CONTEST - what was wrong with this motor?

Feb 25, 2010 28 Replies

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What was wrong with that motor? No guess is too stupid to be true (take this as a hint). Answer will be posted in the morning. Winner will receive a free small piece of A2 tool steel, free shipping.



i

Wires screwed to terminals without removing insulation?

D-cell battery in place of starting cap?

no

no

But something even more monumentally stupid.

i

Wires either not connected to anything or all connected to the same terminal inside?

Am I warm about the starting cap being replaced by something strange? Was it a relay in an aluminum can? A tiny electrolytic capacitor? a can of red bull?

If not, then they must have plugged the ventillation holes to keep the dust out.

2 HP, 220-volt, FLA 120? That motor must need one hell of a radiator!

My guess on the motor is a broken wire. But the ebay ad would scare me away from this buyer, therefore, I think the ad is the thing that is wrong with the motor. "Comes from a non-smoking household?" He's kidding, right?

Steve

Ignoramus26960 wrote in news:TrydnVB0PdsZmBvWnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

The seller tried to run it on 120V.

Burned out, frozen solid, bent shaft? It doesn't look like it spent a year underwater in NOLA.

jsw

Everyone had great guesses on dumb things that a motor owner could do or overlook.

Unfortunately, no one guessed right.

The motor was "not running" because the reset button on it was in a popped position.

What was "wrong" with the motor was that the RESET button on the motor needed to be pressed. Once I pressed the RESET button, the motor ran like a champ.

i

OK, here are a few stupid ones:

- nothing at all

- wiring harness not connected to motor

- blown start cap

- connected to a 120V supply

I already posted the answer. "Nothing at all" is the closest answer. It had a RESET button that needed to be pressed.

i

I can believe that, I was once given a delta radial arm saw because the reset button needed pressing.

basilisk

ROTFLMAO

Such people usually say "I am not an electrician".

i

I was looking at an all aluminum pneumatic pogo stick at a yard sale, wondering if it was cheap enough, was it worth buying for the material. I was told it was a freebie because it didn't work anymore, and that certainly made it worth taking home. But once home, I couldn't resist pumping up the air chamber. That's all that was wrong with it, either it leaked down or someone bled the air. My kids had a lot of fun with it...

Jon

Ignoramus2215 wrote in news:3oadnaHaArcY8RvWnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Why had it popped?

That's what "the problem" was...

Does this mean you bought a motor listed as dead?

Wes

10 bucks, okay, but 24 bucks shipping hoping for a lucky break. Was this a local pick up item? I'm trying to figure out how clairvoyant you are when bidding.

Wes

-- "Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller

local pick up

It was 20 bucks shipping to me.

My reasoning to buy it was as follows.

1) The seller has great feedback. This means, without question, that he is an honest person. Dishonest people do not have such feedback. 2) The seller did not know what was wrong with the motor. This means that he knew that it did not "burn out". 3) He clearly had no clue what is wrong with it. This means that it is likely something very simple. 4) If he said something like "probably a bad capacitor", likely it would mean that he is lying, since if it was true he would know how to fix it himself. 5) It is very risky to buy things at a high price because they can be bad. Think of all the clapped out lathes on ebay, where the seller would say something like "X swing, Y HP, power feed". Obviously he is hiding something but wants to make $$$. If someone is selling some item with known problems for a very small amount of $$$, you can be sure there is no profit motive to lie and cheat. 1x

A buyer is coming today to pick it up. I was not very greedy, the buyer is getting a great deal, but let's just say I made some $$$ and has 3 minutes of fun getting it "fixed".

i

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