Need to rewire a Craftsman Radial Arm Saw

[Terry Honeycutt]

Hi, I need to rewire a 70s Craftsman radial arm saw and I don't have the manual. I have tried to get the casing open but for some reason I can't get it open. If anyone has any ideas on how to open the motor and how to rewire it from 110 voltage to 220 voltage it would really help. The model of the saw is 113.19771 and the model of the motor is C48BC102. Thanks

[Bryan Cowing]

The one I have is 110V only. Manual does not give any way to run on 220V. Only saw I know of is the 12 inch model that would run on either voltage and the capacitor and wiring for sears saws is under the arm cover.

[Doug in Little Spain (Pr.]

I have a similar saw from 1973. As Bryan points out, I recall you change the wiring in the area around the switch and not at the motor which would be typical (I may be wrong here - it's been 30 years since I changed the saw to 220 volts).

In any case I have the manual, but it's 10 miles away at my shop. If no one else comes up with the info today, I'll look it up tomorrow.

[Jim in Burlington]

If you can't firgure out how to rewire you can buy a adaptor plug from HD that converts the outlet from 220 to 110 used mostly for people that buy a gas stove but still need power for the stove.

[Bodger]

May I naievly ask why you want to do this? Are you moving to Europe?

I am at a loss to understand why, after 30 years, you would want to change.

Bodger

[Terry Honeycutt]

The reason I am rewiring the saw is to get the extra power for cutting boards with diod blades. The 110 is not enough power to cut as deep as I need. I have done it before with another saw and it works great. I sold that saw so I need to change this one over to 220.

[E. Tonks]

Re-wiring a motor (designed to run on 120 or 240 volts) to run on 220 volts will NOT increase the horsepower output. Motors that are designed to run on dual voltages just change the way the coils in the motor are wired. For 120 volt the coils are in parallel and run on 120 volts each. For 240 volts they are re-wired to run in series, which means together they run on 240 volts, but because they are in series each coil still runs on 120 volts each.

A deducated 240 volt motor MAY have coils that run on 240 volts, and have a stronger starting kick. I know that motors that run on 660 volts (and three phase)have quite a strong starting torque.

If a change of wiring seemed to boost power on a previous motor there must have been a problem with the original power supply. When you re-wired the motor, the change in supply wiring must have been more appropriate for the needs of the motor.

[J.P.Rap(Hamilton)]

Since you draw less amps on 220 V, the improvement you saw may be do to under rated wireing when it was wired for 110.

I would first check the motor for the rated amp draw and ensure your wireing is suited for the task.
If your saw is running on an extension cord, get one with a heavier gage wire.

Rewireing to 220 may help with a startup problem but it's unlikely to make any difference with an "under load" problem.
My 2¢
J.P.

[Rajiv_in_KW]

Do you know for sure that your saw motor can be wired for 220v? I had craftsman electronic RAS & the motor couldn't be rewired. The compressor I posted about recently, cannot be rewired down to 110v either. Just thought I would throw that out at ya...Not all motors can be rewired to different voltage

--Rajiv

[herb kelley]

Two sorta OT thoughts.
113. prefix means that your RAS was manufactured by Emerson Electric. About two years ago they had a recall on RAS if the model was too old thet just offered a nomial cash settlement. If your RAs was new enough they provided a new blade cover and new table boards. Sorry, I do not have the phone # handy but you should be able to do a search on emerson or Sears. I do not know if the recall is still going on. Anyway, Emerson is very good about supporting their products and they have manuals for their products. I believe they will supply a manual for free. Also Sears parts has parts breakdowns on line and may have manuals available. You also get a manual in the recall kit. Hope this helps. Let me know if you need phone # or addresses.

[Ed/Leaside]

The phone # was posted in a current thread. I believe the manual which accompanies the updated blade guard and tables only applies to guard and table. Ed

[herb kelley]

Yes, you are correct Ed.
I get the dum dum award today, because I have in front of me the manual for a 113.19771.
It says "Remove nameplate cover from motor ro expose terminal board". The drawings show that once the nameplate cover is removed you just move the wires. For 240V A.C. /Orange to number 8 and brown to number 7 terminal. They are on terminals 6 and 5 repectively for 110 V A.C.
And yes this model was included in the recall.
Sorry for any confusion caused by my earlier post.

[herb kelley]

See, I did it again the proper voltage per the manual is 120 not 110.

[Ed/Leaside]

My manual for a 113.29441, which is older than yours, has me moving wire nuts to re-connect six colour coded wires. It refers to 115/230 V and the American version is ungrounded.

[herb kelley]

Ed,
This is an American version.
The manual states that the machine must be properly grounded when in use to prevent electrical shock. "If you are not sure that your outlet is properly grounded have it checked by a qualified electrician"
The motor model is C48BC-102.
You made me curious. I removed the motor nameplate and found a terminal board and plastic cover containing an embossed table that gives information on how to change the motor from 120 to 240. The change is made by moving wires from one blade connector to another. Since there may be differences in the Simpson Sears and Sears Roebuck wiring, i.e. grounding as you pointed out Terry may want to get the proper manual from Emerson.
The specs on my unit are 120/240 Volts//11.0/5.5 Amps//3450 RPM//60Hz//1 PH.

[Ed/Leaside]

Herb,
I wasn't going to reply to your post but, while reassembling my franken-lathe [don't ask :)] last night, I took another look at the RAS manual. This RAS must date from a time when CSA and UL were just beginning to adopt modern colour coding conventions (yes, I know, very big assumption). Note it appears that the American wiring illustrations (1&2) use green for power whereas the Canadian (1A&2A) use green for ground. In the interest of safety, I thought you all should know that when working on older equipment, or equipment where you have no manuals or schematics, DO NOT assume that green is ground.
Regards, Ed



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[E. Tonks]

Don't fret the voltages. Many years ago the standard voltage was 110V or 220V. Then they started creeping up to 115, 117 and 120, I occasionally have 125 Volts.

Actually the nominal standard is 115 or 230 Volts. But it can be either 10% under or 10% over voltage before there are problems. This works out to a low of 104/208 up to a high of 126/250 before it is out of range. Of course motors love the higher voltage, but light bulbs burn bright and don't last long. The exact voltage that you get will depend on your local utility and how far you are from the main feeder lines.

[Greg in Toronto]

The benefit you will get with 220 is when under load you are drawing maximum amps. I have 2 tools that will sometimes blow the breaker at that point. In this case your options are to install a 120v, 20 amp circuit or to move to 220v. While rewiring to 220 doesn't provide more power, it allowas you to use the power in the saw under loads.