Major Score

[Jules]

Yes, seems to be a marketing trick (the same way that hard disk manufacturers lie about the capacities of their drives). Once one company starts doing it, they all do as otherwise their product seems inferior.

Thankfully the power's only part of what makes for a good product, I suppose, and there are always places like this group where folk can ask what the best buy for a particular price range is...

I've never quite understood the point of using current draw as a marketing tool - I mean, 13A might imply a powerful motor, but it might also mean a shit motor and lots of friction in whatever mechanism the motor is connected to. It seems pretty meaningless (other than to know whether it's going to melt your wiring or trip breakers ;-)

cheers

Jules

[Red Green]

"Jon Danniken" wrote in news:7qho8sFr5dU2 @mid.individual.net:

Yea a long time ago :-(

IIRC he plunged it on a countertop or something and it just went everywhere and dragged him with it. Might have been the same episode (well, maybe not) where he turbo charged the dishwasher in the island and it blew a huge hole out of the back like a military round.

[bud--]

I recently got a book "Woodworking with the Router", Bill Hylton. He says "The industry standard is to report peak horsepower on a universal motor, ... and continuous horsepower on an induction motor, the type used in stationary power tools." It makes some sense. Induction motors are more often used for long periods at their rated HP. Universal motors (brush type) often are used for very short periods. You can use the peak HP of a drill for a short time. I believe he is talking about HP that is measured as HP, not as derived from current.

[Existential Angst]

Well, I corrected that to 1.1 porter cable hps.... :)

But seriously, that part was "said for effect", altho it could might well be true.... I'll post more on this later. I can't imagine a responsible company using the locked-rotor method, tho.

But, brush motors can get very powerful in small sizes. iirc, you have these little bitty table top race cars with motors the size of a AAA cell, that are a good fraction -- perhaps the better fraction -- of a hp! Due to supermagnets.

Whether you would WANT a true 3 hp in a hand-held router -- or if yer 15 A breaker could take it -- is another story.

However, be careful -- that ignerint asshole Salty Dog is going to ask you for cite after cite, and accuse you of making all this up if you can't deliver.

[Existential Angst]

Good points.