Electrical advise needed.

[woody 73]

I need some help & advise.

I hired an electrical contractor to wire up all my machines and it turns out they are having problems getting the last four machines to work.

Now I know for a fact that three of the machines will work and I am sure they will be able to find someone in their company that has the knowledge to get them up and running.

It is the last machine that worries me the most a 24inch band saw that I bought as a used demo model and I had stored for several years so I never had it wired up.

If they can not get it to work what kind of steps can I take to find a company that makes house calls? because trust me I paid a small fortune to have it moved and I am not wanting to move it again.

Thanks for any help in this matter.

 

[Rookie2]

'wired up' to me is supplying the power to the outlet behind the machine or to the machine disconnect on the machine. Are they single phase or three phase with a rotary converter ? Electricians are not necessarily machine repairmen.

 

[larry_g]

Like rookie asked are they single or 3 phase.

Exactly what do you expect the electricians to do? Run wire to an outlet, or run wire and turn on the machines?

Do your electricians have an industrial or household background. A lot of household wiremen cannot do industrial wiring and troubleshooting.

Can you explain the trouble they are having and on what kind of machines? Are they expected to commission the machines?

lg
no neat sig line

 

[EOC_Jason]

If it's an electrical problem, you need to find a better electrician that does commercial work.

If it's a machine problem, I would call around to local machine shops and ask who they use for repair work. Or you can call up the manufacturer of the machines, find out who the local sales rep is for the area, talk to them about who they would recommend.

 

[woody 73]

lets see if I can answer your questions:

All the machines are run on single phase power.
I have no outlets for 220 volt, they have added them to the wall as we speak.
Several of the machines came without cords so they need to be made for several machines.
The company I hired does both commercial and residential work.

Now as to the machines:

Back when I first got my compressor years ago it was wired directly to the fuse panel box, and it worked fine; Now they made an outlet for it and it will not run at all.

For the old mortise machine it used to run on 120 but the wire was in such bad shape I had them wire it for 220 using a brand new wire but that electrician was not sure how to hook it up without killing the motor.

The radial arm saw came with a box (don't ask me as I am not sure what it is used for) and he did not understand how to wire up the box, the box is then attached to the wall.

And last the band saw comes from overseas (made in Italy) and he was having some questions about their wiring diagram, (although I showed him a youtube video of how to wire it), it still will not work.

I hope I answered your questions.

 

[larry_g]

It sounds to me like you need to get on the phone with your contractor and have them send out someone who can understand how to do this.

Single phase compressors are perty simple. They will usually land the wires on a contactor or the pressure switch. If it needs a cord cap (plug) then you will have to spec it to them as they usually will not design or spec equipment. You may have to have an engineer from the company come and do that if the guy on the floor won't.

For the mortice machine is it spec'ed to run 120 or 240? If so does it have a switch that will handle the 240?

Give up a picture of the saw and box. In fact a bunch of pictures of each machine would be nice. For simplicity's sake consider posting each machine in a different post so information can be focused.

For the saw very likely the wire color could be a problem. If one is not familiar with foreign color codes then it won't work. Link to the youtube you showed the guy here.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Socophreak]

Like larryG said you will need to determine if the mortise machine can run on 240V. Motor will list available voltage/voltages. If it doesnt list 220-240, it won't run on 240. At that point, you can either convert back to 120V or swap motors to 240V.

I deal with italian machines all the time. Their 220V over there is not quite like our 240v, but hooking it up to 240V shouldn't cause any problems. Links to wiring diagrams and pictures always help.

 

[spotco2]

I'm thinking you need a new electrician.

 

[Rodhotz]

^^ This x2 not that hard at all to wire up.

 

[woody 73]

3:45 in the morning and I can sleep...The Mortise machine has a nameplate that reads it can be wired for both 120/240.

I am paying that company buckets of money so I am sure he will get the other three machines up and running if not I will pay for what he has done and find some other company.

As far as phone numbers I gave him all the company phone numbers and copies of most of the machine information.

Lets get back to the band saw at hand it is not like I have a ford so I can call a Ford dealer; and the guy that sold it to me is clueless for any help in this matter.

Local machine shops sounds like a good answer, but since I could not sleep I was thinking about calling a local wood shop maybe they have someone or know of someone that works with large overseas machines.

I still think that band saw might have a wire crossed but the guy put his meter on the wires and it showed the saw getting power.

Thanks for all your help in this matter, I can see now if a big company is having so many little problems with single phase power maybe I was lucky that I never bought three phase machines...still thinking about three phase just scared to take that plunge.

Woody

 

[tfi racing]

I'm thinking you need a new electrician.

Yep,just hold on to your money until the job is done to your satisfaction,they will get someone out that isn't only a romex jockey pretty quickly.

 

[Jagmandave]

In most communities you cannot get 3 phase power to a residence, so unless you're in an industrial area a rotary converter is your only way to get a 3 phase machine to run.

Hope your electrician sorts this out, but I sure don't see what the problem is.

 

[larry_g]

Lets get back to the band saw at hand it is not like I have a ford so I can call a Ford dealer; and the guy that sold it to me is clueless for any help in this matter.

Woody

Instead of telling us what you don't have, tell us what you do have and show some pictures. It would make things much easier.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[woody 73]

UPDATE, UPDATE, UPDATE...

Ok the electrical contractor brought in his top "MAN" and he got three out four machines running like a fine swiss watch!!!

Now he looked over the band saw and after a lot of testing he thinks the on/off switch is bad so today I called the company and ordered a new switch, don't ask the price-ouch, ouch, ouch but it will set me back $117.48 dollars plus shipping.

I am hoping that is all I need, if not it will be on to plan B, thanks everyone for all your help.