Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Nov 30, 2009 14:51:05 GMT -5
I brought my grinder in the house so that I can cab when it's cold. This is big Highland Park unit with 8" wheels. I didn't have any place I could put it except the laundry room on top of our laundry tub. I had to put the motor (1/2 HP, capacitor start) in the tub beneath the unit. The tub has two basins, so I plugged the side the motor was in so that water from the washing machine dumping into the other basin would not back up through the drain and into the motor basin. That would have worked fine, except that I forgot that the water softener dumped into the basin with the motor.
So Sunday morning, I went into the laundry room to try to clean up my grinding technique, plugged the motor in and the GFCI breaker popped. I thought "that's wierd; sometimes that happens though and it just needs to be reset". So, I pushed in the button on the outlet, and tried plugging in the motor again. And, guess what? It popped again.
At this point I was convinced that something was wrong and looked in the tub. It was full to the brim with water and my motor was at the bottom.
Fortunately, there is an upside to this story. I started shopping craigslist and ebay for another motor while I had my current motor in the oven at 200 degrees for a couple of hours. I turned off the oven, opened the door to let the steam out, then let the motor heat soak for a couple of hours. I repeated this once more, then oiled the bearings. I plugged it in, and it worked!
I'll see how long it lasts. I'd be interested to know if there is anything else I should do to the motor, or am I on borrowed time until it fails?
I could probably stand to step up to a 3/4 HP or 1 HP motor, but would prefer not to spend the money just now if I don't have to.
I decided I didn't want to go through that again and took out some shelves that were in the laundry room to make a permanent home for the grinder and a bench. Now it's all nice and dry and away from the laundry tub.
Chuck
So Sunday morning, I went into the laundry room to try to clean up my grinding technique, plugged the motor in and the GFCI breaker popped. I thought "that's wierd; sometimes that happens though and it just needs to be reset". So, I pushed in the button on the outlet, and tried plugging in the motor again. And, guess what? It popped again.
At this point I was convinced that something was wrong and looked in the tub. It was full to the brim with water and my motor was at the bottom.
Fortunately, there is an upside to this story. I started shopping craigslist and ebay for another motor while I had my current motor in the oven at 200 degrees for a couple of hours. I turned off the oven, opened the door to let the steam out, then let the motor heat soak for a couple of hours. I repeated this once more, then oiled the bearings. I plugged it in, and it worked!
I'll see how long it lasts. I'd be interested to know if there is anything else I should do to the motor, or am I on borrowed time until it fails?
I could probably stand to step up to a 3/4 HP or 1 HP motor, but would prefer not to spend the money just now if I don't have to.
I decided I didn't want to go through that again and took out some shelves that were in the laundry room to make a permanent home for the grinder and a bench. Now it's all nice and dry and away from the laundry tub.
Chuck