Shopsmith Forums

I am resurecting a old 500............when I plugged it in I tripped a breaker........the book says the circuit should be atleast 15 amps .....which there is a 15 amp breaker for the whole 1.5 car garage.....do I just add a bigger breaker to the breaker panel or will I need an electrician??

cianci wrote:I am resurecting a old 500............when I plugged it in I tripped a breaker........the book says the circuit should be atleast 15 amps .....which there is a 15 amp breaker for the whole 1.5 car garage.....do I just add a bigger breaker to the breaker panel or will I need an electrician??

Hi and welcome to the group. Lots of good advise here.

Start out by trying to determine the reason for the circuit tripping. This video may help you decide how you want to approach the issue.

http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Arch ... rn_Pt2.htm

Cianci - Don't add a bigger breaker. We all want to power these up, at least briefly, to see if they run.

If the speed control dial was moved while the machine was not on, this is a common occurance. Put the sanding disk on and turn it counter clockwise while moving the speed control dial back to slow. Then plug it in and turn it on. Chances are the breaker will not blow.

If it does.......start pulling 'er apart. There a multiple sawdust session videos on this including one that shows how to test the motor out a the SS.

Good luck! We're all here to help.

Hi Cianci and welcome to the forum! I would call an electrician and see what coud be done about the power. When it comes to electricity, I woud rather have the pros look at it. It has been my experience that between dust collection and running the Shopsmith at the same time that it's easy to trip a breaker. While you're at it, it might be a good idea for them to check the wiring as well.

BPR

ryanbp01 wrote:Hi Cianci and welcome to the forum! I would call an electrician and see what coud be done about the power.
BPR

Only after posts #2 and #3 fail.

Cianci:

Welcome to the forum.

When I first got my 500 back in '83, I had the typical garage, two 15 amp 120V circuits, and they were not exclusive to the garage either. I soon got the DC3300 dust collector and found that running both the Shopsmith and the dust collector was a sure fire method to suffer a breaker trip. I had an electrician run a 12 gauge line from a 20 amp breaker over to the wall and install a recepticle about 42" above the floor. This solved my problem.

mickyd wrote:Only after posts #2 and #3 fail.

FIRST THING to do is to put it on a dedicated 20 amp curcuit, with 12 ga wire. Then see what happens.

cianci wrote:I am resurecting a old 500............when I plugged it in I tripped a breaker........the book says the circuit should be atleast 15 amps .....which there is a 15 amp breaker for the whole 1.5 car garage.....do I just add a bigger breaker to the breaker panel or will I need an electrician??

If your Shopsmith is a Greenie (3/4 hp) it will run fine on a 15 amp breaker. If your Shopsmith is a later model (1-1/8 hp) you probably need a 20 amp circuit. You actually need to look at the motor itself to verify the HP of the motor that is currently installed. Since pretty much all Shopsmith parts are interchangeable, someone may have upgraded the innerds to more recent parts. My Shopsmith looks like a Greenie but its inner parts have all been replace with newer parts. You might replace your breaker with a slow-blow breaker. When a motor starts up there is usually some type of surge that might exceed the normal capacity of the breaker. That is what a slow-blow breaker helps you overcome.

Check out the SS maintenance video. Pull the motor drive belt off and try running the motor without any load.

Just to reiterate what these other fine folk have told you: You must knot replace a 15 amp breaker with a 20 amp breaker unless the wire size on that circuit is 12ga or larger. If the house came with that 15 amp breaker, it is highly likely that the wire on that circuit is only 14ga. Doing so (changing the breaker) is knot only illegal (knot to code), you can start a fire, as the wire can overheat before the larger breaker will trip.

HEED #5 and #9!:)