AO Smith motor rebuild

[richardrouse]

AO Smith stator / frame with bad black lead

20151009_083350.jpg (222.8 KiB) Viewed 2208 times

Good Morning,



Before I put my new toy into service, I wanted to check it over to make sure that it was in as good a condition as it appeared to be in. and let's face it... these things are a blast to take apart and put back together.

aside from the normal bearing replacements that would need to be made on an old machine, some of the wiring leads were absolutely shot. I'm just wondering what any of you have done in similar situations.

I've posted a picture, this is the stator / frame from an AO smith 1 1/8 HP motor. As you can see the black lead is shot. Not only is the insulation cracked, most of the strands are brittle as well. Unfortunately, this brittleness continues all the way to the windings.

I'm tempted to cut the twine to re-solder the black lead... but I'm getting into un-charted territory for myself. At least that little voice has become wise enough that it recognizes when "there be dragons here."

[JPG]

Depending upon it's age, the insulated wires may have crimped splices rather than solder. That creates a need to strip enamel off the wires prior to soldering.

Getting at the splices with sleeve insulation(and likely varnished as well) can get problematic.

Other than that, the caveats are the make sure no wires get nicked, nothing is put in an interfering location and new splices are adequately insulated.

Small plastic cable ties can replace the cut lacing cord.

Finally make sure you keep track of old vs new wire colors. EDIT: I reread your post and realize you are only considering replacing the black wire.

[JPG]

P.S. I am concerned about the piece of white/red wire that appears to be just lying there?????

[richardrouse]

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to give it a shot later today or this weekend. the red and white wire is the wire that gets soldered to the board that holds the contacts for the brushes. I clipped that off because it was literally hanging on by two strands.

[JPG]

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to give it a shot later today or this weekend. the red and white wire is the wire that gets soldered to the board that holds the contacts for the brushes. I clipped that off because it was literally hanging on by two strands.

Ain't no brushes!

That is the start switch.

[richardrouse]

Oopsy! I thought those were brushes! I guess that's why it had contacts on it. Motor rePair is not my strong suit

[richardrouse]

I've repaired the leads, which wasn't a huge deal and gotten the motor back together, However... it is now running for a minute then tripping out my breaker.

It pulls 45 amps in both directions and buzzes like hell while running.

The capacitor tests ok...

Any other thoughts?

[JPG]

I've repaired the leads, which wasn't a huge deal and gotten the motor back together, However... it is now running for a minute then tripping out my breaker.

It pulls 45 amps in both directions and buzzes like hell while running.

The capacitor tests ok...

Any other thoughts?

Start switch functioning?(opening up?).

[richardrouse]

How do I test for that?

[jsburger]

I've repaired the leads, which wasn't a huge deal and gotten the motor back together, However... it is now running for a minute then tripping out my breaker.

It pulls 45 amps in both directions and buzzes like hell while running.

The capacitor tests ok...

Any other thoughts?

Start switch functioning?(opening up?).

That was my first thought.