Shopsmith Forums

Here's a question for the wisdom of the group. Last year I upgraded to the power pro head stock. It was sent back to the factory to check out and they did a bit of work and returned it and it worked. I have not used it much do to some back problems but am back to wanting to use it. However I plug it in or turn on the toggle switch it pops and the circuit breaker opens. Its on a 220 20 amp circuit and there is nothing wrong with the circuit or wiring as I have run my 220 mig and stick welder and 3hp dust collector with no problem.

If I plug it in to a 120 circuit it pops the GFI since that was what had to be installed in the garage to meet code. I have a 510 that runs fine on the same 120 circuit.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated greatly.

As a point of clarification(and a clue as to where to look for the cause), do the circuit breakers trip with the headstock power switch off?

If so, the problem is up stream(closer to the power company) from the power switch.*

If NOT, the problem is down stream(closer to the internal power supply) from the power switch.*

I would be suspicious of either a loose wire contacting the case or a pinched wire(slow cold flow of the insulation).

If you can measure resistance, check for a short between either non ground prong(the flat ones) and the grounding pin(the u shaped or round one) as well as to the case of the headstock.

* The tripping will occur with the switch off if the shorted conductor is not switched by the power switch.

At first it would blow when I plugged into the outlet but then I reset the breaker and could run the jointer. later this evening it would blow the circuit when plegged in. Tomorrow night I will check to see if there is a loose connection at the switch. If the wires are tight then I suspect I may have a bad switch.

Appreciate you getting me thinking on where to start JPG!

I had the same problem with a lathe that would trip the GFCI, however, the PowerPro would not. Someone suggested a Hospital Grade GFCI outlet, and that solved the problem.

Mike

Read the thread title. Trips 220v circuit breaker.

I do not think this is a gfci problem.

So we have an intermittent situation as well. Makes things a bit more inter .. . . challenging.

Loose/tight wires is not the cause. Wires shorting to case is(I believe).

You said

If I plug it in to a 120 circuit it pops the GFI since that was what had to be installed in the garage to meet code. I have a 510 that runs fine on the same 120 circuit.

If you read the instructions they say not to plug it into a GFI outlet. I plug mine into a regular 110 outlet downstream of the GFI and it works fine. There is something about plugging it directly into the GFI outlets that the PowerPro electronics and GFI circuitry doesn't like.

Are you using an adapter to plug it into the 220 outlet? If so recheck it's wiring. The PowerPro senses which voltage it is getting but must be coming on the correct leads.

chapmanruss wrote:You said

If I plug it in to a 120 circuit it pops the GFI since that was what had to be installed in the garage to meet code. I have a 510 that runs fine on the same 120 circuit.

If you read the instructions they say not to plug it into a GFI outlet. I plug mine into a regular 110 outlet downstream of the GFI and it works fine. There is something about plugging it directly into the GFI outlets that the PowerPro electronics and GFI circuitry doesn't like.

Are you using an adapter to plug it into the 220 outlet? If so recheck it's wiring. The PowerPro senses which voltage it is getting but must be coming on the correct leads.

Hmmmmmm! That makes a lot of sense.

Does it run correctly without any 'adapter' and on a non GFI 120v circuit?

If so, ignore the 'code' requirement. Install a dedicated single receptacle without GFI.

If you were using an adapter to plug into a code correct 230v circuit, thee best concentrate on the adapter for clues why the 230v breaker trips.


If you are code conscious to a fault(pun intended), permanently replace the Power Pro 120v plug with a 230v version and only connect it to a 230v circuit.

Appreciate all the feedback. I will work on it tonight after I get home from my day job that supports all my SS “habits”.

I traced the problem to a bad toggle switch. This is the second swith I replaced. The first one had issues when I bought the unit. I replaced it with a 20 amp, 125-27 250 VAC 1.5HP 125-250 rated switch from ru ru E 60272 LR39145 series 80,000

So I want to up the quality of the toggle switch and if any one has a recommendation to a replacement toggle switch I am open to suggestions.