Test volts to drill press

[Dansdad]

My drill press MAY NOT be getting the volts it needs to run. Its plugged in to an extension cord, and I need to know its getting power for its 9 amps as it kicks off on occasion. I don't know much about how to use meters but am very careful

 

[pattenp]

What size/gauge extension cord and how long is it? Does the drill motor have an overload that's tripping and you have to push to reset?

 

[Dansdad]

90' of 12 ga. extension, but another 80' from junction box to receptacle cord is plugged into...therein lies the rub

 

[BFBOB]

Plug in a plug strip at the far end of your extension cord, plug the drill press into it. Set your multimeter to AC volts, 200 or so. Insert the probes of your multimeter into another of the outlets in the plug strip. Check the reading - should be around 120. Turn on the drill press, see how much it drops. report back. 200' of 12 ga doesn't sound like a lot to me, but the measurement will tell.
If it's a digital meter, you probably won't be able to see the start-up voltage drop, so if you have a needle meter, use that so you can tell us both the start-up and running voltage drops. Then smarter folks than I will tell you whether it's a problem.

 

[pattenp]

Is the outlet on a 20A circuit? Yeah, If the cord was #16 or #14 I'd definitely say you need a heaver cord, but #12 is kinda borderline. If the outlet is 15A on #14 and along with the cord you most likely are suffering from voltage drop.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

The question here is WHAT is causing the drill to shut off? Overload on the motor tripping? Breaker tripping? When does the drill loose power- under load or no load? Voltage drop could play an issue at that distance!

Your drill is rated at 9a but under load it could be drawing more. Due to the voltage drop, the motor may draw more than its rated because as volts go down amps go up! This overcurrent could cause the overload on the motor to trip!

 

[66dave]

The OP said the drill kicks on&off on occasion. The key here is that it does not trip the breaker, meaning he has an open in that extension cord or the drill press has a loose wire that intermittently opens causing the drill press to power cycle. If the power cord were to cause a large voltage drop it should be warm to the touch, also he could verify the resistance of that extension cord.

To the OP, does the drill press have the same issue when it is plugged directly into the wall? If the issue is in the drill press it is a very simple circuit, power cord enters, one leg goes to the 110v switch, from the switch it goes to your 3/4hp motor (that is a 9amp motor). The other leg goes straight to the motor. If you wanted to verify drill press integrity you could always measure the curcuit resistance 120v/9a=13ohms when you push the power button on, open when you push the power button off.

BFBOB has a good explanation on how to use a DMM to troubleshoot the system.

Please keep us posted on what you find, good luck & have fun.

 

[66dave]

I just read another post where you mentioned that this is a very old drill press. That reinforces that here could be a loose wire in the drill press, most likely on the back of that push button on/off switch.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

The OP said the drill kicks on&off on occasion. The key here is that it does not trip the breaker, meaning he has an open in that extension cord or the drill press has a loose wire that intermittently opens causing the drill press to power cycle. If the power cord were to cause a large voltage drop it should be warm to the touch, also he could verify the resistance of that extension cord.

To the OP, does the drill press have the same issue when it is plugged directly into the wall? If the issue is in the drill press it is a very simple circuit, power cord enters, one leg goes to the 110v switch, from the switch it goes to your 3/4hp motor (that is a 9amp motor). The other leg goes straight to the motor. If you wanted to verify drill press integrity you could always measure the curcuit resistance 120v/9a=13ohms when you push the power button on, open when you push the power button off.

BFBOB has a good explanation on how to use a DMM to troubleshoot the system.

Please keep us posted on what you find, good luck & have fun.

Rereading what the OP said(which is below): "[the drill] kicks off ON occasion" meaning the drill turns off occasionally NOT it turns on and off as u thought...theres no 'and' between off and on....theres really not enough info to definitively say for sure whats going on...

My drill press MAY NOT be getting the volts it needs to run. Its plugged in to an extension cord, and I need to know its getting power for its 9 amps as it kicks off on occasion. I don't know much about how to use meters but am very careful