Really quick question- what kind of power does a shoptask need?

[july_favre]

Maybe Im blind but I didnt see any info about it on the shoptask website.

[Rainman229]

if you live in the US it comes wired for 110v but the motors can also be changed over to 220v as i recalll

[sharpshooter90]

Originally Posted by Rainman229 if you live in the US it comes wired for 110v but the motors can also be changed over to 220v as i recalll

The factory wiring is all 110 volt only. However, with the DC drive conversion you can choose 110 or 220 volts input to the controllers.

[digitalmdj]

Read the information on the motor. It should say how many amps the motor draws. I believe it's over 25 amps and that's at full load. So you will need a 30 amp circuit to run your machine safely without over heating the wiring and burning up the motor. You cannot rely on the breaker to trip when it is overloaded. So you need to keep that in mind.

[smallblock]

Originally Posted by july_favre Maybe Im blind but I didnt see any info about it on the shoptask website.

I think you will find it on the " specifications" page. The new machines have 1.5HP motors with an amp rating of 12.5 each. My old 17-20 model had 3/4 hp motors and I ran them off a 20 amp circuit with no problem, along with a lamp, coolant pump and DRO system. I have my Patriot plugged into the same circuit, but have moved the light and coolant to another outlet. I don't think there is any issue running a 20 amp breaker so long as you don't start both motors at the exact same time. From my understanding of capacitor start motors, they draw full amps at startup then drop back once the start winding disengages. Also, an electrician friend told me that breakers are actually underrated and they usually trip after a steady overload as heat builds in the wire, so a momentary overload is not going to trip it.

[digitalmdj]

Overloading the motor even for a moment shortens the life of the capacitor and contacts on these motors. Why do you think people have problems with them. They are not a very good quality to start out with so you have to be careful .

[instructor37]

Originally Posted by smallblock I think you will find it on the " specifications" page. The new machines have 1.5HP motors with an amp rating of 12.5 each. My old 17-20 model had 3/4 hp motors and I ran them off a 20 amp circuit with no problem, along with a lamp, coolant pump and DRO system. I have my Patriot plugged into the same circuit, but have moved the light and coolant to another outlet. I don't think there is any issue running a 20 amp breaker so long as you don't start both motors at the exact same time. From my understanding of capacitor start motors, they draw full amps at startup then drop back once the start winding disengages. Also, an electrician friend told me that breakers are actually underrated and they usually trip after a steady overload as heat builds in the wire, so a momentary overload is not going to trip it.

We've only had 1 issue so far, when one of the kids started the motor with the cutting tool engaged. Before he hit the off button it fused the internal points together. The motors are easy to service and you can open one up while its mounted to the machine. We pulled the rear cover and cleaned the points and were back up running in 1/2 hour. These are really simple motors with no brushes and they run on sealed roller bearings front and rear. The armatures are well balanced, so I see no reason they shouldn't last a long time, as long as the operator doesn't foul it up.

[digitalmdj]

The fact is that almost everyone who has the machine has motor problems . The points and the capacitor are the week points. When they start to fail it starts to overheat the windings of the motor.