Motor Problem - Advice Wanted

Vaughn McMillan

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Went out to the shop this evening to do a bit of work, and lo and behold, my Harbor Freight dust collector won't start up. The motor hums a bit, and then the 120v breaker trips in the subpanel. The impeller spins freely by hand, but even if I give it a push before hitting the power switch, the motor just hums and then the breaker trips. I also noticed the power cord is getting mighty warm when I do try to start the DC.

Is this a sign the start capacitor is shot? :dunno:
 
Running into same problem with my little Jet lathe... the motor just hums, but if you give it a spin it runs just fine... next time I'm over in Athens, TN probably will stop by local electrical shop and see if they have a start cap.... think I can install it myself.
 
I never did update this thread, but I'm pleased to say that the new start capacitor fixed the problem. My DC sucks again. :D

Chuck, it'd probably be a good idea to open up your motor and find out what the value of the capacitor is. Others can correct me if I'm wrong...they may be more universal than I think.
 
I have had mine for about 14 years.

The switch kinda fried but I got it to work.

I now have a remote wireless switch and I leave the manual switch on the dust collector ON all the time.

I just use the wireless remote switch all the time now.

I'm not saying the capacitor is good - I don't know enough to say something like that.

I'm just saying that at some point the switch may go bad as well.
 
Yeah, check the caps for sure, but it could also be a stuck centrifugal switch. In which case, some WD-40 and a nudge with a screwdriver might fix it.

....aah...never mind! I see you fixed it!
 
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