Shopsmith Forums

So I have a shopsmith (I think it is a Mark V). The motor is not working properly. I turn it on and you hear it buzz but not turning. Currently I have taken the motor out of the shopsmith. Now when I turn it on it still buzzes and it also oscillates back and forth 10 or 15 degrees. I know the capacitor is ok. Any other ideas as to what the problem maybe. I have read on here that something to check is the start winding contact but I am not sure where that is. Any help/guidance would be great.

First step is probably to blow out all of the sawdust. You might want to go ahead and open it up and make sure you've cleaned it all out.

How do you know that the capacitor is good?

What brand and HP is your motor? Yes, it is the centrifugal switch or start relay not working that will cause this common motor problem. Many times, just blowing the sawdust out of the motor with compressed air will solve the problem.

You can contact me off-line if the motor still does not work and we will work on a solution for your problem. Thanks.

It is a GE 1 1/8 HP motor. I checked the capacitor with an ohm meter. I blew all of the dust out of the motor and I still can't get it to work. I actually completely took to motor apart. I assume that the starter switch is the part that springs up and down to make contact with a lead that a blue insulated wire connects to. One thing that I saw that may be a problem deals with the containing disc on the shaft side of the motor. When I first took the shopsmith apart I found a bolt in the bottom of the housing under the motor that looked like it had come off of something and got caught since it was bent. I later found that this bolt was one of two that go through the top plate of the motor and into a ring. When snugging these bolts down the motor shaft bearing is clamped in place. I can see a blackened area in the windings on the shaft side of the motor (I assume that this is where the bolt fell). Do you have any other ideas to try?

shwacknyon wrote:It is a GE 1 1/8 HP motor. I checked the capacitor with an ohm meter. I blew all of the dust out of the motor and I still can't get it to work. I actually completely took to motor apart. I assume that the starter switch is the part that springs up and down to make contact with a lead that a blue insulated wire connects to. One thing that I saw that may be a problem deals with the containing disc on the shaft side of the motor. When I first took the shopsmith apart I found a bolt in the bottom of the housing under the motor that looked like it had come off of something and got caught since it was bent. I later found that this bolt was one of two that go through the top plate of the motor and into a ring. When snugging these bolts down the motor shaft bearing is clamped in place. I can see a blackened area in the windings on the shaft side of the motor (I assume that this is where the bolt fell). Do you have any other ideas to try?

Need pix to interpret these words.

Sounds like the SS was neglected and needs some serious maintenance. This is a common occurrence here and i have read similar posts many times before and I am sure the guy's who have been here longer than I have heard them even more than I. You should check out the Sawdust Sessions free for the viewing on the Shopsmith website. There are many links here somewhere to them and maybe someone who has them close at hand can repost them. The machine needs regular cleaning and lubrication like any piece of quality machinery. Without it things will cease to function pretty fast. The Shopsmith is a very robustly engineered piece of equipment but can and will succumb to lack of regular maintenance. If you could post pics of the motor we could see what is really going on and give you some solid advice as to how to proceed.

These pictures show the motor taken apart, what I think the start switch is, and the blackened area in the coils. Will any other pics be helpful?

I have also noticed that when I turn the motor on (when it is not in the shopsmith) that rotates to one of 2 positions. These two positions are 180 degrees from each other. I don't know if that helps at all but it is something that is happening. At this point I would be very surprised if saw dust is a problem. If I were to guess I would say that either the coils are bad or I have something hooked up wrong.

I am in the electrical business and have sold motors in the past. That burnt spot is shorting out your coils. Unfortunately it is time to get another motor.

Is there any way to clean up the area and fix it (re insulate the wires with some sort of spray)? If not is this something that I can take to a motor repair shop and they can fix? Last option, what is the best way that you all have found to get a new motor?