All About Electric Motors & Shop Wiring *LINK*

[Garrett in Victoria]

Here's a useful link to an article covering all aspects of motors and written in plain language.

Cheers, Garrett


Motors, Switches, Wiring, etc. (http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/elec-mtr/elec-mtr.html)

[Andrew in Ayr]

Perhaps some good information in the article, however, some aspects make me cringe.... such as when the guy said he is using the same recepticles for 110 as for 220... wow... even goes on to mention that this would not meet code, but "I find this practise acceptable for a home workshop", he says. This means he could take his 110v table saw and plug it into his 220 outlet. Poof goes the motor on said table saw!

I would recomend not taking advise from someone such as this.

[Tim in Hamilton]

I don't think that it's so much a problem of ruining your own equipment, as it is a problem when others find out. I could imagine if a fire insurance claim was ever made, the discovery of non-code wiring could let the insurance company cancel the policy and return the last premium rather than paying out the claim.

Or, if the house is sold without removing such circuits and the new owner is injured, there's bound to be a lawsuit.

(The part at the end about testing capacitors with an ohmmeter should say to discarge the capacitor first, then test, too.)

I think that article is generally good -- it's just when the author strays into "hillbilly engineering", like being too cheap to buy a real 240v recepticle and plug, or using clear plastic tubing rather than flexible electrical conduit, that he gets onto thin ice.

Tim

[Jack in London]

If you want information on motors or wiring, it is best to go to a manufacturer's or regulator's website. I like NEMA, they have a good section on motors. Several motor manufacturers have good information too. They do expect the reader to have knowledge of electricity and power but at least the information they provide is correct.

Electricity can kill you. More likely it can cause fires, fires inside walls. You can do some wiring yourself but if you don't KNOW what to do, maybe spending $75 per hour on an electrician isn't a bad idea.

Did you know that the fault current capability for a typical household service is in the order of 20,000 amps? If you drop a screwdriver across the bus, you are getting 20,000 amps through that screwdriver. That is 4.8 million watts or over 6000 horsepower dissipated in that screwdriver. When that happens, you have incredible heat built up in that screwdriver. And it happens literally in a flash. The metal in the screwdriver spends very little time in a liquid state. it goes from solid to gaseous instantly. The expansion is tremendous...you have an explosion. Goggles or a face shield will do very little for you. Even if you were to survive, you likely would not have a face anymore.

We aren't talking about losing some fingers or an arm here, we are talking about your life or the life of your family. We spend $1000 or more for one saw, a couple of hundred for an electrician might be smart.