Viceroy TDS 6WL

[S8Turner]

Hi, Can anyone help a novice with a motor headache?
I bought what I thought was a beautiful little used viceroy lathe from a school to replace my poorly made chinese one. All is wonderful apart from the 440volt motor. I thought I could buy a 3phase converter for £100-£140 but I mis read the ads and its going to cost £400. My next thought was to replace the motor with a 240v. The companies I rang say a cap start motor is what I need but it can only be started 6 times an hour or risk cap burn out. alternately I could have a cap run motor but risk cap burn out if I use big bits of wood.
Has anyone any advice before I plunge headfirst further into trouble?

 

[dickm]

Not sure where this "only started a limited number of times an hour" idea has come from. Most intermediate weight woodworking kit in the past had single phase cap start motors and there was no such restriction.
Being of suspicious mind, it sounds like some obscure sales ploy. For what it's worth, all my larger machines have S.P. cap start motors, the newest being an 8 or so year old Mystro, and they've been regularly stopped and started much more often than the suggested limit.

But you've got yourself a serious lathe there. Worth getting both a new (240v) 3 phase motor and inverter to provide full variable speed, after which you shouldn't ever need another lathe

 

[S8Turner]

Thanks Dick I was begining to think I bought a dud. The warning about the cap start was on the bottom of the page on an ebay shop selling motors. I even phoned to check and they confirmed it. It was something to do with letting the cap discharge propery. Theres an ad on ebay selling a variable speed motor and conversion kit for a union graduate Do you think that be ok for my viceroy?

 

[graduate_owner]

Hi S8Turner,
I had a similar problem with a 3 phase motor and an inverter. My inverter converts 240v single phase to 240 volts 3 phase, whereas the motor needed 415v.

Some motors are 240/415v and you change links to switch between the two (it's called star or delta connection. For 240v you need to have the motor connected in delta. This really is not difficult, - 5 mins - check on the web for pictures and you'll see what to do).

My motor, as I said, was 415v only, with no links to change. My inverter did turn it, but at a much reduced torque, and I don't suppose it did the inverter any good. Instead I took the motor to a rewinding firm and they pulled it apart and picked out the necessary windings, and that solved the problem. It cost me about £30, which saved me the issue of buying a replacement motor, getting it to fit the machine, getting the pulley to match etc etc. It was well worth the money. I would recommend you go the same route. BTW when you connect up, if the motor runs backwards you need to interchange 2 of the 3 feed wires. Also, don't forget to run a separate earth wire to the machine.

This solution will get you up and running, give you the advantage of variable speed and reverse rotation (be careful in case the chuck unscrews), allow you to keep the existing motor and inverter, and all for about £30.

K

 

[dickm]

I'm not the person to advise on fitting variable speed drives, as the inverter bought to fit on my previous lathe is still on the shelf
But there have been lots of postings on the topic around the forum; put "inverter" or "variable speed" into the search box and you should get plenty of answers. And the end result should be well worth the effort.

 

[S8Turner]

Thanks very much k It never even crossed my mind to get my motor looked at. Its definatly a path worth researching.
Thankyou as well Dick Im going to type the searh words next.
Stewart