Shopsmith won't turn off !!

[cousinwill]

Thanks everyone for the helpful advise !! I have attached a few pics of the wiring. My plans are the replace the wiring and power cord. Hopefully that takes care of the problem !

[wa2crk]

This is just a guess but in looking at the white wire crimp in the second photo above I am wondering where the second half of the crimp connector is?
The connection of the green wires is also suspect. There is also a radial split in the green wire insulation that would seem to indicate degraded wire insulation.
The black wire from the three wire cord also has a burned crimp connector and I am starting to suspect either improper tooling used for the connectors or a connector that was too small for the current being consumed.
I have seen some people that would use a diagonal cutting pliers to crimp the spade lugs for a repair. DO NOT DO THAT. Over crimping the spade lugs can cause hot spots to develop by increasing the effective resistance of the crimp.
The remainder of the wiring does not look too bad.
The GE motors did have some issues with the AC wiring but not the Emerson. If this was my machine I would definitely replace the AC line cord because of the insulation cracks and cut back the rest of the wiring and replace with the proper sized spade lugs USING THE PROPER CRIMP TOOL.
I have a question about the function of the two small black wires in photo that are crimped together. Can you tell what these wires are for?
Bill V

[JPG]

OMG !

Consider the failure to turn off as a blessing!!!

Motor wires appear ok.

Everything else is a disaster.

Appears the quick disconnects were a problem that perhaps migrated to the cable clamp squeezing the switch wires by way of softened insulation from heat.

New power cord(extension cord with receptacle end cut off).

New quick disconnects should be ok IF crimped properly(using the correct tool). Ditto terminal connecting to switch.

Be cautious with the two screw connector(belden connector). A piece of rubber hose over the cord there will act as a strain refief. I prefer a right angle connector.

P.S. Use a RING connector terminal for the ground wire to frame connection.

[wa2crk]

Just took a close look at photo one and noticed that the black wire wire, where it is crimped to blue wire is coming from a small wire bundle that may contain two wires. Look at the shape of the insulation near the small white wire wrap. I believe that this may be the switched lead from the switch. If this is true then the hot spot crimp melted the insulation of the switched leads and caused the switched leads to make contact thus bypassing the switch. It is also possible that the switched leads were too small wire size for the load.
My suggestion is to replace the three wire line cord and repair or replace all wiring that is in the least suspect. Just as a precaution I would also replace the switch. (cheap insurance)
Bill V

[wa2crk]

Looks like JPG beat me to it again. Have to learn to type with more that 4 fingers.
Bill V

[JPG]

Looks like JPG beat me to it again. Have to learn to type with more that 4 fingers.
Bill V

I only use one! Yes that one! It is longer!!!

[BuckeyeDennis]

It's hard to tell for sure from the photos, but it looks as if whoever did that fine wiring job may have installed ring terminals on the power cord (instead of male quick-connect terminals) and shoved them into the female quick-connect terminals on the motor leads. This isn't likely to make a reliable connection, and may be what generated the heat in the first place. (At first I suspected that an exposed bit of metal terminal shorted to something, but I couldn't see any evidence of that.)

FWIW, quick-connect terminals not only come in different widths, they come in different thicknesses. For a reliable connection, you need to be sure that your male and female spade terminals are 100% compatible. Be sure to replace the female terminals on the motor leads; the old ones are damaged.

Once repaired, your Shopsmith may run better, without that extra resistance in the power line.

[cousinwill]

More awesome help and advise !! Just to clarify...... I didn't want y'all to think I had done shoty work in regards to the wiring .... I replaced this power cord approx 5 yrs ago and had the headstock serviced by Jacob Anderson about 4 yrs ago. He didn't notice anything wrong in the wiring He does great work by the way !! The wiring hasn't been touched since then. Not sure what happened but hope to have it up and running this weekend !! I will definitely take all these words of wisdom and make sure everything is done right !! Thanks again !!

[BigSky]

I don't believe we have seen deep enough into the motor to "know for sure" what problems exist.

In your third photo, that white terminal block should have terminal(s) that are not there. Those terminals, on the back side connect to wires that go to the winding in the motor and to the centrifugal switch. We don't know exactly what fried those wires and we don't know how deep into the motor the wires were fired.

The sad part: If you need to replace that white terminal block it is NOT parts listed. Emerson will not sell you a repair part for this motor because it (the motor) is a proprietary item. A good motor shop may help or someone who has a motor that has been otherwise destroyed.

[beeg]

When ya cut the line cord, cut it LONG so ya know where the new wires go to.