Can a capacator be installed.

[john11139]

I recently picked up a old Black & Decker bench grinder. Made in the good old USA 1978. Almost all bench grinders are made in China now. I noticed I had to give it a spin with my hand before it would take off. I opened it up and there is a small magnetic relay inside. One wire from the switch, a red wire and a black wire. I imagine one is for the starter winding and one for the run winding. The relay is burnt up. Could I just add a capacitor? I think there is room to get one in there. I don't know where I would get a relay as the model is too old and not listed in B &D webb site.

 

[exmaxima1]

I recently picked up a old Black & Decker bench grinder. Made in the good old USA 1978. Almost all bench grinders are made in China now. I noticed I had to give it a spin with my hand before it would take off. I opened it up and there is a small magnetic relay inside. One wire from the switch, a red wire and a black wire. I imagine one is for the starter winding and one for the run winding. The relay is burnt up. Could I just add a capacitor? I think there is room to get one in there. I don't know where I would get a relay as the model is too old and not listed in B &D webb site.

Short answer is that you cannot substitute a starting relay with a capacitor. The relay is there in lieu of a centrifugal switch, but a cap is not a suitable alternative.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

X2. Definitely not interchangeable. If the relay has the right terminals, you can add a start capacitor (if you knew what size the motor uses) but that won't help if the relay is bad to begin with.

Tommy

 

[Mike70]

Is the coil voltage 120v? Probably is. Use the full load amps from the motor, and find a generic replacement. MCM, digikey, amazon. Shouldnt be too hard to find. Or just give it a spin.

 

[redmondjp]

Is the coil voltage 120v? Probably is. Use the full load amps from the motor, and find a generic replacement. MCM, digikey, amazon. Shouldnt be too hard to find. Or just give it a spin.

Yes, give it a spin in the correct direction before turning it on - this won't hurt it a bit. For awhile, I had an old washing machine that I had to do that to - give the belt a yank to get it started.