I have a Craftsman Jointer 152.217050 and the motor started smoking on me last weekend. The motor doesn't seem to be a standard size and I can't just order a new motor from Sears. The motor is a single phase 110V 1.5 HP 3450 RPM. I found some Grizzly motors with these stats. but they are all on 56 frames and the craftsman frame seems to be non standard, closest to a 143t. I'm thinking about just ordering the Grizzly and drilling new mounting holes to fit in the jointer, though i'm worried the overall dimension might be a little too big as well. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Are you sure it was the motor, and not a belt slipping? And if you have already written off the motor, then it sure won't hurt anything to open it up and see what the problem may be. Could be something as simple as a toasted capacitor or seized bearing.
How old is the jointer? Heavy use, light use? There is not much to go wrong in a motor.
1) Bearings can go bad (usually very noisy)
2) Like brad said, Capacitor goes bad (can smoke, but usually detected at startup because it is needed to get the motor going).
3) Stuck centrifugal switch (this puts the capacitor in the circuit during startup, disconnects when the motor nears full speed) If this is open at start, the motor will just hum and wobble back and forth. If this is stuck closed it will interfere with the motor by inducing a drag, and the ones Iv'e seen don't get to full speed.
4) fried windings, This is rare, but can happen if the motor was pushed too hard and over heated.
Good luck, hope this helps.
If you can't find anything obvious, I'd probably take the motor to a local shop that rebuilds electric motors. Get an evaluation, decide if the repair is economically a good idea, and make a decision based on that.
If you can t find anything obvious, I d probably take the motor to a local shop that rebuilds electric motors. Get an evaluation, decide if the repair is economically a good idea, and make a decision based on that.
Thanks for the responses everyone. My knowledge of electric motors is… limited. First thing I did was remove the belt and test it. Still smoking with that burnt electric smell, and then it blew the circuit. It still starts up though so I assumed it wasn't the capacitor. It was a Craigslist buy last year so don't know what kind of mileage it has, though I'm just a weekender so not much from me. I suppose I should take it apart and see if anything is obviously wrong.
so I'm playing around with the motor and I notice that when it starts smoking, one of the capacitor housings is getting very warm to the touch. Other one is cool. Is this normal?
Test them with a meter… any cheap meter that can do resistance will work. Google for instructions. You may see some physical indication of failure, but not always.
Which one is getting hot? If it is the start capacitor (the one with the higher capacitance of the two), then you may also have a stuck centrifugal switch.
Yes… But! .... What caused it? That's the question. As Brad and Brawler said, check to see if the centrifugal switch is stuck or just gone bad. Mechanical resistance can easily cause a cap to fry. Ultimately, if it's not an obvious, easy fix, don't get crazy…. as stated, take the motor to a shop and pay for an education. That's the way I look at it!
you should hear an audible click just as motor is stopping this means you switch is probably ok but i agree with the rest most motor shops will look at it for free :<))))
ok, let me know if my logic is wrong here. The capacitor is burnt to a crisp, hence it has to be the run capacitor correct since the motor still starts, and runs. It started smoking today after about 10 seconds of running. However, the capacitor looks like a start capacitor, it has a black rubber/plastic sheathing around it, not the metal one a run capacitor has. Or do they not always look like that? So if a previous owner had put the wrong capacitor in, that would theoretically burn up the capacitor. However, I have had this jointer since last summer and while it hasn't gotten heavy use, it has been used. Would the wrong capacitor have even lasted that long?
And yes, I do plan on taking this into a shop next friday when I have time. Just trying to figure out as much as I can beforehand.
You cannot tell which one is which just by looking at its enclosure - they can be either metal or plastic (or even paper), it doesn't matter. According to the manual, the motor should have a 300uf start capacitor and a 40uf run capacitor, so you can verify which is which by looking at their ratings.
it's the run capacitor, 40uf, so it's the right one. and centrifugal switch seems ok. guess I'll be bringing it to a shop, need to anyways to get the right capacitor that fits.
Good one MrUnix. Highly doubtful there was an external cause, capacitors don't last for ever they deteriorate over time. Don't continue to start it the capacitor will eventually short circuit and burn out your windings or worse explode the capacitor. You know the size of the capacitor so it should be easy to source a replacement.
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