Lathe had a bad night Ughhhhhh

[Brian Brown]

Last night I was putting a coat of CA on a shaving brush handle, and while it was curing, the lathe made a strange grinding noise, and the motor slowed way down, and acted like it was binding up. I shut it off, and put my hand on the motor. It was hot, but not more than usual. I put my hand on the start capacitor housing, and nearly burnt my hand. Hmmm.... maybe a bad start capacitor? The lathe is a Delta LA200. On to dewaltservicenet.com for parts. Big problem.... most of the wear parts for my lathe have been discontinued, including this capacitor. Ugghhhhhh! Does anybody just happen to have a Delta part # 900286 laying around that you have no plans for? I am trying to find a substituton, and can't find anything that doesn't require building an annex on the back of the lathe to house it. So much for getting anything done today at work.

There seems to be a black cloud hanging over the Brown household appliances and tools this month. First the computer, then the microwave, washing machine, air conditioner, lawn mower, drill press, disk sander, and lathe. What next? I am thinking of starting a pool for who can guess the next major repair bill for the Browns. Proceeds can go toward the repair costs.Any thoughts to save my poor dying lathe?

[Chris Burgess]

I dont have a Delta nor does my Lathe require I Cap to start but if you can get the specs from Delta you can likely take the Cap and the Spec to an A/C Parts Dealer and match up the Cap.

[Rusty Smith]

If you have had that many electrical devices bite the dust, you might have an electrician check the voltage coming into your house. I found where I lived before that my voltage was quite high and called the elect company to have it checked. After some months, they did finally fix it after I lost a TV and microwave. They said they were not responsible for the malfunctioning electonics.

[J.D.Redwine]

A conversation on another site ended with:Grainger couldnt match that motor ?????

No, but they did have a 30 mf 375 VAC run cap for $9.21
It's not pretty but it's functional again!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Brian.....on the side of the capacitor should be a number indicating the capacitor's value in microfarads..... it may say for example........30ufd and it will have a voltage rating for example.....350 VDC

next measure the length of the body of the capacitor and it's diameter. If you can give me those values I will research it for you........ a picture of the capacitor mounted would be handy too.

The value in microfarads doesn't need to be exact. If it is close.....it will work.... say the original value + or - 10%.

The working voltage or voltage rating you should meet or exceed...in other words if it says 350 vdc....you could use one rated at 500 vdc.........but don't go below the original value of 350vdc..... This is just an example voltage value.....read what is on the original capacitor....

As stated by someone earlier.......a local motor shop or even an electrical supply house should have something very similar. Take your original with you if you go this route.

[charlie knighton]

when i owned a delta, i had two switches go out, artisan centers deltas have starter problems, like they say get electrican to put a starter on it , end of problem, delta has a design flaw, sell more parts that way

[Callan Campbell]

If you have had that many electrical devices bite the dust, you might have an electrician check the voltage coming into your house. I found where I lived before that my voltage was quite high and called the elect company to have it checked. After some months, they did finally fix it after I lost a TV and microwave. They said they were not responsible for the malfunctioning electonics.

DITTO on what Rusty said-Get your house checked for any surges or voltage issues- My sister-in-law has wiped out several electrical items in her house due to a intermittent issue with the local transformer in the alley- She HAS complained, but no action from the electrical company yet. Get surge protectors in the meantime?

[Erik Johanson]

My high School classroom wood shop is mostly all Delta or their older sisters the Rockwell/Delta. What I have learned from both experience and the technician for my equipment is that most of the newer Delta stuff has an expected life span and they will only supply parts for a short period after that, so that when the equipment goes bad there are few parts around and you have to buy a new piece. I could be totally wrong and if I am I will gladly retract my statements, but if your lathe has a problem may not be a bad idea to get two of what ever you need to fix it just in case. On a side note, you may want to discharge the capacitor before you remove it to prevent serious injury. In a nut shell capacitors are like a short term battery designed to discharge very quickly. The stored electricity in those larger ones are more than enough to kill especially the ones in old tube TV's.

Just my 2 cents