advice/guide on how to evaluate, wire, and set up fractional-horsepower motors?

Hello,

First, apologies - these questions are reeeeely basic but I've looked online and at my local public library but I can't find any practical information on the wiring-up and setup of small AC motors.

I have a 1/6hp split phase induction 1725rpm, and the wiring panel has tabs onto which wires are connected via 90deg crimped-on terminal sockets. I am aware of which line power wires need to attach to which tabs in the wiring panel to get the thing running, but that won't tell me if I'm doing it the right way or with the best/safest practices.

Some questions I have are:

- one of the starter winding wires (red, black) is too short to reach the other tab to reverse the rotation direction - is this normal or should I pull on them harder?

- how would you normally attach a DPDT switch to reverse the rotation - do you cut off the sockets and splice on another wire to extend outside the panel? do you use the existing socket on the wire and plug in your extension wire? something else?

- where would I ground the motor? I don't see any specific tab/terminal/screw in the panel or on the case for the grounding connection

- is the motor supposed to make any noises (other than the smooth sound of the bushings) when the shaft is rotated by hand?

If there is a particular book that I should look at or an informative website, or if you have pointers you can write me, I'd really apreciate it.

Thanks!

- Daniel

Rotation direction isn't always reversible (some motors, you would reverse the motor and use the shaft on the other end of the motor). If it IS reversible, you MUST let it spin down to a stop so as to re-engage the centrifugal switch before attempting to reverse

I'd worry about wire-stuffing limits and heat rating of the terminals (the motor can get warm). If possible, you should put all wires from the outside of the motor into bolted-down attachment points (so they don't tug directly on any of the motor winding wires), and there are often 'spare' attachment points in the motor for this kind of addon. There are 'feedthrough' crimp connectors that both accept the wire terminal AND plug down onto a bolted terminal, for just such wiring issues. Because you have to stop before reversing, reverse switches are usually forward/brake(off)/reverse three way paddles. The 'brake' means there's a resistor or short across the motor windings in the off position, to spin it down more rapidly.

Reversing switches are only common on three-phase motors.

Keep looking; sometimes a nut is painted green. Sometimes you use the screw that closes the wiring door.