Grain Mill Motor

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BubberJ

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I just found a "Brand New" Single-Phase AC Motor in the basement from my Father-in-law , honestly it has never been used but it from the 70's. The manufacture is Daytona. I wired it up and it runs fine but I have two questions before I by a pully for it and my grain mill shaft (belt too):

First: Single phase is not the strongest of the AC Motor group , Is it strong enough based off of your experiences?

Second: Can you put a variable control on the electric feed to maintain desire RPM's?

and since its Friday night I am enjoying a Sx Points Resin :) Prost! :mug:

Some Edits/Updates:

Its Dayton not Daytona :)
1/3 HP 1725 RPM 115V 5.4 AMP 60 Mz
 
That motor will be plenty strong enough to drive your grain mill.

Unless it specifically says it's a variable speed motor, don't try putting a speed control on it. A couple of pulleys will work just fine. Have fun!
 
Thanks. Do you have a pulley size recommendation to keep the rpms in check of do you think I am fine with two 3" pulley's?
 
Not a problem! I haven't built anything like this yet. What I'd do is really slow down the RPMs on the mill by using a larger pulley on the mill shaft. 1750 RPMs seems way too fast in my opinion.
 
Seems like you'd need to drop 1:10 ratio to get aroudn 172 RPM. Let me know what you end up doing, I have several of these same exact motors in my garage I've been trying to get rid of on ebay.
 
You will need a 1" pulley on the motor shaft and a 10" pulley on the mill for a 10:1 ratio.

(Motor pulley diameter * motor RPM)/ Mill pulley diameter​

The more critical of the two pulleys is the motor one. If your motor shaft is 1/2" in diameter you should have no trouble finding the correct pulley.
 
You also need to take into account which belt you are using. Some of them don't like to make the turn around a very small pulley's diameter and they end up wearing out quickly or throwing themselves off a lot. I would think anything under 400 rpm would be good on the mill but closer to 200 is definitely better. You might want to consider no smaller than a 2 inch pulley on the motor and go from there.
 
I had to use a 2" on mine... when I used a 1" sometimes the sheave would slip under load... moving to the larger sheave gave more surface area for the belt to grip... no problems since then.
 
I agree with too small on the motor end causing problems. The problem with a bigger motor pulley, though, is that you need to go bigger on the other end as well. Those big 12" boys get expensive. Just be patient and do your homework to find a good price. I think I went with 1.5" and 12" on mine and it works great.
 
I have some super powerul 6RPM motors I was think of using, they're more useful for rotisseries but I thought about tasking one for grain or maybe making a mash stir. I have several of the 1200-1700 dayton motors so if they can be used I may just do that instead. I thought because they were so high RPM they wouldn't have the torque required.
 
That's one reason I went with a gear motor at 105 rpm's. Another plus is the fact that now I don't have as much stress and wear on the mill bearings that I would from a belted application and less danger from moving parts like belts and pulleys.
 
Okay only issue I have found is that I cannot find a 12" that can go onto the mill shaft that is 3/8". The motor shaft is 1/2" so no issues there. Anyone know of a way around this?
 
Buy a piece of 1/2 in bar stock and drill a 3/8 hole down the center. Drill and tap a hole in the side for a set screw.
 
Should I make it wider or the same width of the pulley. Worried about keeping in balance and stability.
 
I would make it the same width but it really doesn't matter. I would also use a lathe or drill press to insure that you are drilling exactly down the center of the bar stock or you will get a wobble in the pulley.
 
Mine is the exact spec you list. 120 volt single phase, 1750 rpm, 1/3 hp, and 60 hz.

I run a 1.5 inch pulley on the motor shaft and a 9 incher on the grain mill. Works wonderfully. Starts up with grain in the hopper, and never seems to be burdened.
 

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