220 conversion on drill press???

[Gary Kittleson]

I have a delta 17-965 (I think...I'm at work at the moment). It has the capability of being converted from the 110 (which was it's delivery condition) to 220. Is this worth the effort to make? I'm setting up my shop after moving, and need to run a wire to power it no matter which way I go...so, the question is wether to feed it from my 20 amp outlets, or to go from the table saw outlet...(220).

Dave, I know you purchased the same press, are you still on the 110?

Let me know, and thanks for the time to respond.

Gary

[Brad Townsend]

I have the predecessor to the 17-965, a 17-900, and I converted it to 220. Unlike with a table saw or something needing more power, I doubt there is any performance advantage at all for a drill press. The reason I did it was because I had a 220 outlet that was more conveniently located to where I wanted put it.

[Todd Tolhurst]

I believe that's a 3/4 HP motor on that machine. The current requirements of the motor are quite modest even at 120V, so I don't think there would be any advantage in wiring it for 240V.

[Jim O'Dell]

I have the 17-965 also. When I was wiring the shop during that phase of the rehab, I wired both a 110 and a 220 volt plug, the 220 being on a dedicated circuit. I have since decided that that was "nice thinking" on my part, and have decided to leave the DP at 110. Jim.

[Jim Becker]

While I run most of my machines on 240v, the DP remains on 120v...it wasn't worth the time to convert. The only reason I'd change that is if I replaced the motor with a 3-phase and a VFD to control it...

[Richard Keller]

There is no operational advantage to changing voltage on a machine. The only reason I would consider going to 220V on a machine is if it means that I can run smaller wire to it - eg a 3HP motor which would be around 24-26 amps at 120V - requiring #10 wire, at 220v is about 12-14 amps - meaning I can use #12. (Wire for a motor should be rated for 125% of full load amps - in Canada anyways, not sure about USA)

Richard.
(Electrician)

[Gary Kittleson]

It's a unanimous decision!

I'll leave it alone...and thank you for the input.

Gary