Bendpak HD9 Install Woes

[kitdoctor]

I've been working on installing my four post hoist and finally got it wired up with the help of a friend, plus hooked up my new compressor. Anyway hit the raise button and the motor is getting power but the ram is not tightening the cables.

Call my buddy electrician back and we worked out the motor/pump is running backwards. So fix this and I raise the lift to full height for the first time, yahoo! He suggests we test the air powered main safties and lower the lift to the ground. This works fine. He then departs and I continue with final minor tasks.

I then try to raise the lift for the first time and half way through this the motor stopped. Now it's acting like it's not receiving any power because when I hit the raise button the motor doesn't operate. I haven't thrown a circuit breaker in my home's power board. The trouble shooting part of the manual suggests the motor is burnt out, a micro-switch is burnt out or wrong/low voltage. I'm in Australia and the voltage is 240 V AC here. The unit is on a five meter extension cord which is connected to a 15 AMP electrical outlet.

What do you guys think has gone wrong and why? Any suggestions? Where's the mirco-switch?

 

[Matt M PA]

I'm no electrician, but mine also works on 240...and requires a 30amp circuit. I'm thinking it is possible that your circuit is undersized and not allowing enough current for the unit to operate.

 

[darkk]

I'm thinking it is possible that your circuit is undersized and not allowing enough current for the unit to operate.

It doesn't work that way. The lift would just pull the 30 amps if it needs it and would trip the circuit breaker. If the breaker isn't tripped, you have other issues. Is your *electrician buddy* a *real* electrician? If he is, he shouldn't have made such a simple wireing mistake. Since you wired it incorrectly the first time, it may still be wired wrong. You may be wired so that the unit is only using one leg,*120 volts*. I would have another electrician look at it.I would also call Bend Pak and ask them for possible solutions...

 

[Matt M PA]

darkk...no doubt. I was wondering there's some potential in something different in Australia with wiring, etc. Good thinking also about one leg being wired.

 

[AndysMBgarage]

I have the HD9ST model and if you have the SPX motor, it's a 3 phase motor and is NOT designed for the Australian 240v 50Hz power supply without some internal modification. It may work but it will reduce the life of the motor.

You may have burned out the motor so check the info plate on the side before you continue. Unfortunately there is no visible indication as to it's recommended shaft rotation either on the motor itself or in the manual. The instructions require a little to work out and being paranoid about a problem like this I emailed Jeff at bendpak directly on [email protected] In my case I decided that getting 3 phase fitted to my garage was a better option.

Unfortunately with what info they supply it's not real easy to work out. My domestic electrician wasn't comfortable with the hardwiring to the motor so he called a mate who specialises in industrial wiring to complete the job.

Good luck.

 

[brownbagg]

its the micro switch, that sucker is senative

 

[NitroPress]

How on earth do you make an AC motor run backwards? That sounds completely bogus to me unless the wiring was 'orribly messed up.

Also, just a small thought... the motor is 240VAC, 50Hz, right? You aren't running a US/Japanese spec 60 Hz unit by chance? It won't work... at least not for long. If it's a multistandard unit... is it wired correctly for your mains characteristics?

Also note that "duty cycle" spec - these motors are not meant to run continuously. The spec on the above plate indicates a 10% duty cycle - 9 minutes of rest for every minute of operation. If you were running it for 2-3-5 minutes to get the lift to raise, you might have tripped a thermal overload or (ackk) damaged the motor.

 

[NXGTS]

If it's single phase then am not sure how it ran backwards either. If it is three phase you usually have to test run to make sure the rotation is right. It is very easy to get a three phase to run backwards. All you have to do is get one of the wires switched and it will reverse the rotation. Wired up to a pump you can do some damage fast.