Drill press will not start

[AStroudParticipant @astroud]

Hi

I have a Draper badged 16 speed drill press, 5/8″ capacity, with a 350W, 3A, 240V, 1400rpm motor.

Yesterday it would not start, the motor kicked for about 1 second and then stopped now it is dead, no humming or trying to start. With a circuit tester the 2 terminals in the connection box on the motor are live when the start button is pushed. All connections look tight and good.

I inspected the capacitor on the side of the motor, 75microFard, no sign of any damage. No sign of any centrifugal switch on the outside of the motor.

Any further checks I can do with my basic multimeter or just try and replace the capacitor?

[WaggonermanParticipant @waggonerman]

Check the Stop Button / contacts are not jammed in (it’s happened to me!).

waggonerman.

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

The centrifugal Switch is inside the motor. You will need to dismantle to check this to be sure but if you can work out the wiring then you can at least see if you have continuity on the switch. Before dismantling make clear and unambiguous notes of wiring. Take the belt off, now what ?  That there is no sound and no attempt to start is bad. If the cap had gone it should still try to start, and if spun by hand may even run.  If it has the usual cheap switch/no volt release this as Waggonerman has said may have failed. Some multimeters do have a capacitor test function, though this may only be for small value Capacitors. Good Luck. Noel.

[Peter Cook 6Participant @petercook6]

If there is power reaching the motor terminals when the start button is pressed, then check the continuity of the windings. As Noel says if it was the capacitor (or centrifugal switch) you would expect the motor to hum and if spun may start up.

[AStroudParticipant @astroud]

Thanks for the advice.

Just done some further testing, good news is the motor runs when I wired it directly to a plug so looks like the start switch is faulty, odd though the motor terminals are live when I push and hold in the green start button on the drill.

I will replace the start switch and report back.

[Author]

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