dusty wrote:Obviously I agree EXCEPT for your position as stated in the first sentence. I have a 1/2 horse motor driving the belts sander and it starts right up on a 15 amp circuit. Does the extra 1/4 horse make that big a difference?
I know there are many reports from persons having difficulties with popped breakers that are attributed to starting that heavy load on a 15 amp circuit.
Until I witness it myself or have reliable confirmation that the Shopsmith was the "only thing" drawing power from the 15 amp feed, I am a skeptic. A properly maintained Mark V will operate reliably on a 15 amp circuit that is in proper working condition.
Simple things like a loose connection to an outlet in a wall plug can cause enough extra current draw to trip that breaker (and start a fire). If anyone is having difficulty doing this, I strongly recommend that an electrician or some one with electrical experience inspect the circuits.
A little review of 'history' is needed here!
Back when the 3/4hp Mark 5 was a new born, very few houses had 20A branch circuits, and, few had breakers. Screw in fuses were the order of the day.
Time delay fuses were recommended as well as the turning speed down to stop/start. A 'dedicated' branch was very rare. There were no such things as kitchen circuits and bathroom circuits. An entire house often had only 4 branch circuits(excluding stove, water heater etc.) and were connected all over the place.
About a decade later when the 1 1/8 hp motor emerged things were somewhat better, but the stop/start instruction remained.
For those reasons I am of the opinion that it is a carry over from that period.
Today however a 20A dedicated branch will preclude the need to crank it down. A 15A branch will also be adequate if few other things are connected, but the dimming will be noticeable(and slow the start up time).
All that assumes properly functioning devices(plugs, outlets (receptacles), cords, panel breaker etc). Shouldn't anything be getting 'hot'!