BS400 Bandsaw Problems

[Paul Ackland]

My Record BS400 bandsaw just stopped working one day. No obvious symptoms so I assumed as reasonable first stab at fixing it would be to replace the switch. Record supplied the switch but with a different pin layout. They sent a sketch of the recommended wiring which immediately blew the main board trip. Hmmm! Next step was to get an electrician in who wired to switch but the bandsaw is still not working. He said "its the motor". Now, it might well be but at a tad shy of £200 it would be nice to think I've covered all possible bases before then. Any thoughts wise people?

 

[TRITON]

Put the nozzle of your hoover over the safety switches on the doors. I've had problems with my RP bandsaw and that was the cause.
Dust seems to be attracted(electrical ?) and they appear prone to clogging up. do the hoover and click them a number of times and try to start it again.

Maybe aye, maybe no, but its a cheap start before looking towards the expensive issues.
Another might be the capacitor. Again cheaper than an entire motor.
TBH I cant see it being the motor as its only really going to be one thats worded hard on a continual basis that stops working. I suppose only you know the answer there as to how hard its been pushed, but bandsaws aren't usually under that much strain

 

[Phil Pascoe]

If a sparky wired the switch I would assume he checked there was voltage at the motor.

 

[Paul Ackland]

Put the nozzle of your hoover over the safety switches on the doors. I've had problems with my RP bandsaw and that was the cause.
Dust seems to be attracted(electrical ?) and they appear prone to clogging up. do the hoover and click them a number of times and try to start it again.

Maybe aye, maybe no, but its a cheap start before looking towards the expensive issues.
Another might be the capacitor. Again cheaper than an entire motor.
TBH I cant see it being the motor as its only really going to be one thats worded hard on a continual basis that stops working. I suppose only you know the answer there as to how hard its been pushed, but bandsaws aren't usually under that much strain

Interesting. I'll give that a try.
The bandsaw has only had light use so I agree its seems very unlikely its a total motor failure, plus there were no symptoms such as performance drop or burning smell.
Excuse my electrical ignorance but what role does the capacitor have in the starting process? at £15 I'm all up for changing that!

 

[Paul Ackland]

If a sparky wired the switch I would assume he checked there was voltage at the motor.

Correct. Not sure if this would be possible if the capacitor is the problem as per @TRITON reply.

 

[Mike Fletcher]

I would look at the capacitor and if it is deformed (swollen) it needs replaced. Be careful when handling the capacitor as it may still be "charged". Put a plastic or wooden handled screwdriver across the terminals. You may get a spark when touching the terminals, this is normal. Door switches are another common fault. Disconnect the wires from the switches and check with an ohmmeter. I would agree, the motor is an unlikely cause.

 

[woodieallen]

If you put your location down, you might find a fellow member nearby who might be able to help.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

says someone who doesn't give a clue of their location. (my emojis have disappeared.)

 

[bourbon]

As above, Tell us your location and maybe one of us are near enough to take a look at it. There are plenty of safety interlocks around them. It's usually one of them not closing properly. Does the motor 'hum'?

 

[woodieallen]

says someone who doesn't give a clue of their location. (my emojis have disappeared.)

Yebbut I've nothing that needs fixing

 

[Paul Ackland]

I would look at the capacitor and if it is deformed (swollen) it needs replaced. Be careful when handling the capacitor as it may still be "charged". Put a plastic or wooden handled screwdriver across the terminals. You may get a spark when touching the terminals, this is normal. Door switches are another common fault. Disconnect the wires from the switches and check with an ohmmeter. I would agree, the motor is an unlikely cause.

Capacitor looks ok but I'll test further. Thanks

 

[Paul Ackland]

As above, Tell us your location and maybe one of us are near enough to take a look at it. There are plenty of safety interlocks around them. It's usually one of them not closing properly. Does the motor 'hum'?

No hum. hmmmm? Location now updated.

 

[Paul Ackland]

If you put your location down, you might find a fellow member nearby who might be able to help.

Good idea, now updated.

 

[Paul Ackland]

If a sparky wired the switch I would assume he checked there was voltage at the motor.

I'm back to the switch again as the most likely cause. The replacement that Record provided was different to the original, with different pin layout. They sent a diagram for the new JD3 unit but the wire colours didn't match mine and the closest I could get tripped the RCD. Their response was to suggest I had a non-standard unit, which was pretty rich given I drove up to their showroom to collect it! I though my electrician had resolved the tripping issue but testing this yesterday after cleaning out the door sensors, the same problem persisted.
Time to get a better electrician on the case I think.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yebbut I've nothing that needs fixing

It's still useful to know an approximate location - I've written a lengthy post before not knowing the person I was advising was 800 miles away.

 

[Mike Fletcher]

Cleaning the door switches is not enough. Test them as stated above.

 

[Deadeye]

It's not completely clear to me the process you've followed so far to narrow things down.
Have you wired a plug on a tail direct to the motor (cutting out the switch and microswitches) and turned on at the wall? Did it run? If not, the problem is motor or capacitor - check loose connections and change cap.

If it runs, then try just bypassing the switch so that the tails form the plug go direct to the output tabs that connect onward to the microswitches. If it runs, problem is switch. If not, problem is microswitches.

 

[Spectric]

Time to get a better electrician on the case I think

You need a real electrician and not one of these so called domestic installers, you don't find DOL's and NVR's in domestic houses ! Also these switches on our woodworking machines tend to be a cheap version of a proper DOL and can be problematic, I have changed mine twice on the 400.

With my BS400 I regulary hoover out the top and bottom compartments because of the dust issue to prevent any problems with those interlocks.

 

[AJB Temple]

Follow dead eyes advice. You can also try bypassing the door micro switches which I did on my Jet as they were a real pain with the door side frequently not making good contact.

If you think the NVR is at fault you can easily by-pass that too with an ordinary switch (or indeed no switch and just use the one on the socket) for test purposes.

If your electrician charged you and did not test the motor or leave the machine running, then he is not a proper electrician.