Hoover Motor in Viceroy Lathe

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gnwt76
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed 18 Jul , 2018 20:17 pm
Hardware/Software: windows 10

Hoover Motor in Viceroy Lathe

Post by gnwt76 » Thu 30 Jun , 2022 9:02 am

I am experiencing a staring problem with the drive motor in my lathe. It is a Hoover induction motor and has a habit of occasionally failing to start. Switch it on and I get a buzzing noise, switch off tap the motor, switch on again and off she goes. Then after a few stops and starts I get the same problem and have to tap the motor to get it to start. A bit frustrating! I dismantled the motor, cleaned up the points on the centrifugal switch mechanism and it was ok for a few weeks then the problem reoccurred. Examinging the switch I see that the pivot for the lever sits in an elongated hole (slot), is this how it is made as it does not appear to be worn? Do I try a new capacitor? Opinions seem to vary on capacitors, some say they just fail and do not get 'lazy'. What capacitor do I fit? The one in it is a paper one marked DALY 80/125 micro farad 275 volt RMS. I took the motor to an electrical company who said the motor was good but only wanted to sell me a new motor. That is ok but it means reborning the drive pulley to 19mm (now 15mm dia) and fitting to a new bed mounting plate which is quite a lot of work if it is only a simple problem to fix.
Any advise and suggestions!
Thanks
Gary

LesT
CNC Expert
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Posts: 117
Joined: Wed 11 Aug , 2010 14:17 pm
Hardware/Software: An old Viceroy with a half installed invertor drive,(when I can decide where to put the control pushbuttons I will wire it up properly)
A WMD25V mini mill.
Tractor, Bobcat 320, and Dumper truck.
7 sheds, about 5 (?) mowers. etc, etc.
Location: Scotland !

Re: Hoover Motor in Viceroy Lathe

Post by LesT » Thu 30 Jun , 2022 19:55 pm

Hi,
If the motor just sits and buzzes when its powered up it sounds like the winding which generates the starting rotation is not working. The centrifugal switch could be faulty, the fact that you say you can tap it and then it starts sounds like a bad contact somewhere, could be the switch contacts or even another part of the circuit. You will need to check the continuity all through the starting winding and switch.

Les.T.

DavidB
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Re: Hoover Motor in Viceroy Lathe

Post by DavidB » Thu 30 Jun , 2022 21:45 pm

Sounds like it may be the capacitor, if you don't have a meter with a capacitor test range then you could just try and spin the motor shaft manually and see if it starts. If a bad capacitor it should spin up. I've known a few people that got used to doing just that and when the cap was replaced the machine went back to starting as it should. In my case when the cap failed it resulted in a blown fuse but that was a 2hp motor.

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