Overload switch keeps tripping - what would you do?
#19
Wow! Those are some real helpful tips. This is such a great community.

I've had this saw for about a year, and it has done this since I got it. I will test some of those tips tonight and will report back. 

There are about six fluorescent tubes and five led lights running while I am cutting. 

I will get me an ammeter and see what it says. 

THANK YOU!
To do is to be (Camus)
To be is to do (Sartre)
Doo Bee Doo Bee Doo (Sinatra)
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#20
(03-26-2018, 04:49 PM)dspeer Wrote: I've had this saw for about a year, and it has done this since I got it. I will test some of those tips tonight and will report back. 

There are about six fluorescent tubes and five led lights running while I am cutting. 

Overloaded circuit, made worse by light and/or long 14 gauge wiring, and compounded by loading the motor harder still because it's acting 'weak' when ripping heavy stock because it's performance is hobbled by low voltage due to the high current draw.  Just a guess.  
Winkgrin

Put it on a short (close to the panel) 20A circuit and see how it does.
Tom

“This place smells like that odd combination of flop sweat, hopelessness, aaaand feet"
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#21
I am sorry for the stupid question, but I REALLY am electrically challenged ... Only items actually running qualify for an actually overloaded circuit, right?
To do is to be (Camus)
To be is to do (Sartre)
Doo Bee Doo Bee Doo (Sinatra)
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#22
(03-25-2018, 02:16 PM)dspeer Wrote: I own a 1.75 hp Jet table saw that's about 20 years old. It seems like a good saw, but it has a problem: The overload switch trips much too quickly. At moderate feed speed in 1 1/2 inch oak, I can rip for about 10-12 inches before the switch cuts power. 

First, get the lights and saw on different circuits. It's often awkward having a breaker go, and waiting for the saw to stop spinning in the dark. Not romantic.

Second, use the meters, etc.

My first shop ran on a 350' 14 awg cable 240 v from a 60 amp main service in the house. Everything  flickered, on both legs. I have a feeling that there wasn't enough voltage, or amps.
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#23
(03-26-2018, 09:24 PM)WilliamHodge Wrote:  

My first shop ran on a 350' 14 awg cable 240 v from a 60 amp main service in the house. Everything  flickered, on both legs. I have a feeling that there wasn't enough voltage, or amps.

 So technically you were using the extension cord as a fuse. 
Sarcasm
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#24
(03-26-2018, 11:18 PM)daddo Wrote:  So technically you were using the extension cord as a fuse. 
Sarcasm

I did have 15 amp fuses where the wire came into the shop. The wire from the house to the shop might have been a heating element, as well as a fuse.

Now I have 200 amps from the pole to the shop, installed by an electrician.
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#25
(03-26-2018, 08:27 PM)dspeer Wrote: I am sorry for the stupid question, but I REALLY am electrically challenged ... Only items actually running qualify for an actually overloaded circuit, right?

That's right.  If it's not drawing power, it's not a load in the sense you're asking about.

But that saw should be on a 20A circuit with nothing else on it.  The reason it's 1-3/4 hp (not a standard rating) is that the manufacturer wanted more than 1-1/2 hp (a standard hp rating) but 2 hp (another standard hp rating) would have a nameplate current rating at full load of more than 15A and wouldn't get a UL listing with a 15A plug.  I'm guessing your saw has a motor full-load current rating of 15A, or just under it, at 115V. 

If it's the circuit breaker that keeps tripping, and it's been doing that for a while, the breaker is probably tripping at a lower threshold at this point.  They tend to weaken, in a manner of speaking, with repeated trip events.

Without knowing anything else at all, it sounds like you need to run a 20A circuit just for that saw, which could be used for any other heavy machine load also (just not at the same time).  Even better would be to use 10 gauge copper wiring with a 20A breaker, to reduce voltage drop on the wiring, especially if it's a long run from the panel to the receptacle.  But again, without the details, I'm just throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks.
Raised
Tom

“This place smells like that odd combination of flop sweat, hopelessness, aaaand feet"
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#26
(03-26-2018, 04:49 PM)dspeer Wrote: Wow! Those are some real helpful tips. This is such a great community.

I've had this saw for about a year, and it has done this since I got it. I will test some of those tips tonight and will report back. 

There are about six fluorescent tubes and five led lights running while I am cutting. 

I will get me an ammeter and see what it says. 

THANK YOU!

Is this a stand alone shop or in your basement? The reason I ask is that a circuit that you think is powering 6 fluorescent tubes and 5 LED lights might be powering something in another room or even on another floor in addition to the saw and lights. We live in a fairly recent vintage house and the wiring is something of a mystery to me. I'm sure the circuits are distributed so that there is more than one circuit in a room to share the load but it can be a little confusing what loads are on what circuits.
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