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Temco xr3 troubleshooting

metalanton

Plastic
Joined
Mar 30, 2021
I just bought an xr3 5 hp phase converter off Ebay. The seller was a reselling store so who knows the history but as far as I can tell it has never had wires connected to it. Upon hooking up my single phase power 220 it makes no hum or clicking sound and won't start up. I could just return it but it seems I have a good start for a phase converter for 300$ temco no longer makes these I believe. How would you begin troubleshooting? I'm thinking it must be the start relay or start capacitor. I have an ohm meter. Where would you start? Thanks in advance. I will post some pictures
 
So, I disconnected the 3 motor wires from the capacitor bank and tested them phase to phase with an ohmmeter. They all tested 0 resistance so shorted motor. Wouldn't it trip the breaker if the motor had a short? Also 4 of 5 capacitors tested as having an open circuit (1 value on my ohmmeter). I am kind of baffled how a seemingly new phase converter could be this bad. .I was hoping at least I could salvage the motor off it. Am I misinterpreting something? Please, any insights?
 
Motors commonly are only a few ohms resistance. Many ohmmeters cannot resolve that small resistance vs zero, so it is not a guarantee.

It is not a common failure for all wires to be shorted together in a motor, so it is fairly likely that either the motor wiring inside the wiring box of the motor is AFU (fixable), or your ohmmeter cannot give you a good reading on low resistances.
 
Thankyou! That makes a lot of sense. It is odd to me that the motor does not make a buzzing sound when under power. Maybe I should just hook up the power directly to the motor but I still wouldn't be able to start since it doesn't have an arbor. I should just return but its like a puzzle for me now and I feel bad for seller wrapping up 200 in shipping.
 
Motors do not have to buzz, but it is customary for them to spin the shaft. If yours does not, and does not buzz, odds are that there is no power getting to it.*

Your best bet, if you have no information about the box, is to trace out the wiring and make a clear diagram of it that you can show here. Then you can start to puzzle out how it is supposed to work.

* If the motor has an internal overload protector, it may be tripped, so look for a red button somewhere on the motor.
 








 
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