Shopsmith Episode 5: Electrification of the Motor!

• Fire Extinguisher:  Check

• Haz Mat Suit:  Check

• DEFCON Level raised to DEFCON 3:  Check

• Warn So Cal Edison of a pending power surge:  Check

We are now ready to test the motor, which has not seen electricity in nearly two decades.  The motor needs a great deal of cleanup, and will probably need some paint.  Nevertheless, I wanted to test the motor to make sure it runs, and is worth all the trouble of cleaning and painting

The power cord was in very bad shape - between various splices that have been made, rodents using it for hors d’oeuvres, and time itself, the cord has become a dangerous weapon.  When I opened the cover to the motor terminals, I was surprised to find the power cord terminated on the inside of the motor terminal...meaning I had to disassemble the motor case to gain access to the power terminals.

Disassembling the motor case wasn’t too difficult as there were only four long screws holding the casing together, despite one which was stubborn and had to be cut off.

The power cord wires were soldered to the outer two lug screws on the terminal block.  I decided that there was a better way, so I cut off the power cord wires in the back, then added two new terminal nuts to the front of the terminal block, and wired a new power cord to these terminal points using spades. 

I added a ground lug (green wire) to the motor casing, which originally they did not believe in grounding such things.  

The black spliced and taped wires allow the new on/off switch to be in the circuit.  The original switch is long gone, as it apparently burned out, and was simply by-passed.   

So we are ready for the test.  To find out the outcome (drum roll please), I have provided the original video of the first test.  See for yourself:

In the event the video doesn't show or play properly, click on the following to re-route you to YouTube:   AO Smith Motor Test

Well, as you can tell, I lived to see another day, So Cal Edison didn’t have a clue what just happened, and the world has been safely reduced to DEFCON 5.  Now, if I can just figure out how to get out of this Haz Mat suit....