Electrical Wiring ?

Mike Turner

Member
Messages
361
Location
Laurinburg NC
I noticed the previous owner had put a longer orange drop cord on it.I was checking it out and saw a bad spot in the wire so I wanted to cut that place out and wire it back.The place was near where it goes to the switch..I untaped what previous owner had done and saw a piece of the ground had a naked place on it .It had tape on it..The ground wire from the motor and cord was soldered together together.The neutral wire from the motor and drop cord was soldered together also. The hot was broken through the switch to turn it on and off..

When I cut the bad place out I will have to reconnect these back together..I dont want to buy a soldering iron for this one time use and was thinking about using wire nuts for connecting the ground wires and doing the same on the neutral leads also.I thought about using sta-cons and could do that also.Whatever I would do I would then tape it all up good and secure. What would you guys do? I have had some electrical...enough to understand basic wire etc. All is working good w/o any problems I just want to make this safer.
 
Thats how I feel too Jim. I did wonder about just going all the way to the motor with the wire and have no splice on the ground and neutral but I havent looked inside at how the hook up is...
 
I'd start all over again at the motor. I would think the orange cord on what ever machine you have is a #14 I usually install a #12. Sometimes I have to reach a ways to get to a wall plug so I install 15' of cord. This allows me to get around what ever is in the way & also get out into the middle of the room if need be.
 
You never say what tool this orange drop cord is powering, but I agree with Bart. It'll probably be easier to simply replace the power cord than to put a Band-Aid on the existing one. Safer, too. ;)

Also, wires carrying 120v or 240v are very seldom soldered. Use the appropriate connector for the gauge of wire you're using. Terminal ends like Sta-Kons when you're connecting a wire to a motor terminal...wire nuts when you're connecting a wire to another wire.
 
Don't use wire nuts on vibrating machinery. The will back off with vibration, even if tape is applied over them. Splices in power cords are not a good idea, but if you must, the proper crimp terminals, properly crimped and then taped over will be the safest and best way to repair it, shy of replacing the cord. For 120 volt tools, having a switch that only breaks the black wire is acceptable, if the plug is wired correctly, but using a switch that breaks both the black and the white wires is the safest way, and is an absolute necessity if the tool is single phase 240 volt. Don't risk doing it any other way, and always make certain that the tool is grounded via the green wire that is connected all the way back to the source panel. Do not ever connect the white neutral wire and the green ground wires together. Doing this can risk electrocution when the tool case becomes energized due to a fault in a connection elsewhere.


Charley
(a retired EE)
 
The orange cord is powering the Delta Multi tool which is tablesaw,drill press and jointer. I opened up where the leads go to the motor and havent taken the leads a loose yet.They were wrapped with a little tape and looks to be original or old anyway.Ill untape and look at how its connected at the motor. Thanks guys!
 
I just looked at the connection at the motor.The neutral was connected to the motor with a wire nut.The hot had one of the "U" shaped sta-kon and a bit of solder so it definitely needs to be done all the way to motor..Ive got some #12 wire so I can do this. Is it best to use the "O" shaped sta-kons that you put a small screw through or which ones? Thanks guys for getting me in right direction!!!!
 
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