TEFC farm duty motor question

Chiro75

Chiro75

Joined
Feb 4, 1999
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This is probably a stupid question, but on a TEFC type "farm duty" motor like the 1HP model sold at HF, is there an on/off switch on the motor itself, or do you have to wire it to some sort of controller? I assume they have an on-off switch, but you know what they say about making assumptions! :D

I realize 1HP is a little low for something like a grinder, but I'm just trying to get an idea for when I shop around locally.
 
you should check with rapa electric in allegan mi. They repair motors and I know they have a lot of used motors. They can even help you with wiring it up. You should be able to get one at a reasonable price. Their number is (269) 673-3988.
 
Thanks for the heads-up! There's a big motor shop right here in Holland, too, which a patient of mine owns. May hit a few auctions in the spring, too.
 
Steve the motor I got from Rob with my KMG is a Leeson farm duty motor, 1 1/2 hp and had to be wired to a on/off switch. It could have been wired to a controller for a variable speed but I think 2 hp is better for that.
Scott
 
Hmm, I was afraid of that. Can't be too hard to make it turn on, though. What about power supply? Does that generally have to be wired up, too? Sheesh, nothing's easy with this stuff!
 
I had a electriction friend wire it for me. Basicly what you need is a length of electrical cord a plug and a on/off box and switch. It's 110, the variable has to be 220.
Scott
 
If it doesn't say that it comes with a cord, then you have to wire it yourself. If it does come with a cord, it still may not have an on/off switch.
Its not hard to do, the motor has a wiring diagram.
Get at least 12 gauge wire for the cord, preferably SO cable since its stranded and has a heavier sheath, so it will hold up to use and being moved around.
You'll want a heavy duty switch, rated for at least 20amps (has to be more than your motor draws,its listed on the plate). A single poll is all you need. Will only cost a few bucks. Then you need a switch or outlet box and a cover plate. Also need wire clamps for the ends of the box, and one for the cord going into the motor.
Then you'll need a heavy duty plug for the end of the cord, again, try and find one rated for more amps than your motor draws.
You'll also need a handful of appropriate sized wire nuts.
After that its easy, black wire goes to brass screws on the switch and plug. White wire to silver screws (single poll switch you just tie the white wires together in the box with a wire nut). Green wire to green screws.
The black wire is the hot or ungrounded wire, that will be important when you wire the motor. Just follow the diagram on the plate. Its not hard.

If you want to by pass the plug and just wire it to a box in the wall, that can be dones just as easily. You'll obviously want a switch in there somewhere then.

Also, even though I said its easy. I'm not a certified electrician and don't play one on TV. Follow these instructions or any others and plug it in at your own risk. Anyone can do it, but if you screw it up its your own fault! :D
 
As I'm reading this I'm reminded of that Seinfeld episode where George wants to move the Frogger game without losing his high score from high school. The "electrical man" is hilarious. George mentions the outlet and their electrical expert says "What?" George says "The outlet, the outlet!" and the electric guy says "You mean the holes?" Maybe you had to be there.
 
Well, my motor guy had a 2 HP Leeson 1725RPM that he sold me for $100. Just have to figure out to wire it without killing myself (Matt, I need pictures. Words will lead to my electrocution!) and get it set up on the Coote and I'll be good to go! $100 for a used 2 HP motor seemed like a good deal.
 
Maybe you can find a book :confused:
It really isn't hard, but I guess maybe its not that clear if you've never done it before or worked with anything like it. Your best bet would probably be to find someone that knows more about it and get them to help/teach you.
 
I can get the place I got the motor from to do it all for me for $20 or so, which is fair price, but I like to learn how to do things myself, too. The wires on the Leeson motor are all named, like T1, P2, etc. The "wiring diagram" on the motor body is basically worthless for me. I'll see if I can download something from their website. All I need to do is wire the motor to an on-off switch, then wire the switch to a grounded plug that will go into a socket, if that's possible.
 
Yeah, the wires on the motor are labeled and match the lines drawn on the diagram.

You'll have probably 3 wires from the motor going to your black (hot, ungrounded wire) and 3 wires from the motor going to your white wire (common/grounded) and then there might be a few that you just tie together with a wire nut.
There will either be a green wire, or green screw in the wire box on the motor that you tie your ground wire to.

