The motor in my Harbor Freight parts vibrator is giving up after about 100hrs of run time. If I can get it started, it's fine. If it's powered off it spins freely and smoothly. Apply power and it'll rotate to about the same point every time and then get jammed up. I can force it around, usually takes about a 1/3rd rotation before it'll take over, whip the rest the way around back to the jamming point, repeat. To fire it up currently I use a drill to get it up to speed first then apply power. Yes, it's a Harbor Freight piece of crap, reviews all indicate the same failure mode. I plan on getting a better tumbler now that I know just how awesome they are in my shop. In the mean time, I'm perplexed by the failure mode. I would assume the issue is cheap sleeve bearings wearing out or similar, in which case I'd expect it to get stuck and want to stay stuck power on or off. Only doing it with power on is what's confusing me. Also, any suggestions on a better parts tumbler that'll last longer?
Does it use a capacitor to start? You might have a failing capacitor to get it running. The one nice thing about HF motors is that you buy a replacement, then 11 months later (or less) call up and request a replacement. They always honor their one year warranty without a receipt for motors (at least they did) because they track when you last ordered one. I learned this lesson as I had to buy a new motor for my lathe at month 13. Grr.
Does it have a centrifugal start switch? Ours went out on our compressor and I cant quite remember the symptoms, it wasn't happy though. I think it didn't want to start the easiest, but once up to speed it was "ok". Edit- ya, looks like you have to determine what motor you have, a split phase (with a cent. start switch) or a capacitor starting one.
3 wire (single phase?) with a capacitor across one phase. With the effort required to GET to the motor, I'll give it one shot at repairing and then toss. Made to a price is an understatement, and where ever it's assembled labor is free. I was pleased to find actual ball bearings in the motor though. Now, with no centrifugal switch, and a single capacitor how do I tell if it's a start or run capacitor? I don't see any other components to switch the capacitor out so I'm assuming it's a run unit?
If there is no centrifugal switch its a capacitor run configuration. In a cap start motor the switch removes the cap from the circuit once its up to speed. I work at a company that makes electrical motor driven equipment, the number one failure we encounter is failed run capacitors. You can normally physically tell if they have failed, they will be swollen or sometimes even explode. Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk
Cap is a rectangular plastic unit, no signs of swelling or overheat. With it cut out the unit still cogs into one spot, but is easier to hand start. I'll throw a cap at it and see what happens.
"Most " start capacitors are plastic because they also contain the relay. "Most" run capacitors are metal. Run cap will for that size would probably be lower than 5 MFD while a start cap would be much higher. In our area Grainger is a very good source for motors and caps.
CBB61 from PinGe, 6uF, 250VAC. I'm replacing it with a CBB61 off eBay, 6uF, 500VAC for a bit more than the cost to temporarily placate a crustacean from the protozoic era.
New run capacitor has it starting on it's own just like new. I'm really curious how many people have tossed units with 'seized' motors that just had a $4 capacitor fail?
Depends. How much is a new tumbler at HF? How much trouble is it to replace the $4 capacitor? Is it worth the time to replace or better to just get a new one?
$60ish for a new one from HF. Now that I know the symptom and cause along with how the unit comes apart, it's a $4 shipped part, and about 20 minutes to do the job, most of that time spent making nice looking, properly heatshrinked and tucked away wiring. if I get another year out of it, I'll just extend the wiring outside the chassis and set it up so I can use spade connectors to quickly swap capacitors. If it doesn't go a year I'll invest in a better replacement tumbler.
