Shopsmith Forums

Well, I've gotten myself into another fine mess. On a 1956 ShopSmith, the power cord was shot so I decided to replace it. While I was at it, I thought I'd replace the cord from the safety key box/receptacle to the motor. That should be easy.
By the time I got all the pieces out, the wires were all disconnected and pretty much rotted through.
So, I've got a motor with 3 wires coming out of it, A relay? with 3 terminal posts, a capacitor with 2 posts and a switch with 4 posts ... and a power cord ready to attach to something.

From the motor:
A white wire connecting to the left side of relay with a long wire and spade connector attached to that.
A red wire connecting to the right side of relay
A short green wire with a spade connector.

On the capacitor:
A black wire running to the right side of relay
An empty terminal post.

The relay has 3 wires attached as explained above.

The switch has nothing attached yet but did have a black, a white and a green wire attached.

The colors of the wires are guesses because they have all turned very dark over the years.

Can anyone offer any guidance to this silly old man who should have been more careful when he was taking this apart?

pastor99 wrote: . . .
So, I've got a motor with 3 wires coming out of it, A relay? with 3 terminal posts, a capacitor with 2 posts and a switch with 4 posts ... and a power cord ready to attach to something.

From the motor:
A white wire connecting to the left side of relay with a long wire and spade connector attached to that.
A red wire connecting to the right side of relay
A short green wire with a spade connector.

On the capacitor:
A black wire running to the right side of relay
An empty terminal post.

The relay has 3 wires attached as explained above.

The switch has nothing attached yet but did have a black, a white and a green wire attached.
. . .

An ohmmeter would be helpful.


Both drawings show a wire at the 'top' of the motor.

Resistance between that wire and the two at the bottom will vary. One will be less than one ohm.(run) Connects to the capacitor and the switch.

The other will be very few ohms.(start) Connects to relay #2.

Thanks for that. One of the things confusing me is that the motor has only 3 wires, red, white and green.

pastor99 wrote:Thanks for that. One of the things confusing me is that the motor has only 3 wires, red, white and green.

Made in the days before green meant ground.

I believe the original colors were white, black and red.

White is the 'common' lead(connects to both the run and the start windings), black (run) and red(start).


Your 'green' motor wire most likely was black originally.

First time you turn it on, be prepared to quickly turn it off(just in case).

I gave it a shot while the motor was out of the head and it seems to work. Thank you very much for your help.