Motor wiring help please

[maz0]

Hi Folks,

I inherited an old Atlas lathe which by the power of grey skull managed to lift onto my work bench after a year in the garage. The motor that came with it has 4 wires which were mangled into a connector block with a standard 3 wire cable coming out the other side of it. I tried plugging it into the wall socket as it was and it tripped my main board, set off my house alarm an everything.

So... can anyone give me some tips on how to connect this thing up to get it running?

Here are some pictures of what I'm dealing with,

Thanks in advance!

 

[rtbcomp]

1st thing would be to take the plate off the end of the motor and let us see a picture of the connectors.

2nd would be to throw away that manky old cable and get a new one!

 

[maz0]

1st thing would be to take the plate off the end of the motor and let us see a picture of the connectors.

2nd would be to throw away that manky old cable and get a new one!

Okie doke, I'll get some pictures of the inside taken after work and let you see.

Thanks mate

 

[rikrobson]

I suspect it will be something like this:

There will need to be a switch and a start capacitor.
the capacitor puts the second coil slightly out of phase to the primary coil causing the directionality. without a capacitor it wont turn or will turn in a random direction.

 

[maz0]

I suspect it will be something like this:
There will need to be a switch and a start capacitor.
the capacitor puts the second coil slightly out of phase to the primary coil causing the directionality. without a capacitor it wont turn or will turn in a random direction.

Okie, I think it looks like the second diagram? but without the capacitor...

Am I able to just buy a capacitor off ebay and stick it between the red and black and away I go?

Thanks again,

Further picture without the cover on.....

 

[rtbcomp]

You might not need a capacitor, there may be an internal centrifugal switch in series with the start winding.

First thing to check is to see whether any of those wires are connected to the case of the motor. Check them all.

If you get it running check to see that it consistently runs in the same direction every time you switch it on. If it just sits there buzzing try flicking the pulley to get it going (carefully!)

 

[tlovatt]

Also be careful that the wiring colours on the diagram may not match an old motor - you can easily check which wire is which with a resistance meter, the primary winding will have a lower resistance than the starter winding and it should be open ciricuit between the two windings

 

[shenion]

Does the lathe have a reversing switch?

It looks like the motor was modified to be reversable.

 

[Robotstar5]

Definately ditch the old cable, also use butt crimp connectors instead of the twisted wires!

 

[maz0]

Cheers for the help guys, I got it working in the end.

It did indeed have a centrifugal switch, inside the motor there were 2 black wires and 2 yellow wires and an earth point. I simply connected 1 black and yellow together to a neutral, 1 black and yellow to live, and earth to earth and it spun up lovely. I'm assuming reversing the neutral/live will change direction, so getting a switch and replacement cables will be on the cards.

Again thanks for your help folks

 

[rtbcomp]

Thanks for letting us know.

Swapping live & neutral won't reverse the motor, you need to reverse either the blacks or the yellows.