Hello folks, I need some help with my Leeson motor controller. When I
turn my lathe on the radio in my shop(garage) turns to pure static. I
tried a battery operated radio and it does the same thing. I have
tried adjusting the carrier frequency to no avail. Yes, I have tried
Leeson customer support and while the ladies answering the phones are
very nice the tech guy won't return calls. I have had other issues
with this controller and Leeson's customer service has been
unsatisfactory at best. I have another controller from Dealers
Electric and never had a problem but it is too small to put on my
lathe and it is on my drill press and works fine. Any suggestions?
Thanks a bunch, Guy

In article ,
(guy) wrote:

Hello folks, I need some help with my Leeson motor controller. When I
turn my lathe on the radio in my shop(garage) turns to pure static. I
tried a battery operated radio and it does the same thing. I have

You've got RFI (radio frequency interference). Make sure that the metal
case of the unit is properly grounded, and if it does not have a metal
case, put it inside a grounded metal box. Make sure the motor itself is
properly grounded. If you do both of those and still have noise, put the
wire inbetween in grounded conduit.

--
Cats, Coffee, Chocolate...vices to live by

Grounding's the first, followed by moving the radio antenna away from
incoming power. After that, shielding, or installing a choke on the power
cord of the lathe might help.

That said, there should be a shunt capacitor to eat that up. I've got one
that I have to hitch up as soon as the peas clear the ground so my fencer
that defends against the deer won't interfere with the TV. Tough to believe
they wouldn't have such a simple thing built in.

"Ecnerwal" wrote in message
...
In article ,
(guy) wrote:

Hello folks, I need some help with my Leeson motor controller. When I
turn my lathe on the radio in my shop(garage) turns to pure static. I
tried a battery operated radio and it does the same thing. I have

You've got RFI (radio frequency interference). Make sure that the metal
case of the unit is properly grounded, and if it does not have a metal
case, put it inside a grounded metal box. Make sure the motor itself is
properly grounded. If you do both of those and still have noise, put the
wire inbetween in grounded conduit.

--
Cats, Coffee, Chocolate...vices to live by

Had the same problem when I put in my VFC controller for my 2hp lathe motor.
I did all that was suggested by Dealer's Electric and by the maker of the
controller. Nothing worked. Finally, I just moved my five disc CD player
down to the shop and now listen to music -- far more pleasant than all the
crap and corruption going on here and abroad.

Leif
"guy" wrote in message
om...
Hello folks, I need some help with my Leeson motor controller. When I
turn my lathe on the radio in my shop(garage) turns to pure static. I
tried a battery operated radio and it does the same thing. I have
tried adjusting the carrier frequency to no avail. Yes, I have tried
Leeson customer support and while the ladies answering the phones are
very nice the tech guy won't return calls. I have had other issues
with this controller and Leeson's customer service has been
unsatisfactory at best. I have another controller from Dealers
Electric and never had a problem but it is too small to put on my
lathe and it is on my drill press and works fine. Any suggestions?
Thanks a bunch, Guy

Hello, Thanks for the info, really appreciate it!! Guy

you can buy interference filters or you can remove them from dead lamp
dimmers. you need to filter the incoming lines and either filter or shield
the output lines - noise is probably on the output, so a braided shield over
the wire to the motor (ground it at both ends) may cure the problem. Read
about RFI (or EMI) suppression in a radio amateur's handbook, any edition
"guy" wrote in message
om...
Hello, Thanks for the info, really appreciate it!! Guy

I bought the RF filter suggested by the controller mfgr and it helped a bit,
but AM radio was still unusable!

Leif
"william_b_noble" wrote in message
s.com...
you can buy interference filters or you can remove them from dead lamp
dimmers. you need to filter the incoming lines and either filter or
shield
the output lines - noise is probably on the output, so a braided shield
over
the wire to the motor (ground it at both ends) may cure the problem. Read
about RFI (or EMI) suppression in a radio amateur's handbook, any edition
"guy" wrote in message
om...
Hello, Thanks for the info, really appreciate it!! Guy