Help : Motor draws too many amps

Yesterday I went to the dumpster. I came back with several motors. One of them, battered, no markings at all but working, seems to be of the resistance start type. Either that or the previous owner somehow started it without the start capacitor. Had a broken centrifugal switch which I fixed. The starting winding is blackened but since the motor starts is must be good. The running winding seems good. The motor runs fast and strong, no humming. The quirk is that it seems to require too many amps to run. To feel some peace of mind, I decided to protect my motors with both a fuse and a thermal breaker (klixon). My nice old 1/3 HP Delco (with apparently had nothing more that a stuck centrifugal, now fixed) draws 6 amps and can use an 8 amp fuse with no problems. This motor from the dumpster, similar in size to the Delco, overheats even a 10 amp fuse enough to weaken it. More than 10 amps seems too much for this kind of motor, so now I wonder if it is meant for 220V instead of 110V. The running windings are similar in size and gauge to the ones in my dear Delco. Any way to check this?

Thanks in advance,

Camilo Ramos.

Reply to
Camilo Ramos
Loading thread data ...

I would guess you have fixed the problem with your 1/3 HP by freeing up the start switch. Full current draw of a 1/3 HP, single-phase motor is aprox. 7.2 amps. You have it fused about right with an 8 amp fuse.

As for the dumpster motor, send it back. It is toast. If that motor really is near 1/3 HP as you seem to indicate, then it the idling current draw of around 10 amps (?) is way too high.

Bob Swinney

Thanks in advance,

Camilo Ramos.

Reply to
Robert Swinney

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.