Drill Press Diagnostic?

[A_Ninja_Racer]

Hey Guys. My Brother recently acquired a 16 Speed Drill press over the weekend. Its a Model: T-583. We Plugged it in today for the 1st time and when I turned it on the Motor didn't seem to have the Juice to get it moving. I grabbed one of the pulleys and gave it a spin and the motor took over and was spinning at what I would expect to see it spin at. I let it run for a little while and then drilled through a 2x4 just to goof around then shut it off and when I turned it back on it was the same thing It couldn't get it spinning until I reached up and gave the pully a quick spin.

I'm wondering what you guys think the problem might be. I've currently got 2 schools of thought on what it could be.

My 1st thought was that it might need a new capacitor. I know you can take them out and test them with a meter but I'm not sure what I should be looking for. Any advice would be appreciated.

My Second thought was that I have it plugged in Via a 25 foot extension cord. I have an air compressor that I know needs to be plugged directly into the outlet if you use an extension cord on it the motor won't have enough juice to turn over the air compressor. My Brain is just telling me that you need a lot more horsetorques on the initial start of an air compressor than you do to start turning a drill.

The drill press is heavy and the cord is short plus it would require a lot of moving other stuff around to get direct access to a wall outlet. Also we did test the 14 inch bandsaw that he got on the same extension cord and didn't have any issues with getting it going.

Please let me know what you guys think and share any advise that you may have.

Obligatory pictures of the test subjects:

 

[woodchucker]

yep, the capacitor is bad, or the centrifugal switch is stuck. The switch when at low speed lets the capacitor add the juice, when up to speed it cuts the capacitor out of the ckt.

 

[markba633csi]

Yep, start circuit problems. Try a new capacitor first, if that doesn't get it then you'll probably have to open the motor up

 

[dirty tools]

Same thoughts

 

[great white]

Another bet on the capacitor.

But that 25 foot cord isn’t doing it any favors either. maybe try sliding it over to an open socket somewhere and try it directly into the plug? Its a relatively quick (and free) check and would eliminate the cord as an issue…

 

[Larry$]

I'd bet the cap is shot. Easy fix. I recently had to replace the capacitor on my old Jet DP.
If someone keeps trying to use it with the shot cap the motor can overheat and be killed. The switch inside the motor cover can also fail to operate but is less likely.
That DP looks very similar to my old Jet. I did some mod to the Jet to make it easier to use. Best ones are adding a spindle lock & depth stop. Lock is the black handle on the left. also a new ball bearing chuck.

 

[silence dogood]

The faceplate on your drill press shows a 1hp 16anp motor. So, your extension cord should be 14 gauge. Your 110 plugins should be rated for 20 amps. You can tell by looking at the plugin. If it's two straight slots with your round ground hole, it's 15 amp. If one of the slots is a sidewise t, then it's 20 amp. You could also check your circuit breaker box, hopefully it's 20amp. And yes, it's most likely a cap.

 

[A_Ninja_Racer]

So We ordered a new Cap and didn't make a difference I also moved the press closer to an outlet and plugged it directly in. This also didn't seem to make a difference. I removed the belt and so that it was just the motor spinning its single pully and it did start turning on its own but it started out really week. Spinning by itself with no other pulleys connected it seemed to run pretty quiet so I'm not inclined to think that there is a bad bearing. Do you have any other recommendations?

Should I pull the motor and replace the bearings? I would say that this is about the limit of my capabilities?

I have seen a lot of videos of people pulling the motors and replacing the bearings and repainting the housings.

Alternatively is there a similar motor that could be swapped out easily? Let me warn you that I have zero understanding of A/C wiring. It is complete witchcraft to me so I would not be interested in swapping to a different "phase" motor. I would only be interested in swapping a like for like option.

 

[Asm109]

When the motor is spinning down after power shut off, Do you hear a click at some point? That is the sound of the start centrifugal switch resetting.
No sound means the switch is stuck in the run position.

 

[A_Ninja_Racer]

When the motor is spinning down after power shut off, Do you hear a click at some point? That is the sound of the start centrifugal switch resetting.
No sound means the switch is stuck in the run position.

Yes you do hear it click.