savage_hunter
Aluminum
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2017
Well i've been trying to save the old GE plain bearing 1.5HP motor that came with my 14 1/2 but I think I need to shelf it until I can get it professionally rebuilt.
When I first got the lathe the power cord was cut and needed to be rewired. The previous owner said it used to run but wasn't used in a long time and was just stored in his building. The motor looks like it is original and the frame is some bazaar code that predates NEMA. Takes #10 spindle oil and has two gits oil cups. 1 ph 1.5HP and BIG. I REALLY like the look of this motor and will save it until I can get it to a motor shop.
The motor was covered in crud and chips. Lots of old gunked up oil, spiders, and whatever mice stashed in every nook and cranny. I vacuumed up everything the shop vac could reach and wiped everything down with mineral spirits until it was nice and clean. I didn't want to remove the motor from the mounting plate (It's a big heavy sumbitch and won't fit through the access door - and I don't want to jack up the lathe 3' to pull it out from under it). I added some oil to the cups and plugged it in. There was a terrible humming sound and the motor barely spun. I heard lots of clicking and looked at the end where the brushes are and saw lots of sparks - NFG. I popped the end bell off where the brushes are and cleaned everything inside. The brushes are in great shape but were frozen in place. I cleaned the comutator with electric motor cleaner aerosol spray. It looked pretty clean on this end so I put it back together and tried again. This time no sparks and more RPMS but still seemed very weak. Reverse wouldn't work unless I spun the chuck by hand and got it moving. Even then I could grab the chuck and stall the motor (I shouldn't be able to do that with a 1.5hp motor). That was about a year ago and last weekend I finally popped the pulley side off and cleaned out the rotor side. Again I used electric motor cleaner aerosol and the vacuum. There was some old sunflower seeds in the windings. Cleaned all that junk out and last night was finally able to put the end bell back on and flip the switch. More RPMS but still no torque. I can grab the chuck and stop it from spinning.
Sooooooooo my garage only has 110v outlets. I recently found an unused 220 breaker which runs to an unused outlet near the garage. The wiring is 10-3 NM-B and the run from the breaker box is about 200'. I'm not sure if 10-3 is a heavy enough gauge wire to safely run the machinery at that length of a run. I've done some reading and some people suggest 8 gauge wire and some say 10 is fine. I guess it all depends on the load the new motor will pull. I can't easily replace the 10-3 from the breaker because it runs above the ceiling of the finished basement. If it were a drop ceiling I would pop a tile and take a peek but it's all textured so i'm not poking holes in that all willy-nilly.
Getting a VFD and running a 3~ motor doesn't make sense on 110v. I can get another 1.5hp 110v motor for the price of a VFD then I'd still have to buy a 3~ motor (and only be able to run a 1 - 2 hp 3~ on 110v anyhow).
All that being said, what frame motor is everyone using in their 14/16" lathes? Is there anything i'm missing regarding the low torque of the original GE motor?
Thanks in advance!
When I first got the lathe the power cord was cut and needed to be rewired. The previous owner said it used to run but wasn't used in a long time and was just stored in his building. The motor looks like it is original and the frame is some bazaar code that predates NEMA. Takes #10 spindle oil and has two gits oil cups. 1 ph 1.5HP and BIG. I REALLY like the look of this motor and will save it until I can get it to a motor shop.
The motor was covered in crud and chips. Lots of old gunked up oil, spiders, and whatever mice stashed in every nook and cranny. I vacuumed up everything the shop vac could reach and wiped everything down with mineral spirits until it was nice and clean. I didn't want to remove the motor from the mounting plate (It's a big heavy sumbitch and won't fit through the access door - and I don't want to jack up the lathe 3' to pull it out from under it). I added some oil to the cups and plugged it in. There was a terrible humming sound and the motor barely spun. I heard lots of clicking and looked at the end where the brushes are and saw lots of sparks - NFG. I popped the end bell off where the brushes are and cleaned everything inside. The brushes are in great shape but were frozen in place. I cleaned the comutator with electric motor cleaner aerosol spray. It looked pretty clean on this end so I put it back together and tried again. This time no sparks and more RPMS but still seemed very weak. Reverse wouldn't work unless I spun the chuck by hand and got it moving. Even then I could grab the chuck and stall the motor (I shouldn't be able to do that with a 1.5hp motor). That was about a year ago and last weekend I finally popped the pulley side off and cleaned out the rotor side. Again I used electric motor cleaner aerosol and the vacuum. There was some old sunflower seeds in the windings. Cleaned all that junk out and last night was finally able to put the end bell back on and flip the switch. More RPMS but still no torque. I can grab the chuck and stop it from spinning.
Sooooooooo my garage only has 110v outlets. I recently found an unused 220 breaker which runs to an unused outlet near the garage. The wiring is 10-3 NM-B and the run from the breaker box is about 200'. I'm not sure if 10-3 is a heavy enough gauge wire to safely run the machinery at that length of a run. I've done some reading and some people suggest 8 gauge wire and some say 10 is fine. I guess it all depends on the load the new motor will pull. I can't easily replace the 10-3 from the breaker because it runs above the ceiling of the finished basement. If it were a drop ceiling I would pop a tile and take a peek but it's all textured so i'm not poking holes in that all willy-nilly.
Getting a VFD and running a 3~ motor doesn't make sense on 110v. I can get another 1.5hp 110v motor for the price of a VFD then I'd still have to buy a 3~ motor (and only be able to run a 1 - 2 hp 3~ on 110v anyhow).
All that being said, what frame motor is everyone using in their 14/16" lathes? Is there anything i'm missing regarding the low torque of the original GE motor?
Thanks in advance!