John sez: Hey, I like Pete's method. Those hoists are pretty good stuff, so
I'd
not suspect the motor first off. Check the switch, look for cruddiness or
a loose wire there.

The switch idea is consistent with Harold's "lost a phase" hypothesis above.
It gets my vote as #1 most likely to cause interruptus defunctus.

Bob Swinney

"JohnM" wrote in message
...
Pete wrote:
With the rotor removed energize the fields , throw a steel ball bearing
into field .If the field windings are good the bearing will race around
the inside , if one field is bad the ball bearing will stop and vibrate.
Simple , but it works.



John