wiring a square wheel grinder for 220

Rick Baum

Rick Baum

Joined
Mar 14, 2000
Messages
509
So, I got a screamin' deal on a used square wheel grinder. I was told by the company that I purchased it from that it was wired for 110. Perfect, no 220 in the new shop yet. I figured I could get by with the grinder being wired for 110 until I could afford to run 220 to the shop. The only problem is, it feels waaaaayyyy under powered. The motor bogs down with the slightest pressure against the platen. The reason for this comes later in the post... So, i figured the best way to cure the lack of torque is to pony up and run 220 to the shop I talked to the fine folks at Lowes and ran a nice 10-3 plus ground wire to the shop and installed a 4 pronged outlet.

So now I'm trying to figure out how to wire the grinder for 220. Trouble is...

1- although I'm relatively handy with most tools I'm completely ignorant to electricty and it's "proper" wiring.
2- I located a wiring diagram for the grinder online... When I opened the cover plate on the grinder and inspected the wiring...low and behold, the connections to the motor are already setup for 220! Gee, I wonder if that could be part of the problem with my lack of torque? DUH!

Now I just need to figure out how to convert the wiring from the outlet on the wall from 3 wires plus ground to the 2 wires plus ground that the wiring diagram shows. So in other words, I've got two hots, a neutral and a ground at the outlet and the machine wiring diagram shows what appears to be one hot, a neutral and a ground.

Any ideas for this electrical neophite?

Thanks,
Rick
 
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220 volts does not use a neutral . You only need a 3 pronged out let . A 4 prong is only used when you want 110 & 220 as in a dryer or stove . Be careful , don't burn up your motor . 2 hots and a ground
If you burn it up , I'll take it with the bad motor:):)
 
Thanks Jack! That clears things up considerably.

Now can someone please verify what Mr.O'Neil has instructed so that I know he's not just trying to get a good deal on a Square Wheel grinder with a burnt up motor? :)
 
Sounds like a plan... Thanks guys! I'll let you all know how it goes when I get the wiring all completed tomorrow.

On a side note, do any of you know if a heat treat oven will use the same plug scenario, 3 prong vs. 4 prong? I assume it will but i only have one 220 plug in the shop so far and it would be nice if everything could operate of of this one plug. I can always add more plugs down the road but right now I'm getting tired of setup. I just want to finish the knife that I've got started if you know what I mean?

Thanks again for the help!
Rick
 
Rick you ran 10ga. wire , that is good for 30 amps. I'll bet your motor only draws 7-10 amps . put in a couple duplex 220 outlets on that line .
 
What a difference a few more volts makes! This thing screams now and there aint no slowin' it down. Now I need my slow down drive wheel to arrive so I feel a little more in control of the machine instead of the other way around.

Thanks all for the help! It was pretty easy once I felt like I knew what I was doing!

I'm guessing it would be fairly immediate if things weren't wired correctly and the motor was going to blow up? So far so good.

On another note... It must be my lucky day... Not only did the wiring go good, but while I was crawling around under the shop connecting the 220 line I found a nice old piece of wrought iron. Guess what the fittings on the next knife are going to be made of? I guess thats one of the bonuses of buying a house that was built in 1865... Can't wait for the next treasure to surface.

Thanks again everyone/Jack!

Rick
 
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