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It seems to me this is a case of "They don't make 'em like they used to." ...or is it?
The motor pictured here suddenly began running the Accelerator belt backward this past Friday night. I'm willing to bet it isn't more than 10 years old. I came in Saturday morning to do my back-end laundry pickup (we don't have a washer or dryer in our center, so I have to take our rags, ball wipes, lift rod 'underwear', and carpet covers to a laundromat) & I saw a note on the desk stating how the accelerator for lanes 17+18 was running backwards out of nowhere. I've had this "random reversal" sort of thing with a power lift motor in the past (and the thing was a new Dayton I remember). The same single phase, reversible AC motor rules of electromechanical nature apply (capacitor incurred delay, start windings, run windings, and the 180 phase change).
As usual (with nearly every important part or assembly), we had no spare. There were still a few hours before opening time when I came in (so I was by myself in the place...ya know...when you can here every little creepy crackle it's so silent compared to a running house) & getting the laundry out & driving out of there doesn't usually take too long, so I decided to tackle the issue. I'm not the kind of person who just lets things like this sit without any attention.
I turned on one of the machines of the pair & sure enough the accelerator was rolling the belt toward me, but along with that I came an obvious low-tone 'spinning crunch' or 'rubbing & roaring' sound. I ran up the top of the Accelerator and jumped down next to the Acc. Control Box and shut the motor off with the toggle switch. I turned it on again (apprehensively) and let the thing run with my hand on the shell of the motor & within about 45 seconds it got hot enough to fry burgers on, which I was expecting, so again I shut it off. At the motor's wiring cavity, I flipped the Hot & Neutral positions, & as I suspected, the motor began running in the right direction (ccw). However, it was still ' grinding', 'sneering', & I could see blue arching through the motor vent, so I shut the thing off once more.
I then relieved the motor of its load by removing the short Accel. belt & waited about 15 minutes for the thing to cool down (this particular motor has no internal thermal protection. How lovely). Turned the motor on & let it spin on its own, & the symptoms subsided but were nonetheless still present. Then I gave the long accel. belt a few spanks & it was tighter than necessary, so I went to the back of the accelerator & loosened the adjustment, then put the short belt back on (put load on the motor) & same deal. Nasty noises, harsh vibration & quickly heating up.
In a self-conflicted final thought (since this motor is exhibiting symptoms of a start winding timing offset/upset due to either ongoing excessive mechanical strain or even a manufacturing defect), I didn't bother with putting a new capacitor in it. Besides, it is likely we wouldn't have one with the right rated range of capacitance.
Bottom line is, I got it to run in the correct direction, but without a replacement motor on hand, I was maxed out on what could be done about this. Our local motor retailer (Dreisilker.. They have a branch less than a mile from the center) told me they don't have a replacement in stock for us after I gave him the specs.. So much for that. I left a detailed note about all this, stating that the motor WILL NOT LAST, will overheat (pop the wall breaker over and over if you're lucky), and has to be replaced ASAP & left with the laundry, which was my only objective & was going to take 3 hours to do (driving & laundering combined).
This pair of lanes was without a motor & down for the entire shift. By the time I was able to functionally restore and bench-test one of the original motors (GE from 1971) in our back-end graveyard, we were closing (photos of it pre-revival below).
IMG_20221119_082334835.jpg IMG_20221119_082440890.jpg IMG_20221119_082422122.jpg
I'd like to hear some thoughts on this.
Thanks guys.
The motor pictured here suddenly began running the Accelerator belt backward this past Friday night. I'm willing to bet it isn't more than 10 years old. I came in Saturday morning to do my back-end laundry pickup (we don't have a washer or dryer in our center, so I have to take our rags, ball wipes, lift rod 'underwear', and carpet covers to a laundromat) & I saw a note on the desk stating how the accelerator for lanes 17+18 was running backwards out of nowhere. I've had this "random reversal" sort of thing with a power lift motor in the past (and the thing was a new Dayton I remember). The same single phase, reversible AC motor rules of electromechanical nature apply (capacitor incurred delay, start windings, run windings, and the 180 phase change).
As usual (with nearly every important part or assembly), we had no spare. There were still a few hours before opening time when I came in (so I was by myself in the place...ya know...when you can here every little creepy crackle it's so silent compared to a running house) & getting the laundry out & driving out of there doesn't usually take too long, so I decided to tackle the issue. I'm not the kind of person who just lets things like this sit without any attention.
I turned on one of the machines of the pair & sure enough the accelerator was rolling the belt toward me, but along with that I came an obvious low-tone 'spinning crunch' or 'rubbing & roaring' sound. I ran up the top of the Accelerator and jumped down next to the Acc. Control Box and shut the motor off with the toggle switch. I turned it on again (apprehensively) and let the thing run with my hand on the shell of the motor & within about 45 seconds it got hot enough to fry burgers on, which I was expecting, so again I shut it off. At the motor's wiring cavity, I flipped the Hot & Neutral positions, & as I suspected, the motor began running in the right direction (ccw). However, it was still ' grinding', 'sneering', & I could see blue arching through the motor vent, so I shut the thing off once more.
I then relieved the motor of its load by removing the short Accel. belt & waited about 15 minutes for the thing to cool down (this particular motor has no internal thermal protection. How lovely). Turned the motor on & let it spin on its own, & the symptoms subsided but were nonetheless still present. Then I gave the long accel. belt a few spanks & it was tighter than necessary, so I went to the back of the accelerator & loosened the adjustment, then put the short belt back on (put load on the motor) & same deal. Nasty noises, harsh vibration & quickly heating up.
In a self-conflicted final thought (since this motor is exhibiting symptoms of a start winding timing offset/upset due to either ongoing excessive mechanical strain or even a manufacturing defect), I didn't bother with putting a new capacitor in it. Besides, it is likely we wouldn't have one with the right rated range of capacitance.
Bottom line is, I got it to run in the correct direction, but without a replacement motor on hand, I was maxed out on what could be done about this. Our local motor retailer (Dreisilker.. They have a branch less than a mile from the center) told me they don't have a replacement in stock for us after I gave him the specs.. So much for that. I left a detailed note about all this, stating that the motor WILL NOT LAST, will overheat (pop the wall breaker over and over if you're lucky), and has to be replaced ASAP & left with the laundry, which was my only objective & was going to take 3 hours to do (driving & laundering combined).
This pair of lanes was without a motor & down for the entire shift. By the time I was able to functionally restore and bench-test one of the original motors (GE from 1971) in our back-end graveyard, we were closing (photos of it pre-revival below).
IMG_20221119_082334835.jpg IMG_20221119_082440890.jpg IMG_20221119_082422122.jpg
I'd like to hear some thoughts on this.
Thanks guys.
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