Hello

Hi all, i was given a mini lathe and small milling machine about 3 months ago, really enjoying the learning curve (very steep) I now have a Myford ML7 on the way..

I have a problem with the mini lathe motor, where do I ask the question.

thanks.

Welcome.

By all means ask the questions on here, but be quite specific in what you ask, and use the right terminology.

Otherwise your question may be misunderstood and the answer will not be to the question actually in your mind!

You will certainly get helpful answers, There is a huge reservoir of knowledge on here, on many subjects..

Howard

Welcome along.

Welcome to the M.E. Forum!

By "problem" with the motor, I assume something electrical?

If so, if the lathe is of current or recent manufacturer I would suggest contacting its manufacturer or agent first. An electrical fault in the motor or any associated control gear is not very likely to be something the owner can repair beyond simply replacing the failed part with new.

(I have had to do this myself on odd occasions.)

Hi Haydn Welcome. Click on the FORUMS in the black bar above and choose the forum that appears relevant to your query.

regards

Welcome Haydn, questions is what this forum speciallises in , we will do our best to help you. Noel

Hello Haydn,

I refer to link very confused post.

I also refer to your telephone conversation with our Ian this morning. Here are our observations and comments:

1. You have an Amadeal 250w brushed motor mini-lathe which has stopped working properly for you.

2. You have a brushless 500w motor which you have pick-up from a car boot sale, for a £10.00

3. You have a 500w brushed motor from Amadeal.

a. You advised that the 500w brushless motor which you got from the car boot sale works. We have informed you, just as various people on the 'very confused' thread that you are not going to get the said motor to work on your Amadeal machine.

b. Electrical components from Amadeal are different from SIEG components, so electrical components from SIEG including motors have low or zero probability to being a retrofit for Amadeal machines.

c. Trying to fit a 500w brushed motor from Amadeal to a 250w brushed motor Amadeal machine without changing the related circuit board/other electrical components would be a wrong thing to do. You have been advised this by Ian in your conversation with him.

We understand that your intentions are to fix your machine and sell it on. It is our belief that you would need a competent person with the correct skills to carry out such a repair, using like for like components procured from Amadeal - your original machine supplier. Trying to do such repairs with poor understanding would be wrong.

Ketan at ARC.

Thanks for taking the trouble to phone me…..I now understand the problems and I will try and locate a 250watt motor. I have searched and I can find every size except 250…..the original 250 watt motor has kept failing, I bring it back to life by stripping it and cleaning the armature…this only lasts now for 10 mins or so…..I believe the windings have failed and I’m not having any luck finding a workshop to rewind it…..the sensible thing to do would be to cut my losses, the lathe cost me nothing, but, I’m a obstinate bugger and I hate things that don’t work……so the hunt goes on for a motor to suit or a rewind job…..thanks for all the advice.

when you say clean the armature do you mean the copper commutator if so it could just be that the brushes are worn too short and need replacing. they tend to be quite soft on modern motors as they reckon it saves comm wear.

Hi,

sorry , I clean the copper commutator, then it works for a short while, after a few minutes it is black again and starts stuttering and stops….I reckon it is a fault in the windings…..the commutator is not at all worn, the brushes are good.

Since your machine is an Amadeal import, have you sought their advice?

It sounds as if you might have a problem with the motor..

As I understand it, normally, the brushed motor will be fed by a control board which will produces a variable DC voltage (Often less than the UK mains 240 volts AC) .

If you were to by pass the control board and apply 240 volts AC across a motor designed for, possibly, 180 volts DC ll damage and a burned the commutator. would occur..

Howard

If the lathe is in fair condition, why not remove all the electronics and wire the motor up to an on/off switch? Neither of the two old lathes I have owned had electronics, and some well known youtubers don't use a lathe with electronic controllers. If I saw a lathe like yours being advertised with dud electronics, I would buy it and do the conversion with a decent motor.

I have just watched a video by a youtuber, "Artisan Makes" where he swaps out his electronics and motor as I suggested. So it can be done.

Thanks for all the suggestions, as I understand it I shouldn’t connect my Armadale 500 wat brushed motor to the mains with a simple switch as the motor is rated at 180volts.

I see that you state that the brushes look OK but have you checked that they are free moving in the holder and are the springs in good condition and not getting hung up