Shopsmith Forums

I wonder why Dusty doesn't seem to have the breaker problem that I have when it's left on high. When my garage/shop was wired I was only allowed one circuit that wasn't GFCI and that is hooked to my air compressor. Now I'm wondering if that may be why my breaker trips if my headstock is on high?
I guess its time to experiment with my air compressor circuit.

AEA wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:54 am I wonder why Dusty doesn't seem to have the breaker problem that I have when it's left on high. When my garage/shop was wired I was only allowed one circuit that wasn't GFCI and that is hooked to my air compressor. Now I'm wondering if that may be why my breaker trips if my headstock is on high?
I guess its time to experiment with my air compressor circuit.

I have two 20amp (non-GFI) circuits in my shop. Each circuit is protected by a 20a breaker and has a duplex receptacle in each of three wall boxes (6 places where I could plug in). My wiring was done by a licensed contractor.

On one wall of the shop, I use one outlet for the dust collector and a different one for the Mark V. My original intent was to use the dust collector on one wall and the Mark V on the other wall. It hasn't worked out that way. Both of these plug into the same 20a circuit. Since I moved into this house three years ago, I have yet to trip a breaker. I am careful to turn on the Mark V first so that the peak startup current has settled before I turn on the dust collector. Some close monitoring of the startup currents and voltage levels has shown me that that peak lasts only a second or two.

The only time I ever tripped a breaker with my Shopsmith was many years ago when I kept it in an unheated garage. It was on a circuit shared with other devices, and the temperature in the garage was sitting at +4 degrees F. To use it at that temperature I had to put it on a separate 20A circuit, remove all accessories, and start it and let it warm up for 5 minutes just idling. After that, it worked great once everything loosened up. Under those conditions, I needed it set to low speed to keep from tripping the breaker. Once it warmed up, it started easily on higher speeds in spite of the low garage temperatures.

That is interesting Garys. I'm somewhat aware of Bismark climate, my wife has relatives in Linton and Strasburg, and we compare our weather. We also are in cold country, single digits have been common for the last few weeks. And my garage/shop has been unheated and uninsulated until last week.
Although I did trip my breaker this summer when I started it up with the speed dial on R and the dust collector was on and it is on the same circuit.

That's great Dusty that you have two non GFCIs. Our local electrical code only allowed me one non GFCI circuit and I suspect that the GFCIs are a bit finicky. The dust collection is a newer addition and I do need to be more careful and start it up after.

This is all great info. I've continually had problems when I restart my Mark V 500 when set at high speed. I thought I was supposed to shut it off set to high speed so as to not stretch the belts too much while it sits idle. Since my belts are still in good shape, (and I'm getting more adept at repairs), I'm not going to worry about this anymore ;-)

mbrand2 wrote: Mon Dec 28, 2020 3:40 pm This is all great info. I've continually had problems when I restart my Mark V 500 when set at high speed. I thought I was supposed to shut it off set to high speed so as to not stretch the belts too much while it sits idle. Since my belts are still in good shape, (and I'm getting more adept at repairs), I'm not going to worry about this anymore ;-)

Bass ackward. Slow is the preferred setting for turn off/on. I typically ignore the setting unless getting ready to change to an SPT.

The belt tension is the same regardless of he speed setting(the floating sheave does that).