[TestDriver]

Hello,

This is my first post here. I was referred to this forum from the Practical Machinist site. Hopefully, I can get more educated on this stuff.

I've been searching this topic and have seen many instances of the same situation from others but not quite with the same motor.

I have this old motor that came out of a Maytag gas dryer. It must be over 25 years old. The reason I've kept it is, it would be a good drive for a custom application. Well, I finally have such a need. However, I can't get the thing to run and it's driving me a bit nuts.

It was working when removed but the dryer is long gone and I can't even remember the model. The specs are; GE, 110v, ac, 5.4amp, 1725rpm, 50 deg C, 1/4hp. The wires leading up to it are white, yellow, red and blue. They lead up to terminals on the motor that are only marked by dots of the respective colors. There is a green dot with a green jumper wire connecting to the white dot terminal. The yellow and red terminal connections are insulated and the wires are of heavier gauge than the rest.

Apart from the above, there's not much else to it. I googled the part number but got no good info. The bulk of the information out there seems to suggest it's a split phase motor with a start and run circuit.

Any ideas on how I can go about checking the wiring so I can determine the circuits?

Thanks

[SublimeMasterJW]

Post a pic of it, And I could be sure.

[TestDriver]

Originally Posted by SublimeMasterJW

Post a pic of it, And I could be sure.

Thanks for replying.

I don't have a picture of it right now but, it looks just like the one on the lower right in this craigslist posting. I removed the fan part when I took it out but the base and frame are the same.

I'm not sure if this site allows hyperlinks so, I pasted the address with "zz" where "tt" normally would go. Just change it once you've copied it to your address bar.

hzzp://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/tls/1324131697.html

[SublimeMasterJW]

Dude I am old but I ain't that old I would water down the electricity and hunt the windings. How? I use an old dryer element. I take a suicide cord and attach 2 insulate aligator clips to it. I break one side of the cord and add the dryer element. (a water heater element works fine too for this). I plug the cord in and touch the clips. That toss a spark. Not like that of bare wires though because the element is hogging all the amps. (it will still bite so be careful). I use this to find windings in the motor. If I see a spark between 2 wires I turn the pulley by hand and it will take off if I have two good wires but if I have a short The element will start to get warm. However none of the copper windings will be harmed within the motor. I also have one side of the wire going through a clamp on ammeter hanging on the wall in my shop. After making a determination of what looks good I give the motor straight 120 but I look at that ammeter. If that thang overamps I know I have multiple windings in my circuit. NOT GOOD!. The motor would run that way but not for long. Confused yet?

[TestDriver]

Yup, I'd seen that method before. Someone also wires up several light bulbs in series as a load. It's a clever way of saving your stuff.

I went ahead and opened the motor. Once I'd done that, everything became much more clear and I was able to figure out which wires went to which winding.

After reassembling the motor, I hooked it up to line voltage and jumping the lead to the start circuit only produced a loud hum. The motor shaft visibly shifted about 1/16 of an inch but would not rev. I tried revving it by hand while it had power but it would not start and was quite difficult even make it move. I decided to just wire the run circuit direct. I was able to make it run this way by gently twisting the shaft when powered but it took too long to get up to speed and it got quite warm. I think it's a lost cause.

Now, I'm moving on to trying out a washer motor I have for the same purpose. The dryer motor is simpler but now out of necessity, I'll try the washer one instead. For this one, I do have picture so, hopefully, it'll be something I can get help with.

I'll post about the washer motor to a thread on the washer forum.

Thanks for your help.

[SublimeMasterJW]

It just might be that the motor was poling out. Bad bearings. yeah post that pic.

[TestDriver]

Originally Posted by SublimeMasterJW

It just might be that the motor was poling out. Bad bearings. yeah post that pic.

There's no responses yet to my question but, I got it going tonight.

I found this diagram online and using it, I connected the wires according to the numbers on the motor side. Some of them were not exactly what the diagram had but it proved a good guide.

I'll post to the other thread as well.

hzzp://www.applianceaid.com/newimages/norge-oldstyle-washer.JPG