need some sort of strain relief for wiring a motor

ARC-170

ARC-170

Jeff L.
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Oct 17, 2018
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I hope this is the right forum for this issue. I have an Atlas/Craftsman lathe that I'm restoring. The wiring from the power cord just hooks up directly to the contacts on the motor. It just hangs there, putting a constant strain on the contacts. It appears the plate that covered this area is missing. I'd like to wire this up so the power cord comes in to some sort of junction box/terminal box, then out to the motor and switch.

In the image, the wire with the red terminal and the white wire at top are from the power cord. The wire hooked to the twist connect is to the switch and the other wires come from the switch. The original owner just used power cord for all the wires, so there are extra wires.

IMG_20190428_104816347.jpg

I thought I might place a household j-box under the motor. I can't just make a plate to cover the wiring area on the motor because the wires and connectors stick up too far.

Does anyone have pictures of what their machine's electrical hook-ups look like I could use for reference? Any suggestions as to what a solution could be? Thanks!
 
benmychree said:
Seems like it would be easy enough to make a new plate; the semi circular slots in the motor wiring box serve as strain reliefs.
Click to expand...

That's what I initially thought, but the spade connectors stick up too far. I also thought about right angle spade connectors, but they would still stick up too far. It appears that the lathe originally came with a junction box on the motor (there's a sketch in the MOLO). This is a replacement motor, so no box.

I would need to fab up a box of some sort, I think. It's an odd shape, so it wouldn't be easy.
 
ARC: sometimes you can bend down the lugs a bit, then make a new plate with a cardboard insulator inside to prevent shorts-
There are different types of lugs available that have lower profiles including right angle ones. You could also solder the wires to the tabs and use heat shrink tubing perhaps
You don't have to use a standard electrical box- you could fab something custom fit- lots of options
I had the same problem with a bandsaw motor, original dished cover missing- I had to make a flat plate and really stuff those wires in there
 
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You might also heat a piece of plexiglas and mold a cover over a wood form
 
make a new cover plate, punch a 1/2 hole in it and attach a L16 connector or equal.
293707
 
In the mean time at least while you mull it over could i suggest that you at least do a slack loop so that the connections are relieved of strain then zip tie the cord securely to the motor casing . That will keep things intact until you design a better way.
 
What brand motor is it? A local motor shop should have a plate to fit.
 
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