Unisaw stopped running

[Sanford Imhoff]

Hello all. I have a 10 year old Unisaw with a 1 1/2 horse Delta motor that I run on 220v. I was resawing a 16/4 beam (cut part way through then flip over and cut the rest of the way through) when the blade pinched and the motor stopped running. I had already cut several boards off in this manner so I thought the motor had overheated. I've let the motor set for an hour to cool and have pressed the thermal reset but I can't get it to restart. I've checked for a reset on the motor but don't find one. I've also plugged it into another 220 outlet that I know to work but nothing there either.

I doesn't smell like anything is burnt. Is there some way to check and rule out things like a switch, plug, etc. to make sure it isn't the motor? Thanks for any advice.

[Swingman]

From past experience it may take a good while for that switch to reset. Might want to blow everything out real good with your air hose.

... and make double sure the circuit breaker in your panel did not trip. :)

[Sanford Imhoff]

Thanks for the reply, Swingman. When you say, "blow everything out" are you talking about inside the switch box?

I've been trying to restart it off and on all day to no avail. Would it take longer than 6-7 hours to reset? I did reset the circuit breaker several times.

[Mark L.]

[Swingman]

Sorry I can't offer more concrete help. Chances are good it is an electrical connection problem somewhere. You need to do a thorough check all wiring, electircal connections, inside the switch box itself, anything you can get to, etc.

Just like you, I thought I had fried the Unisaw one afternoon and couldn't start it for the rest of the afternoon. Later that evening, and In preparation for pulling the motor the next morning, I blew out the switch, the motor, and everything I could reach with my air compressor and it fired right up.

I was under the impression that the cause in my case was a stuck reset switch, probably dust related.

I may be mistaken, but I have a dim recollection of the thermal reset on some of the Unisaws to be actually inside the switch box itself ... might want to check there also. Also, it is not unheard of for a switch to go bad under similar circumstances.

Good luck ... may your fix be as sudden and easy as mine.

[NoOne N Particular]

I had a thermal breaker trip once and I had to press HARD to get it to reset the first time. Might have had dust in it, but I don't know how it could have got in there.

Wayne

[David F. Eisan]

Hello there,

What brand motor do you have in your Unisaw? Baldor motors have their own breaker on them that you have to manually reset. It is on the motor itself where the cord goes into the connection box. It is conviently hidden from view and you have to feel around for the rubber button.

Do you have a magnetic starter? Pressing stop on most mag starters is how you reset them (press hard) but not all work that way, sometimes you have to open the starter an manually press reset.

Did you check your breaker? It may not look thrown, so flip it off then on to make sure it is indeed on.

Let us know how you make out,

David.

[Sanford Imhoff]

Thanks for all the replies/advice. Swingman's story is the same as mine and saved the day. I took your advice of blowing out the switch/receptacle box and tightening all the electrical connections in the box. I re-assembled everthing, plugged the cord back in, hit the 'reset' button and it fired right up!

You all saved the day...not that I'd mind having a 3hp Baldor but the original has been pretty faithful through some trying times. Even better, I'm back to work.

Thanks again.

[Herb Robinson]

I know this sounds dumb, but when I had a similar problem, after replacing the switch box etc., finally fixed it by replacing the power cord. I had been using a 25 foot extension and the extra current caused the power cord to fail. Like I said, sounds dumb, but this happened two or three years ago and the problem persisted for several months. Once I replaced the cord, been fine ever since.