Holy Smoke (Literally), That Is a New Jointer

[flatheadfisher]

I was milling lumber for the counter top a few minutes ago and the circuit breaker in the main box tripped. I thought that was weird because the jointer had been running for an hour or so and there were no problems. So, I went and reset the breaker and it tripped again before I could get back to the machine. There is a TV, cable box, and fluorescent light on the same circuit. So, I unplugged everything but the jointer and reset the breaker. Before I could run a piece through the machine, it tripped again. So, I turned off the DC and thought I would look inside the panel to see if a chip had gotten hung in the belt or something. When I turned off the DC and got close to the machine, I could smell smoke. But, it didn't smell like the belt. When I removed the panel, I found little wisps of smoke coming from the motor. I pulled on the belt and it is as smooth as when I installed it. I touched the motor and it was very hot. I let it cool completely and tried to run it again and it tripped the breaker!

The motor pulls 15 amps and the breaker is 20 amps. I have never set up this kind of machine before. But, there wasn't anything to it really, just hook the belt on the motor and the cutter pulley and make sure it is straight and the motor is level. Like I stated, the belt moves freely and the belt wasn't hot at all. I ran the machine for several hours the last two days with no problems. In fact, I was so confident that the machine was OK that I threw out the packing materials.

Any suggestions or ideas? I don't have a multimeter and I have never used one for any practical purpose. My only experience with electricity is academic - I took some physics courses in college and I taught physics the one year that I was a high school science teacher. So, I am clueless when it comes to any diagnostics along those lines.

[TracyP]

Originally Posted by flatheadfisher

I sent Grizzly an email outlining the problem. I just received a reply from them and they are sending me a new motor. I am pleased with their response!

Customer service is the name of the game, I figured they would do the right thing.

[bwat]

Thats great. You couldn't ask much more.

[Alan in Little Washington]

I know what the problem is! You let the smoke out. You are never supposed to let the smoke out of electrical stuff!

[Splint Eastwood]

Great to hear that Grizzly is handling issue promptly!

Aside from shipping charges, customer service was my only concern regarding buying heavy equipment online.

Filed away, when considering a new purchase!

Thanks for updating!

[flatheadfisher]

Originally Posted by Splint Eastwood

Great to hear that Grizzly is handling issue promptly!

Aside from shipping charges, customer service was my only concern regarding buying heavy equipment online.

Filed away, when considering a new purchase!

Thanks for updating!

I was worried about all of that too. The shipping was an expense but, I was able to get exactly what I wanted.

I was afraid they would make me ship the old motor back before they sent me a new one. But, they said I didn't need to ship them the old motor. So, I am very happy with their service.

[DavidF]

All mechanical things can fail, it's the way that Customer service is handled that makes you go back a second time. Seems like you have had a good experience from Griz.

[sawman]

Alan is correct.
If the magic smokes comes out of your motor it will not run again, an instructor in an electrical theroy class made this statement and I agree with it.

Later,
Albert


PS: Grizzly has excellent customer support.