3-in-1 motor or electrical problems

This forum is dedicated to those hobbyists with the 3-in-1 metalworking machines. Mill-Drill-Lathes. Tips, techniques, modification and use of these machines is topical.

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Sgtdonf
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:15 pm

3-in-1 motor or electrical problems

Post by Sgtdonf »

Hi all,

I have a Wholesale tool 3-in-1 (AKA Harbour freight 44142 or Grizzly 2729) and have had some problems. When I first got it the lathe motor ran fine but the mill motor was very noisy, got real hot, and threw the circuit breaker on the outlet after a few seconds. At that time I figured I had a problem with the motor or maybe with the capaciter, but not real sure. Well, now that problem somehow fixed itself and the lathe motor is doing the exact same thing that the mill motor was. Has anyone else experienced this? Is it in the wiring? Maybe a bad switch??? Any help would be so much appreciated!!!

Don
sch
Posts: 277
Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2003 7:51 pm

Re: 3-in-1 motor or electrical problems

Post by sch »

The three common problems with lowend motors of this type are:
1) capacitor, either run or start. The connectors go bad, the capacitor opens
or the capacitor gets hot and exudes electrolyte and goes south. Bad start cap means the motor never gets up to speed and gets hot as all the power stays in the start winding. Caps are cheap, replace all of them.

2) Internal centrifugal start switch fails: a)fails closed, start winding stays in circuit and motor never gets upto speed and over heats.
b) fails open, start winding permanently disconnected, motor won't start
gets hot. Start switch makes an audible click when the motor powers down and coasts down, somewhere in the few hundred rpm range the switch closes. Since start up normally is so fast you don't hear any noise at start up.

3) Less common other foibles: motor is dual voltage 110/220 and is internally wired wrong for the power supply you are using. Electrical switch (machine on off switch) has failed or is intermittent or miswired. Look at the manual, trace all the connections and verify what you have versus what the manual says sposed to be. If the Grizzly site has the manual in pdf form take a look, in my experience the Griz manuals are great and may be a LOT clearer than the Chinese manual that came with the machine. That was true for my lathe.

Steve
Sgtdonf
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2005 1:15 pm

Re: 3-in-1 motor or electrical problems

Post by Sgtdonf »

Thanks for the good Info. I will replace the caps, thats not a biggie at all. If it is the Internal centrifugal start switch and it fails at closed, what if anything can I do to fix it. What you describe in either the cap or the centrifugal start switch sounds exactly like the malfunction that I am experiencing. Besides changing the caps, is there anything else that I can do? Again, thanks for your insight!!!

Don
sailingamerican

Re: 3-in-1 motor or electrical problems

Post by sailingamerican »

That is one good thing about Grizzly even though I am not fond of them they do have better motors and berrings in their machines than HF and all the other off brands.
sch
Posts: 277
Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2003 7:51 pm

Re: 3-in-1 motor or electrical problems

Post by sch »

To get to the start switch you have to take the motor endbell off. The motor shaft bearings are usually in the endbell so a bit of a tug is needed to remove the bell.
It will usually be the bell opposite the driveshaft end. The switch contacts may be burned or rough and a bit of smoothing may effect a cure, ie emery paper or a diamond file. The one motor I had with a bad switch cost $60 for a new switch at a local repair shop (good US made motor, but borderline on being worth it 15yrs ago). Three of the four caps on my 3n1 failed, on other 3n1 groups variable problems with caps have been reported. Fortunately they are cheap $2-4, and easy to find
and not critical as to capacity (+/- 25%), only voltage. The switch is centrifugal, it cuts out the start winding as the motor gets above a few hundred rpm, then closes with an audible click when the motor is turned off. This is an unlikely failure mode but does happen. Check the other stuff first. Steve
FredR
Posts: 1638
Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2003 10:49 am
Location: Cedar Park, Texas, USA

Re: 3-in-1 motor or electrical problems

Post by FredR »

Hi all,

I have a Wholesale tool 3-in-1 (AKA Harbour freight 44142 or Grizzly 2729) and have had some problems. When I first got it the lathe motor ran fine but the mill motor was very noisy, got real hot, and threw the circuit breaker on the outlet after a few seconds. At that time I figured I had a problem with the motor or maybe with the capaciter, but not real sure. Well, now that problem somehow fixed itself and the lathe motor is doing the exact same thing that the mill motor was. Has anyone else experienced this? Is it in the wiring? Maybe a bad switch??? Any help would be so much appreciated!!!

Don

I had a problem with my Griz blowing caps. They ended up replacing the motor buit it probably was due to not enough current for the machine. So make sure your on a high enough amperage circuit that the unit requires. Just because you breaker may say it's a 15-20amp breaker, doesn't mean it's providing 15-20 amps to run the machine.

Fred
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