12 volt motor

[Ordener]

Update: I decided on a whim to tear down the 110 volt motor that seemed to burn out. (Smoke came out of it and smelled of something burning). Much to my surprise, it was packed full of metal dust. I regularly blow out the motor with compressed air, and I thought that was keeping the inside of the motor clean. What I realize now is that the magnets in the motor were holding most of the metal dust that was being sucked into the motor. I took all of the components outside and thoroughly cleaned all of the metal dust out. I found that some of the insulation was melted on the wires going into the back of the motor. I replaced all of the bad wiring and put the motor back together. Works like new again. I wanted to share this with y’all so maybe if this happens you may be able to save your motor.
Garry

[Ken C]

Update: I decided on a whim to tear down the 110 volt motor that seemed to burn out. (Smoke came out of it and smelled of something burning). Much to my surprise, it was packed full of metal dust. I regularly blow out the motor with compressed air, and I thought that was keeping the inside of the motor clean. What I realize now is that the magnets in the motor were holding most of the metal dust that was being sucked into the motor. I took all of the components outside and thoroughly cleaned all of the metal dust out. I found that some of the insulation was melted on the wires going into the back of the motor. I replaced all of the bad wiring and put the motor back together. Works like new again. I wanted to share this with y’all so maybe if this happens you may be able to save your motor.
Garry

THANKS for sharing your update experience, Garry!  Gives me some comfort regarding my Viel.  I too blow mine out with compressed air but now I'm wondering if preventative maintenance needs to include a "tear-down" occasionally to remove metal dust.  

Hopefully other Viel owners/users will offer their maintenance experiences.

Thanks,
Ken C

[Mark Reich]

Thank you for the great post, Garry! Definitely going to be a "motor saver" for others!

[Ordener]

Thanks, Mark! Hope this helps someone.

[SHARPCO]

Thank you for information Garry.

[Ken S]

Garry,

I wish I had read your post several years ago. When I first purchased my Viel, I planned to use one of the three old (1930s) shop motors I inherited from my grandfather. I did not realize until I tried to install one of them that they were all too large for the Viel. Motors are classified by NEMA sizes. The quick giveaway is shaft diameter. The standard motors which fit the Viel have 1/2” shafts. My shop motors all had 5/8” shafts. (An online "nema motor sizes" search will locate a handy chart.)

So, I ordered a 1/4 hp motor from Viel. When it arrived I was surprised that it, like my old shop motors, had open vent construction. I wondered about grinding dust problems. That should have been a red flag for me.

The Penn State motor is closed construction. I believe the industry classification is "TEFC". Totally Enclosed Fan Cooled.

After conversion, I noticed that my fixed speed motor had stopped working. I took it to the local motor shop that installed the reversing switches for me. The trchnician tested it and pronounced it shorted out. I left it for the shop recycle pile. In hindsight, I wonder if it might have just needed to be blown out well and inspected like Garry's motor.

Bench grinders have enclosed motors. In the future, I will look for TEFC motors for my shop.

Thanks for posting, Garry.

Ken

[Ordener]

Thanks, Ken! No belt sander should have an open vent design. I’m surprised that Viel hasn’t thought this through. I’ve spoken to the owner of Viel Tools a couple of times, and he seems to be open to suggestions. Their frame design is fantastic, but there is definitely room for improvement. A 12 volt motor would be a great start.
Garry.

[SHARPCO]

Garry, I have one question.

Did not you use a dust collector(any types)? Would not this have happened if you had used it?

[Ordener]

I don’t have any type of dust collection. In fact, there’s no dust collection port on this unit. When I’m sharpening in my shop, I continually use a Shop Vac to vacuum up the metal dust on and around the machine. I blow out the vent holes in the motor with my air compressor once or twice a week. When I’m sharpening at the farmer’s markets the dust pretty much goes everywhere. I’ve experimented with various magnets, but they don’t seem to work very well.
Garry.

[Mark Reich]

Dust collection is a very significant issue. First of all, metal dust will kill you if you let it. Second, it's really easy to burn your shop down. Please study safe metal dust collection systems. It's not as easy as hooking up a shop vac!