you can't break it any worse by taking it apart!

3/4hp, 110vac reversible motor on my 100+ year old Seneca Falls lathe wouldn't start/run. (Motor MUCH newer than the lathe) Thought I saw magic smoke escaping, assumed it was toast.

Decided I couldn't break it any worse so I took it apart, expecting to find toasted windings. What I could see looked good and no burnt/smoky smell so I investigated further.

Problem #1 - dry bearings. Felts were bone dry in spite of occasionally squirting a shot of oil into the oil caps on the end. They were plugged with sawdust from it's days as a redneck wood lathe.

Problem #2 - Excessive end play in the armature shaft. When the shaft shifted out towards the pully end, the centrifugal start switch was never making contact. Shimmed the armature shaft.

Problem #3 - Dry, sticky centrifugal switch assembly. Cleaned and lubed.

Decided to clean up the wiring and sleeve a couple of bare spots in the insulation while I had it apart. Reassembled and it runs like new.

There's $200 I don't have to find.

Good for you, I tell the guys at work that same thing, if it is already broke it cannot get worse - tear into it. There is always a chance it can be fixed even when it looks hopeless. I would have thought like you, once you let the smoke out it is usually too late.

That's my mantra with the engine for my Lotus project .

Engine didn't run when I bought it, tore it down last week & going over the innards now to see if it's salvageable.

If it ain't broke fix it till it is.

Don't do this....
Don't ask me how I know

Amen

There is a deep lesson here if you are willing to see it.

As a boy I was interested in all things mechanical. I would/could take apart anything that was broken to see how it worked. The reassembly process was rarely successful.
As I continued that development process there were small successes. This was encouraging. As I grew older and older the reassembly became a bit more successful. Not as much went to scrap. Unknown and unappreciated by me at the time, I was also developing a knowledge base of how things work and can be made to work.
Now, at 64, there is very little that is mechanical that I am reluctant to tear into. Most often when I do it finishes by running better than it has in a long time.
The above is an extremely brief condensation of my life, there are many stories along the way that add color and interest to it, but that is not the point.
I believe the evolution is there to see. Many of you, on reflection will see it in your own lives. For me it has been a focus on doing and pursuing what interested me.

Here we can take the lesson - nurture it in others, youngsters that show interest, even a little bit.

If you are this far along, let’s go for a short story -

My wife and I moved to Hanover a bit less than 40 years ago. While in our apartment I had a little work to do on the trailer of my 14’ Hobie Cat. With the axle up on blocks I took one of the wheels off. Next door was another tenant with a couple of young kids. I called the boy over, maybe 7 years old and 15’ away, and had him help my put the wheel back on. He got to screw in the lug bolts with his fingers, maybe snugged them with a ratchet. Interested, he was eager to help.
End of that story, he went home, I probably went sailing.
30 years later.. A young man walks up to me in Lowe’s. “Are you Mr. Erickson?” Yes. “I was that boy, your neighbor, who helped you with your trailer….. I wanted to tell you, that day set me on a path to working with my hands. I have a shop, I work on cars for people, do custom work, you should stop by sometime, thank you.”

Nurture our future ladies and gentlemen. Plant a seed.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris42:
30 years later.. A young man walks up to me in Lowe’s. “Are you Mr. Erickson?” Yes. “I was that boy, your neighbor, who helped you with your trailer….. I wanted to tell you, that day set me on a path to working with my hands. I have a shop, I work on cars for people, do custom work, you should stop by sometime, thank you.”

Nurture our future ladies and gentlemen. Plant a seed.

What a great story. I bet you felt a glow in your heart/soul. Well done sir!

quote:

you can't break it any worse by taking it apart!

Plus, worst case, you learn from the experience.

Glad your situation turned out best case.

Also, kudos to Chris42 - great to hear you inspired that youngster into his lifelong career.

@Chris42

Kind of the story of my life. As a little guy, maybe 6 or 7 years old, I'd grab a screwdriver and go around the kitchen tightening all the cabinet and drawer pulls.

Anything Dad junked got disassembled and inspected and (like you) at least partially reassembled.

At 15, Dad bought me a Honda Super 90. I immediately learned to do all my own maintenance. Some of my "tuning" was no doubt detrimental to performance, but priceless in terms of experience.

I went on to a career of fixing things: Electronic, electromechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, structural...pretty much anything. Much of it as a "professional", the rest as a hobby or DIY.

I tell people I'm just too stupid to know I can't do it. Sure, there have been failures and times when it would have been cheaper to let a pro do it in the first place, but over all it's been useful.

And fun.

I was a horrible student and did not do well in school.

My Dad was a tinkerer. I held the light for him, learned to keep the light on the right part by understanding what he was doing and anticipating.

Eventually he found someone that owned an appliance store and got returns that were getting thrown out. Toasters, coffee pots, vacuums, etc.

I started working on them too.

As a teen, I was the guy that fixed everything for friends.

I took jobs that were not for me and at the end of the day I went to my work bench to fix something to relax.

Eventually I left the daily grind world of grocery store, office work, etc and got into a repair job in the printing industry as a pre press tech. Then I started my own pre press repair business.

Now I fix major appliances. Good work, very remunerative and suits me well.

Not bad for a poor student with limited college.

It all starts when you are young.

Makes me think about my grandson. He took AP courses in Junior and Senior years. However, 1/2 days for both years he went to a Community College and took Welding classes. Knocked out his Freshman year in college and just spent 2 months in Alaska welding. He wants to be a Doctor, but he's a gearhead too.

.....and, with today's technology, you can snap a photo with the cell phone so you can remember what goes where. In the past, taking something apart, I thought I could remember "red wire goes to left screw", or looking at my handwritten notes "hmmmm, does "GR" means green wire or grey wire?

quote:

Originally posted by cndrdk:
.....In the past, taking something apart, I thought I could remember "red wire goes to left screw", or looking at my handwritten notes "hmmmm, does "GR" means green wire or grey wire?

That's why there is no " gray " wire . It's " Slate " , abbreviated SL .

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:

quote:

Originally posted by cndrdk:
.....In the past, taking something apart, I thought I could remember "red wire goes to left screw", or looking at my handwritten notes "hmmmm, does "GR" means green wire or grey wire?

That's why there is no " gray " wire . It's " Slate " , abbreviated SL .

I also got into the habit of using three letter abbreviations: BLU for blue, BLK for black, etc.

"A Benny saved is a Benny earned."

Abraham Lincoln