Gear motor wiring help

Hey y'all. I've got a Paterson gear motor that I'm wanting to use to motorize my grain mill, but I don't know how to wire it. There are 5 wires total, a red and yellow run from the capacitor into the motor, then there are black, blue, and white wires coming from the motor for connection. Anyone have any ideas? Don't really want to burn it up or shock myself with 110v AC messing around with it. Here's some pics. Thanks in advance!

usdsk8er540 said:

Hey y'all. I've got a Paterson gear motor that I'm wanting to use to motorize my grain mill, but I don't know how to wire it. There are 5 wires total, a red and yellow run from the capacitor into the motor, then there are black, blue, and white wires coming from the motor for connection. Anyone have any ideas? Don't really want to burn it up or shock myself with 110v AC messing around with it. Here's some pics. Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

Hi there! I can't give you an in-depth answer right now (I just got to work), but I can give you a quick assessment.

The red and yellow wires are probably putting the capacitor in parallel with the motor itself, so you shouldn't need to touch those at all. I couldn't find it explicitly on the motor info, but since it mentions 115V and 60Hz I am going to guess it is two phase. So my educated guess is that those other three wires are probably 115V, Neutral, and Ground. If I were a betting man, I would say black is 115V, white Neutral, and the other ground.

When I get a break later I can look at it more closely.

Wow.

One of those (probably blue) is for the start winding, the other (black) is for the run windings, and white is neutral. There is no safety ground visible, if you want one (and you should) you attach one to the casing.

And 115vac is single phase...

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

Wow.

One of those (probably blue) is for the start winding, the other (black) is for the run windings, and white is neutral. There is no safety ground visible, if you want one (and you should) you attach one to the casing.

And 115vac is single phase...

Cheers!

Click to expand...

Right! Forgot about the starter winding! Been a while since I looked at a motor schematic. Good call.

Here's the wiring diagram from one of my gear motors.

edit to say:
28 RPM? Lots of touque so you could use sheaves, but then what's the point of a gear motor?

Yes it is single phase. Sorry the pic showing the info doesn't really show it, but next to the ratio listing it says "Ph. 1". So, I guess what I need to know now is what do I do with the blue " starter" lead? As for the white and black, just connect to 110v AC? Sorry it's been a while since I've fiddled with electronics. And @AnOldUR, I think I will skip sheaves and just use chain and sprockets. Easier to adjust length of chain and repair if needed. Thanks for the help everyone!

OK, watched a YouTube video on start and run capacitors. Now it seems that the capacitor on this motor is a run capacitor, since it is 15uf. So now what?

Connect the blue and black wires together to the hot side of an AC line cord (black wire) and connect the white wire to the line cord neutral (white wire) then connect the line cord green safety ground wire to the motor housing...

Cheers!

Check to see if the blue is ground using a volt ohm meter. Then carefully "play" with the motor. The blue is probably for direction reverse. If you are careful you won't burn it out that easily. Blue probably pairs with black for one direction and pairs with white for the other direction.

Try black and white only, momentarily plugging in and see if the motor seems to want to kick up to speed properly and quickly, and if it does, pay attention to sound.

Try pairing the blue with black using the same procedure

Try pairing the blue with white using the same procedure


You will probably find that blue and black is one rotation, and blue and white is the other.
By pairing, I mean hooking the two together. to one line, and the other lead to the other line. Don't be afraid to play...... motors are tough, just don't waste any time unplugging it if it isn't right. Use your ears! If it doesn't sound right... it isn't right.


H.W.

Google Paterson Gearmotor ........ I just did........ and you will find the above photos already, and a link to this thread. The final solution to this problem will be preserved on Google for others to use for a reference.

H.W.