Elektra Beckum HC260M Keeps Blowing Fuses

[carsey2006]

Hi all,

I hope ive chose the correct forum section for my issue i'm having.

We have a Elektra Beckum HC260M Planer/Thicknesser at home for some light wood work jobs. We went to use the P/T the other day and it keeps blowing the fuses. The motor/blade assembly will rotate roughly 10% of a turn and blow the fuse in the plug.

I had a google and realised this is a pretty common issue and either caused by the motor centrifugal switch sticking open or the start/run capacitors have aged.

The capacitors in ours show no signs of any damage/bulging or odd marks and look as new. (I guess the larger capacitor of the two is the initial starter cap and the smaller maintains the run demand on the motor?

I whipped the rear plastic casing off protecting the fan to try see the centrifugal switch but there is nothing to the rear or front of the motor I can see. The motor, belt and blade assembly turns over perfectly fine.

Unfortunately, my cheap Chinese multi-meter doesn't do capacitance, so I am unable to test the capacitors to ensure there is no dead shorts or they are out of the tolerances by the manufacturer.

Has anyone got one of these machines are are electrically minded to give me a bit help in order of what to try next, rather than just go out and buying 2 new capacitors and hoping it fixes the problem.

Thanks in advance

Chris

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Hi - I think that the manual for this one is here:

http://www.targetmanufacturing.co.uk/wp ... lgreen.pdf

It does warn of a high starting current and suggests a 16A supply is required.

As far as I know, the motor only has a single capacitor for starting and running - part 316 in the schematic, although two alternatives are listed, I guess to cope with different supply voltage and/or motor spec.

Have you ensured that the thing will actually turn a full revolution - with power fully unplugged of course?

Are you running it off a long cable (e.g. an extension lead)? Induction motors can be fussy on on cable runs which give a voltage drop.

When you say it blows a fuse - that's a standard 13A brown jobby in the plug?

Interested to know more, but I'm guessing the capacitor is probably OK - IME the motor just hums and fails to start if the capacitor is bust, but I guess it can fail in different ways.

More clues please! Cheers, W2S

 

[carsey2006]

Hi W2S, thanks for your reply.

The machine will try the normal 13A fuse (as fitted to the standard machines plug) once the start button is pressed. This can be plugged directly into the mains (fed off another separate feed into the garage with a 13A brown fuse in it aswell). We also have a heavy duty extension which we used to run the machine off no issues at all. So either extension or direct into the socket, itll pop the fuse.

The thing turns over perfectly fine, bit resistance off when the motor passes the magnets in the coils as you normally get in a motor and doesnt bind or take any excessive force at all to turn over.

There is definitely 2 capacitors on this one. One slightly larger than the other. Your right, the motor makes a initial hum for a second and trips the fuse. During this time the blades do a small rotation but nothing huge.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

It's an induction motor so has no magnets.

If it has separate start and run capacitors then there will be a centrifugal switch that swaps them over once the motor is running - the fact that it doesn't seem to even start suggests that it's the start capacitor, rather than the run capacitor and/or the switch.

You really need to draw out the wiring schematic and find a suitable meter to test the capacitors, and possibly the motor windings and switch for good measure.

Do take care not to damage the insulation on the windings by repeatedly switching on - it will overheat rapidly because it relies on its own rotation to make the cooling fan operate.

 

[sunnybob]

Buy another capacitor, they are pretty cheap and even if that doesnt fix the problem (I think it will from your description) you can still keep it as a spare.
If youre near any national electrical distributors i would expect them to test yours for you as long as they can sell you a new one.

time to buy a better multimeter.

 

[Sideways]

Repaired a motor with a centrigugal switch a couple of weeks ago.
The switch was behind the fan, so that had to be removed to access it.
There was no need to open the motor proper.
As last poster said, capacitors are relatively cheap.
As they do age - even in storage - i wouldn't see it as a waste of money to replace them both as a matter of routine. Think of it as preventative maintenance.
Best wishes.

 

[carsey2006]

Hi all,

Another issue has cropped up

We Replaced with a one the same rating and ran fine for the first couple runs when initially tested it. Tried to use the machine about a month later and gradually started to slow down over space of few minute, to the extent it would bog right down when any load put on it. Started to smell and got the liquid in the electrical box under the motor.

When you put any wood across it it starts to really bog down. You can hear it’s not spinning at full rpm.

Does anyone have the wiring diagram for the motor with 2 capacitors? The manual online only shows one unfortunately

I took the motor off. 2 windings u1 + u2. And x1 + z2.

Ohms across the U wires are 1.6 ohms

Ohms across the Z windings is 1 ohm.

No continuity across alternate windings. For example. No result from U to Z. Also no continuity from any winding wire to the body of the motor

Does anyone have any suggestions? I don’t have the tooling to do a insulation test on the windings.

 

[Racers]

The liquid is probably electrolyte from the cap, did you get a run rated cap?

Pete

 

[carsey2006]

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 2349738750

Was this one.

Both capacitors test extremely close to their rates value.