Wiring Grizzley Planer

[mwechtal]

I hope this is the right place for this.

My dad has had a Grizzley Planer for quite a few years. The switch kept filling up with shavings, and required cleaning fairly often. The last time this happened was back in the spring. Dad decided that the switch wasn't fixable any more, and bought a new one that's sealed. Mounting it is a bit of a hastle, but he's been handling that type of thing all his life.

The problem is the wiring. After disassembling the whole shebang for cleaning he broke a bone in his foot. Now that it's healed, he's not sure how the thing was wired. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif We have a red, black and green wire on both the power cord, and the motor. The switch is a dpdt, so both the hot and neutral wires will be switched. I'm 90% sure the green wire is ground on both the cord and the motor, but I can check that with a multi-meter. The problem is the two other wires. Does anyone know which would be the hot and neutral wires? Is there some way I can tell? If we were to get the hot and neutral backwards would that be a safety or smoke release type issue?
/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
Thanks!

 

[Youare]

From your description of the power cord is the motor runs on 110 VAC, which can be determined from
the motor rating plate or the outlet you plug it into. The green wire is generally ground, this can be
checked with a multimeter the green wire and th round ground lug on the three prong plug.

The red wire is most likely equal to the white wire on most american plugs, I am asuming Grizzly
is wired in Twain. You may be able to determine this from the plug also, of the two flat prongs
is one of them a little wider than the other, if it is this is your common or netural white wire.
The black wire is your "hot" wire and will be connected to the flat prong which is narrow one.

On a 110 VAC single voltage motor is really should not make any difference which wires you connect
together. Just besure you check the motor rotation or the cutting head rotation to make sure it is going
in the proper direction.

Randy

 

[_RaT_]

Is the motor in fact 120V or is it 240V. If it's 240V, you will switch both the red and black wire. If its 120V, you should only be switching the hot wire. If it is 120V, get some white tape and re-label either the black or the red wire as neutral which ever one is actually neutral. Green should indeed be ground. You description makes me think you have a 240 V motor. What are it's specifications, particularly the HP, AMP and Voltage. Some motors go both 120V and 240V with a simple wire switch within the motor.
P.S. if it is 120V, rememeber that 120V receptacles are polarized. The neutral is the longer of the 2 slits as seen on the front of the outlet. It is important to maintain this relationship. Rat...

 

[Phred]

I agree. Sounds like you have a 240V motor or some one used the wrong color wire to hook it up.

It is common to use red and black wires in 240V wiring to denote that both are hot 180 degrees out of phase. For this type of wiring you would not need a neutral (the white wire)unless the saw requires 120V also, which is unlikely.

So check the motor plate for voltage.
If no markings then check the power to the saw. Put a meter across the black to green (you should get 120V AC) and then across the red to green (you should also get 120V AC) and then across the black to red (you should get 240V AC).
Just be very careful....
If you cut off the power, connect the meter leads up using clips, and then turn the power back on it will reduce the chance of getting shocked. You may have or can get a set of cables for a meter that have aligator clips rather than probes. Use electrical tape to wrap the ends of the leads if their is a chance a exposed lead may touch the metal saw frame or you by accident.

If the motor is 120V and the wrong wire was used you should get 120V from black to green and from black to white (red in you case?) and nothing from white (red in your case?) to green.

Fred

 

[Wingnut]

Grizzley doesn't make any "small" planers that I'm aware of ... so it's VERY likley that it's a 240v setup.
Which the red/black/green wire setup seems to indicate ... I was very surprise dthe first time I encountered this - wiring my 3hp dust collector .... I'm looking, scratching my head, thinking "where's the neutral?".

pete

 

[mwechtal]

Youare,
This is a dual voltage motor 110/220, that is currently wired for 110v. This is a fairly old machine, and it was probably wired in Tiwan. I understand they use only US made motors now, so the new ones are probably wired in the US.

Thanks.
Mike

 

[mwechtal]

RaT,
Like I said in the reply to Youare, it's a dual voltage motor wired for 110v. Is there a problem if we switch both wires on a 110v circuit?

I probably won't get to dad's until next weekend to check the motor plate for the specs. It's probably a 1/2hp motor.

I will check for some indication of what is suposed to be neutral and hot on the motor.

Thanks for the tip on which blade is the neutral. I can follow that through OK.

 

[mwechtal]

Phred,
Thanks for the hints. I've got some clip leads, and believe me I'll be carefull. I know that the color code is wrong for this country, but it was probably wired in Tiwan, and given that it's a dual voltage motor, that complicates matters.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[mwechtal]

Pete,
I mis-typed. It's not a planer, it's a jointer. I usually only have time to read and post at lunch time, so I was cruising along a bit too fast. In my defense, they really do the same thing, well ok not really but kinda....... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Mike

 

[_RaT_]

I'm not sure if code allows simaltaneous switching of a neutral and a hot. It does not allow for switching of the neutral only. Personally, if it were me and I had a dual voltage motor and only had 120V available and I had a switch setup where both leads were switched, I'd leave it that way. Rat