Drill Press Capacitor

Hello,

I have a problem with my drill press. I think the capacitor is out because when I turn it on it doesn't spin up but I can spin it by hand and it will start up. If that is whats wrong with it where is the capacitor? Is it the small rounded cover on the outside of the motor? My drill press is a chinese duralast from 1982. If the capacitor is only a few dollars I would like to replace it for now as everything else works fine.

Thanks for your help
Bret

Sounds like the capacitor is shot. It will be under the small rounded cover on the outside of the motor.

Yep, capacitor. Take off the cover and have a look at the old one. The specs will be listed on it. Buy a new matching one. Ebay seems to be the cheapest source. Depending on how the old one is connected, you may need crimp connectors and a crimping tool to attach the new one.

Check that the centrifugal switch is working first. It is mounted under the fan cover on the end of the motor.

Hi BJ,

I recently replaced the capacitor on the motor of my 1.5HP SP morticing machine. Took the dead capacitor off and down to the local motor re-wind shop. $15 for a newbie. Just check that the newbie will fit under the cover as you can get caps of the same spec. but differing external dimensions, so the motor man advised me!

Cheers Old Pete

So I pulled the capacitor cover off my drill press and this is what I found. Does anybody see anything wrong here.
Attachment 218837

Resoldered the wire and she is good to go. Its always awesome to fix something for free. My only regret is I didn't research the problem early I have been using my drill press this way for the last year.:doh:

Thanks to everyone for their help.

Bret

Good stuff. My multimeter can measure capacitance, so in my similar case I was able to measure that the cap was gone.