“Melty” motor

[SVS]

Not really looking for advice-just found this situation interesting….

Had a coolant pump motor on a seldom used drill press “loudly hum”. Smelled bad, didn’t spin. Pulled it out of the tank, unwired, ohmed it, freed it up, seemed ok. Wired back up, loud hum, thought “I need to find a replacement “.

6 months pass-

Tried it again, it runs, but smells bad. Tear it apart:



In last picture you can see a few windings imbedded in the melted remains of a plastic “housing” where the connections were made.

Obviously, something got hot and melted the housing. Maybe, because the motor was stalled because the impeller was stuck.

All I really know, is I need to rustle up a different pump or motor.

[Noitoen]

That is the remains of a little plastic enclosure for the wiring connections.

[SVS]

Yes-

as noted above:

In last picture you can see a few windings imbedded in the melted remains of a plastic “housing” where the connections were made.

[Noitoen]

There should be a centrifugal start switch or capacitor that went bad and the motor could't start and when a motor doesn't move, it will overheat and burn out.

[SVS]

Three phase motor-so…no to start switch & capacitor.

[SVS]

I should have said:
”FOR AMUSEMENT ONLY—no troubleshooting required. “

Edited to add:

I just found it amusing that a motor could smoke so much & smell so bad, yet continue to run. Made sense once torn down.

[wierdscience]

I once replaced a coolant pump on a surface grinder for the same reason. The previous owner told me the motor was burnt when I bought it. The motor ran, but smoked pretty bad, so I bought a new pump and replaced it. When I removed it, the machine's control enclosure had a 220vac sticker on it from the factory. The original owner had swapped it over to 440vac, but forgot to swap voltage on the coolant pump.

[lynnl]

I should have said:
”FOR AMUSEMENT ONLY—no troubleshooting required. “

Edited to add:

I just found it amusing that a motor could smoke so much & smell so bad, yet continue to run. Made sense once torn down.

Now if that were in some 3rd world country they'd have that repaired in no time at all.

[SVS]

Repair crossed my mind…glop it with varnish and bake, but…..it’s like a piece of burned toast that your Mom scrapes with a knife and tells you “It’s just fine!”

I’m doubtful 🤨

[Tobias-B]

Motors will run for a LONG time.

We have a tagged- on AC unit in a machine room
at work to fix the architect's chronic inability to understand heat flow.

I smelt something yucky one afternoon, so went up to see what was going on.

One of the blower motors was smoking pretty good, but also belching flame a good 6"
out of the housing. The electrician who came to shut it off was yelling at it,
so I suggested maybe just cut the power.
I also dissuaded him from popping a chemical
fire extinguisher in a room full of electronics...

They can burn a LOT and keep on trucking.

t

[vpt]

I'd hire a hamster, they are cheaper.

[SVS]

As I recall, when my kids had hamsters, the wheels only run at night.