motor in to a repair facility and they found an overload switch tripped on the motor that I did not see. They reset it and were able to get it to run on 110 & 220v. They said it was noisy however and that the bearings needed to be replaced. I let them do that and paid the man about ~$120.

In regards to the 7.5hp motor it appears the woodmaster would have taken it with no problems. The motor mounts in the planer frame appear to be adjustable so the different frame size (184) could have been accomodated. The 7.5hp motor that woodmaster offers is actually a 1750 rpm motor (I didn't ask why), but it was almost $300 more than the one I found on ebay/amazon. In regards to the pulley issue that I mentioned woodmaster would have been able to accommodate me with a pulley that has the same circumference as the one I currently have by selling my one that goes on one of their sanders; it was only $18. The motor shop mentioned the bearing failure could have been due to uneven belt tension which I had noticed that one of the belts seemed to be tighter than the other, so I'm going to try some new belts then run it til it pukes again. :D