Shopsmith Forums

I want to replace all of the wiring in my shopsmith. 3 wires go from the relay/capacitor and attach to the mess of copper wires inside the motor. Are there connections inside there that can be replaced before I cut the twine that holds them in place? Thanks.

kmerr98277 wrote:I want to replace all of the wiring in my shopsmith. 3 wires go from the relay/capacitor and attach to the mess of copper wires inside the motor. Are there connections inside there that can be replaced before I cut the twine that holds them in place? Thanks.

The internal splices(internal enameled wires to insulated external wires) are soldered.

JPG40504 wrote:The internal splices(internal enameled wires to insulated external wires) are soldered.

I would assume silver solder which requires more heat (higher temperature) to be done properly.

dusty wrote:I would assume silver solder which requires more heat (higher temperature) to be done properly.

Nope! Not with this vintage. Lately more use of crimped splices.

I would imagine soldered, heat shrink connections are of better quality and reliability than crimp and heat shrink. Maybe not.

kmerr98277 wrote:I would imagine soldered, heat shrink connections are of better quality and reliability than crimp and heat shrink. Maybe not.

Depends upon the solderer and crimper! Best is as described by Dusty(hi temp solder, impossible 'in the field').

Older motors used varnished woven cambric 'spaghetti'.

The few motors I have done were crimped and heatshrinked from the factory. I scraped the enamal off the ends of the bare motor wires*, braided new stranded 12 gauge wire around the bare motor wires, soldered, and then heat shrinked. As long as the replacement crimp connectors are designed for the current and voltage, I think either would be ok.


*post edited to include mention the scraping Bill mentions below.

kmerr98277 wrote:I would imagine soldered, heat shrink connections are of better quality and reliability than crimp and heat shrink. Maybe not.

This is what I do. I use heat shrink tubing over any soldered wire connection. At least 1" beyond the bare wires. I try not to use any wire twist connectors, electrical tape or liquid tape when working with motors. I use Push-on Terminal Adaptors or terminal blocks when working with 110/220 VAC motor connections. If I am using insulated Push-on Terminals, I crimp these terminals really hard and tight. You need the proper tool to do a good job of crimping. I find too many terminal connectors have been crimped with pliers or wire cutters and the wire will become loose if the wire is moved very much. If there is going to be any movement of the wires, then I will cover the insulated Push-on Terminals wire end with the heat shrink tubing to prevent some flexing at the crimped wire joint. When using non-insulated Push-on Terminals, I crimp and solder the wire plus using heat shrink tubing over the whole terminal body and about 1" of the wire.

JPG40504 wrote:The internal splices(internal enameled wires to insulated external wires) are soldered.

Be sure to throughly scrape the enamel insulation off the ends of the motor coil wires as this can take a lot of effort. I had a few cold solder joints when I first started working on motors because I did not remove all the enamel insulation material from the coil wires/leads. I have a pocket knife blade that I use just for this task and scrape each wire end many times now. No found any thing that works better at this time to remove the enamel wire insulation.

billmayo wrote:Be sure to throughly scrape the enamel insulation off the ends of the motor coil wires as this can take a lot of effort. I had a few cold solder joints when I first started working on motors because I did not remove all the enamel insulation material from the coil wires/leads. I have a pocket knife blade that I use just for this task and scrape each wire end many times now. No found any thing that works better at this time to remove the enamel wire insulation.

Yep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That varnish is 'durable'!;)