According to William Wixon :

"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message

[ ... ]

i finally wired up the motor and switch. disappointed to report the darn
thing won't start on it's own, in either direction. it does run if i spin
it up by hand but won't start up on it's own. could it be because i
transposed the black/red wires?

That would only change which direction it starts -- assuming
that one is connected to pin (3) and the other to pin (2) as shown in
the "240dons.jpg" image.

dang!!! did i burn something up/out?

First question -- just to be sure. You *are* connecting it to
240V aren't you? I'm not sure that the start winding would produce
enough torque to reliably start it at 120V.

O.K. Time to do a bit of debugging. Are the motor wires
push-on crimp connectors? If so, disconnect the motor wire from (2) and
push it onto (1). Switch the motor on, and see if it starts. If so,
note which direction, then stop the motor and move that same wire to (4)
and switch the motor on again. If that spins up, check that it spins in
the other direction. If you don't have push-on connectors, you will
have to do a bit more work wiring it up -- or use clip leads for the
tests, if you have those.

If it spins up, then the start winding is now proven to work, so
it is in the wiring at the switch.

If it doesn't, use a meter to measure the power between (3) and
wherever you have the wire connected.

That voltage should measure something near 120VAC. If it
measures the right amount, and the motor still does not start on its
own, then we have to check what has happened inside the motor. It could
be that the centrifugal switch is not making contact, or the wires to
the capacitor have slipped off their terminals under the bulge. (Or --
the capacitor was damaged during earlier tests when it did not spin up.
Pull the bulge and look at the capacitor. If there is gunk inside the
cover, or oozing out the end of the capacitor, it needs to be replaced.

However if it does spin up in the two earlier tests, you now
need to measure the voltage coming from the switch to terminal (2).
Measure that relative to terminal (3).
That should be near 120V when the motor is switched on, and close to
zero when it is switched off.

If you don't get that, it is a problem with the wire from (E) to
(2), or the switch element which connects between (E) and (F) in the
FORWARD and REVERSE positions. Check all of that wiring to see where
you are not getting your power through. And measure the (E) to (F)
switching (with the motor unplugged, of course) to make sure that the
drum switch *does* connect them in both the FORWARD and REVERSE
positions.

One other possibility -- is the switch upside down relative to
the drawing? That is, the terminals which I have called (E) and (F)
should connect both in FORWARD and REVERSE, while if you have exchanged
ends on the switch, you will only get connection in the FORWARD
position, (really terminals (A) and (B).

A pity that we don't have actual labels on the terminals for the
drum switch, instead of the ones which I dreamed up to be able to talk
about this.

So -- do your tests and let me know what you find.

Good Luck,
DoN.

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