Shopsmith Forums

Hi all,

The good:
My oldest boy is in high school and loves his wood shop class. As such, he has been begging me to purchase a lathe for him. Today I acquired a "mechanic special" Mark 5 for a great price. Based on the paperwork I got for it, it appears to be an early 80's model. Serial # is: 361087.

The bad:
Even though the lathe has had little use, I purchased the unit with the motor removed and was told it does not work. It does spin freely when I spin it by hand. My question is, how do I go about troubleshooting this motor. (I know I can ship it to one of many repair shops, but I have a feeling this is a simple fix since the unit has little use. And I have been known to fix a few things.)

Motor has three wires coming out. Red, Green and Yellow. They are wired as:

Capacitor <-------Black wire--------> Relay Pin 2
Capacitor <----> Motor Red
Motor Green <----> Relay Pin 5
Motor Yellow <----> Relay Pin 1

Anybody have any idea where to begin? where can I get the diagram for this unit.



Thanx in advance.

ezjamm

I dont know if what you need is in this thread so read through it.
http://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/viewtopic.php?t=12664

I forgot to say welcome to the addiction. I wont offer any advice at this time because of the wiring you described, if it was still mounted and did not run then I would, I am just not that familiar with them since all the used ones I bought ran or just needed a cleaning of the motor. There are others here with more expertise and knowledge then me that will chime in I am sure later today.
A SS makes a great lathe with the variable speed, the only better one is the original model, an ER with a speed changer, more mass, and lower RPMs at the low end, best drill press also.
Oh just dont turn the speed dial unless running or turning the spindle by hand.

I did some more homework and it appears that I have a 1960 model. That may help in understanding the wiring color scheme.

An addiction it is.

Welcome to the forum and congratulations with your new toy...

Mike

I will assume you have a "GE" 3/4 hp motor.

The wire colors are suspect however.

The sketch below is typical.

I agree, I do believe I have a 3/4 HP GE motor based on other pictures I have found here.

However, the colors do not match at all. I only have 3 coming out and they are as described above: Red, Green and Yellow. I don't have a black or a brown.

To add to the confusion, the power cord is only 2 prong. Only hot and neutral. Does not have ground. Hence, no wire to go from power cord to motor. (I will look into adding it once the rest of the wiring is done.)

I have no problem opening up the motor to determine which wire is which. But I don't know what to look for. If I can find a definition of:

"Wire that goes to _____ is the _____."

That would greatly help me once I tear into it. Then I can troubleshoot.

Do these have a thermal switch?

@ Ezjamm> To add to the confusion, the power cord is only 2 prong. Only hot and neutral. Does not have ground. Hence, no wire to go from power cord to motor. (I will look into adding it once the rest of the wiring is done.)
Thats the way they came, 2 pronger, and I replace the cord on my greenie, and no ground internally as JPG drew up, he must have been thinking later models that do.

I found a post that may work for me as far as wiring.

http://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/viewtopic.php?t=3227

As far as the actual picture colors, they match what I have. As far as the diagram, they do not. (Unless I'm going color blind or am seeing a golden dress when in reality it is blue. )

At any rate, I'm going to wire it as per pictures and cross my fingers. Thanx to all who helped out.

One last question though, does this motor have a thermal cut-off switch. I'm guessing it does not.

ezjamm