Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Reset button question?
Barry Irby
My dust collector is a Delta unit that I have modified over the years. It's sits in a closet open to the weather outside my shop. Sometimes for no apparent reason it fails to start and I find the reset button has tripped. Occasionally I run it for half and hour or more often for a minute or two. The tripping seems to be unrelated to time of operation or the weather.
So, do these things age out? I just push the button and it goes back to work.
Re: Reset button question?
John McGaw
My experience is that anything with moving parts is subject to wearing out. Sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, but mechanical stuff will eventually break.
Re: Reset button question?
CharlieL
You may want to make sure that the electrical circuit that you have it plugged into is adequate, especially if it isn't a dedicated circuit and at times has other things running on it.
Re: Reset button question?
John K Jordan
I would also monitor the voltage and current when when operating. See if the voltage drops more than a few percent and see if the current being pulled is as expected for that motor. If the run from the breaker is longer than a little bit check the voltage at the breaker as well. All this should tell you if the wiring is appropriately sized. Remember that dust collectors, at least cyclones, are stressed more and pull more current when moving more air, such as when all the blast gates are open or the inlet is not connected.
Just curious, what is the wiring size and distance from the breaker and what is the motor size and current requirement?
You might also check the temperature of the motor housing with a thermometer, a remote thermometer, or thermocouple reader. That might provide some clues.
I find these, plus some laboratory themometers, very useful around the shop, farm, and house :
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0089N2ZH6
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EUB6BM
There is also the chance that the reset button/sensor is weak and needs to be replaced.
JKJ
Re: Reset button question?
Barry Irby
Its a 1 1/2 hp motor, TEFC and running in open air. It's on a 20 amp no.12 copper circuit. Had it for years and this has only started lately. It generally runs on that circuit by itself, but there is the possibility something else runs with it. I work by myself and seldom have more than one tool running. It starts and stops with the blast gates. Open a gate and it comes on, close the gate and its off. I have tried to develop the habit of opening the next gate before closing the last gate to avoid lots of stopping and starting.
Since it is in a small open closet only protected by a piece of trellis, I am suspicious it has become water sensitive.
Funny you should suggest the infrared thermometer. AS a Home Inspector, they became all the rage for my fellow inspectors. Many of them could not grasp that they read the temp of the surface and not the air. Some of them got into lots of trouble trying to diagnose heat pumps and AC's with them. Being an old fuddy duddy, I never bought one. Seems strange to buy one now that I am retired.