I know its confusing, I had trouble with it the first time too, but the motor isn't really that big of a deal.
Look at the diagram, and find the section labeled for 120V and the direction you want the motor to run (CCW or CW) it will have a line labeled hot/ungrounded or something along those lines that leads to more lines, each one will have a letter and number. Sort those wires out and tie them to the black wire.
Now move over on the diagram and do the white wire. And so on.

Going back to your switch box. The switch will have 2 brass screws on one side. Hook the black wire coming from the motor to one of them and the black wire going back to the plug to ther other. If its a single poll switch, there won't be any screws for the white wires. You just tie them together with a wire nut inside the switch box. The ground wire will depend on the type of switch and box. The ones I used, had the ground from the plug side hooked to the box and the ground from the motor side hooked to the switch (the switch is hooked to the box and that way every last part is grounded).

Then go back to the plug end. Take the plug apart, there will probably be a few screws around the sleeve that you loosen and then slip the thing apart. One prong will have a brass screw. Attach the black wire to it. One prong will have a silver screw. Attach the white wire to it. And that last prong will have green screw. Attach the ground wire to it. You have to have the sleeve of the plug slid back over the wire before you attach it. Then just slide it forward and put it back on.

Thats it in a nutshell. I can't give anymore detailed instructions without being there and seeing what you have. $20 is about what the materials would cost, so it might be a good idea to just let them do it. When you get it home you can take the switch plate off and the cover on the motor off and look at what they did without taking anything apart.
And like I said before, follow these instructions at your own risk. I'm not an electrician and don't know what the hell I'm doing :)
 
Chiro75 said:
I can get the place I got the motor from to do it all for me for $20 or so.
Click to expand...

Watch them do it, and take notes! That's a cheap lesson and it might save you a lot of trouble.

I wired up the Leeson 1.5hp farm duty motor I bought from Rob Frink when I got the KMG1, and somehow it worked, but it took me some time reading a wiring book and talking to Rob on the phone. I hooked it up to a switch that I mounted in my workbench and ran that out to a plug. It took me a while to figure everything out (see, like you, I know absolutely nothing about this sort of thing) and if I could have just paid someone $20 to do it and maybe learn a thing or two in the process, I'd have done so in a heartbeat. Since then, I've forgotten everything I learned when I did it. Guess there's only so much space in my little brain and that knowledge got swept out the back door.

Anyway, this wiring stuff probably doesn't seem too daunting if you've seen it done a dozen times but it's quite another if you've never been around it. Those wiring diagrams are also very difficult to read if you don't know what all the symbols mean, and the last thing you want to do is blow up your motor or fry yourself because you were too stubborn to ask for help.

I've got an electrician coming out to my shop this afternoon to help me wire up a my new 5hp air compressor and a couple other motors I have lying around (for a disc grinder and some other random stuff). I'll pay the guy his $45 hourly rate and I'll think of the bill as the cost of a lesson in basic electrical wiring, plus a little insurance against accidentally ruining my equipment or myself.

By the way, ever notice that when you hear about a house burning down on the evening news, about half the time they blame it on faulty electrical wiring? ;)

Good luck!
 
If the materials would cost $20, then let the professional do it and watch as has been suggested. If you can make a knife, the cutting and stripping wires and putting them on to the terminals should not be difficult to you. What you don't know is the proper place to connect the wires. As Matt suggested, use the professionally done installation as a reference for future jobs. Oh yes, pay a visit to your local library. Membership is usually free or much less than the cost of your house. You should be able to find at least one book that shows you what needs to be done. Compare that with what the pro did. That is probably the second best way to learn this stuff. The best way is to take a course or have a friend who is a professional teach you.

Phil
 
Good advice, guys, thanks! I guess I wanted to be able to do this myself so I could get the motor all wired up and ready to rock without having to wait. I'll take it back to the shop and have them do it for me for the $$ and get it done right. Probably the move is to see if they can mount the on/off right on the motor, then give me a decent length wall cord for plugging it in. I'm not sure where the grinder is going to be etc, so I guess I could have them go a few feet longer and have extra in case I move things around. I like being able to do stuff for myself, but electricity freaks me out and these diagrams make no sense. I want something with pictures that says "Take this wire, and put it here, dummy" but they don't exist, evidently. If the parts cost as much as it does to actually have someone with experience do it then I'd be wasting my time.
 
Well, I'm glad I took the motor back to the shop to be wired. It's already wired inside for 220 volt and as a 2HP motor it needs to run on 220, so I need to have a 220 breaker installed in the panel at my house, as well as run a big appliance type outlet from that breaker into my shop room in the basement. What a PITA this is.
 
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