Well, There's Your Problem, Lady

[Snargfargle]

Was working this evening on my grandpa's 75-year-old table saw. The motor worked but wouldn't start without giving the belt a little tug to get the thing turning. Start capacitor, right? Well, I grabbed a capacitor from my lathe and tried it but it was a no-go. That one was for a smaller motor though so I went and got one of the right capacitance. Hooked it up and still nothing. Took the motor apart and found that an internal wire had been chewed in two. How a mouse wormed its way into that motor, I don't know but a new wire and some soldering got things running again.

Well, there's your problem, lady.

[Navalpride33]

Jezz Snarg.. A horror story, at the same time nice trouble shooting.

Yikes mouse chewing on cables... Scary,

[RipNuN2]

We had a mouse get in a computer and it defecated on the motherboard ruining it. Hopefully the dcon I put out got the little bugger.

[Snargfargle]

This one isn't mine but it's a similar model. You can see how a mouse could get into the motor through those big cooling slots. My motor weighs 60 pounds, I weighed it. I need to build a base for the saw now. I'll have to take the thing apart to get it lifted onto the base because even without the motor it still weighs 250 pounds -- solid cast iron.

[SteelRain_Rifleman]

13 minutes ago, Snargfargle said:

Was working this evening on my grandpa's 75-year-old table saw. The motor worked but wouldn't start without giving the belt a little tug to get the thing turning. Start capacitor, right? Well, I grabbed a capacitor from my lathe and tried it but it was a no-go. That one was for a smaller motor though so I went and got one of the right capacitance. Hooked it up and still nothing. Took the motor apart and found that an internal wire had been chewed in two. How a mouse wormed its way into that motor, I don't know but a new wire and some soldering got things running again.

Well, there's your problem, lady.

Nice that you saved the motor by fixing the wiring. 

Rodents have to chew on something or their teeth will grow out too far. So by habit, they will chew anything.

Usually wiring conduits have sealed connectors and boxes and the cooling vents are small enough to keep mice out.

It might be a missing service panel or box cover that allowed the mouse in.

If you address this now, it won't happen again. But the power cord outside of the saw will be the only portion vulnerable to the rodents.

However, a cat 🐈 solves that easily if this is a work shed. 

This is always great fun fixing motors. I fixed my father's 1950's era corded drill once so that it was safety grounded.

It was the coolest thing you ever saw. All steel, polished chrome, sparks showing in the openings (I fixed that).

My neighbor was a collector and bought it from my father for 1000 dollars in 1987. My father paid 12 bucks at Montgomery Ward for it.

I think in today's market it probably will be worth more since it's a working model. I matched all the parts up out from Radio Shack. Special order. I had to do the windings by hand. I used a bicycle crank rig to roll it on. Took me 4 tries and two times getting electrocuted, but worth the look on the old man's face to see his trusty drill work again.

 

[SteelRain_Rifleman]

5 minutes ago, Snargfargle said:

This one isn't mine but it's a similar model. You can see how a mouse could get into the motor through those big cooling slots. My motor weighs 60 pounds, I weighed it. I need to build a base for the saw now. I'll have to take the thing apart to get it lifted onto the base because even without the motor it still weighs 250 pounds -- solid cast iron.

You can probably use window screen material. It is sold in sheets.

You can mount it using hot melt glue right onto the cast. It will stick. Or just mix a generic batch of epoxy resin and put a tiny drop to seal the screen material as it wraps around.

It will still allow air in but keep the mouse out.

If you want to be wicked creative though. A soldering iron and some solid stainless wire pre-bent to zig-zag cover the holes would work too.

Solid stainless wire in thin sizes from welding supply. Filler rods for tig welding is ideal.

An engine hoist works great for lifting that motor. Just get a good length of good chain and a locking ring.

[Snargfargle]

57 minutes ago, SteelRain_Rifleman said:

You can probably use window screen material. It is sold in sheets.

Well, if only one mouse got into that thing in 75 years I'm not too worried about sealing it off. I've got a chain hoist I could use from an I-beam but I probably can handle things if I take the table off and lift it and the base separately. I can still manage a hundred pounds or so. 

[SteelRain_Rifleman]

On 12/10/2020 at 11:10 PM, Snargfargle said:

Well, if only one mouse got into that thing in 75 years I'm not too worried about sealing it off. I've got a chain hoist I could use from an I-beam but I probably can handle things if I take the table off and lift it and the base separately. I can still manage a hundred pounds or so. 

It helps to play the "Hercules the Legendary Journeys" theme music from the TV show.

Not responsible for hair growing out to shoulder length.

[Snargfargle]

3 minutes ago, SteelRain_Rifleman said:

It helps to play the "Hercules the Legendary Journeys" theme music from the TV show.

Not responsible for hair growing out to shoulder length.

I was just watching a YouTuber install a new table saw. Not only did SawStop give him a free $6000 saw, another company gave him a free lift to move it with. I need to get on YouTube. It's funny though that that industrial SawStop saw still weighs less than my Grandpa's old table saw.

[SteelRain_Rifleman]

19 minutes ago, Snargfargle said:

I was just watching a YouTuber install a new table saw. Not only did SawStop give him a free $6000 saw, another company gave him a free lift to move it with. I need to get on YouTube. It's funny though that that industrial SawStop saw still weighs less than my Grandpa's old table saw.

Get thee on YouTube son and go forth and fix thy saw, so everyone sees this saw cut something wonderful to see. Maybe building a...(wait for it)

See Saw.