Blower wiring question

G

Guy Thomas

Joined
Feb 1, 2000
Messages
1,370
I bought a used 115 volt 85 cfm blower from Surplus Center to fool around with on a new forge I'm building. It has a capacitor start motor with a plug type connector. Can I just get rid of the capacitor and clip the plug end off and wire it up. Or should I keep the capacitor? It has a ground wire and three "line" wires (and the capacitor wire). I think maybe I need to start reading up on electrical matters!

By the way the folks at Surplus Center are great. They didn't pack the hydraulic pressure gauge I also bought in the box and all I had to do was call them and tell them I did an exhaustive search through the box and all of the packing and they shipped it to me immediatley.
They will be getting more of my business!
 
sorry i can't answer your question, but i have a question myself...i was looking at those same blowers and i was wondering if someone can give me an idea of how strong 85 cfm is? how does that compare to, say a typical hair dryer? i have a hair dryer hooked up to my forge and would like to replace it with a better blower, but i don't want to get something that blows too hard...
 
Keep the cap, its there for a reason. The motor is designed to use it to get started. There should be a schematic somewhere on the motor or the cover that covers the wiring hookup area. It will tell you where to put each wire. For 115, you should have a hot, a neutral and a ground to the case. The cap should be wired into the motor. Many motors will have 2 schematics one for 115, one for 230 as well as rotation reversing instructions if your motor is reversable. Remember, when in doubt, plug it in and see if it catches fire;) . An old vacuum cleaner makes an excellent forge blower for coal, I assume it would work fine for gas as well.
Good Luck,
Leonard
 
Sattley's right, it is there for a reason. It could be bypassed depending on the size of the motor and your line/breaker size but I can only think of one reason to do it. The only reason I know is to use a speed control. They will not work with cap start motors. If you baypass it the motor will surge on start. Remember an electric motor will draw approx 4 times the amperage on start as opposed to running. For instance, a motor rated at 5 amps will surge at 20 amps on startup. The cap levels this out and removing it may well burn up the motor with a slow rolling move to speed.

The speed control is not worth it. Leave it alone!
 
Well I understand now why the capacitor is there! I wanted to try this blower on an upright propane forge for making damascus. I have a friend who knows wiring inside and out that can help me wire this up also, but it's certainly time to find some books on the subject! Thanks everyone (those wiring diagrams at emotors are very helpful!)
 
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