Felder Bandsaw Problem

[Tom Bain]

Soooo, when I went to turn on by FB510 bandsaw this morning, it makes this low rumbling noise and starts to move the wheels/blade, but then the breaker trips and everything stops. The bandsaw is only about 3 years old and it's on a dedicated circuit. I've never had any issues with it before. Any thoughts fellow Creekers?

-Tom

[joe maday]

Make sure nothing is jamming the wheels or blade. Take pressure/tension off the drive belt, or remove it completely, then reset the breaker and try to start again that would isolate the problem to either the wheels/blade assembly or the motor.

[Rod Sheridan]

Tom, is this one without a centrifugal starting switch in the motor?

If so, you need to hold the start button until it's up to speed.

If it's one with a centrifugal starting switch in the motor, either the switch is defective or the start capacitor has failed.

All of the above assumes it's a single phase machine.

If it's a 3 phase machine it looks like it's single phasing, check connections, supply voltage, contactor and wiring............Regards, Rod.

[Tom Bain]

Ok, so I took off the blade and and still having the same issue. This is a serious bummer.

[Tom Bain]

Tom, is this one without a centrifugal starting switch in the motor?

If so, you need to hold the start button until it's up to speed.

If it's one with a centrifugal starting switch in the motor, either the switch is defective or the start capacitor has failed.

All of the above assumes it's a single phase machine.

If it's a 3 phase machine it looks like it's single phasing, check connections, supply voltage, contactor and wiring............Regards, Rod.

I spoke with Felder support and their first guess was the starter capacitor. I'm not much of an electrician but I assume you can't really tell if a capacitor has failed just by looking at it? :-/

IMG_0407.jpg

[Nelson Howe]

They are not expensive. I'd just replace it see what happens. I had that happen on an old Reliant dust collector. Got replacement at an electrical supply house. Solved the problem.

Nelson

[Rod Sheridan]

Sometimes the failure is catastrophic and obvious, other times there are no physical signs of failure......Rod

Do you know anyone with a multimeter?

[Sebastien La Madeleine]

It might be the capacitor but I have a Hammer N4400 and it does exactly the same syndrome once in a while. It's not the capacitor, it's the brake switch. As the dust gathers inside the switch it becomes intermittent the motor then starts and stops in rapid succession and then pops the breaker, a couple of firm taps on the foot brake cleans it and then it works good again for a while...

[Tom Bain]

It might be the capacitor but I have a Hammer N4400 and it does exactly the same syndrome once in a while. It's not the capacitor, it's the brake switch. As the dust gathers inside the switch it becomes intermittent the motor then starts and stops in rapid succession and then pops the breaker, a couple of firm taps on the foot brake cleans it and then it works good again for a while...

Interesting ... I will try that tomorrow and see if it fixes the issue. Thanks for the tip.

[Tom Bain]

So, it turns out it was the starter capacitor. Put a new one in and it started right up. As a PSA for other bandsaw owners, this video shows what it looks and sounds like when your start capacitor is shot. You can hear the circuit breaker trip at the end.