What's new
What's new

GE motor wiring problem

Rosenfelder

Aluminum
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Location
Southern New Hampshire
I have a WWII vintage South Bend 9" lathe. In order to transport it, I removed the motor by 'unwiring' it. I recorded how it was wired, but lost my notes. The lathe ran fine before I disassembled it.
Four wires come out of the F/off/R switch. Green and yellow alternate between hot and neutral depending on the position of the switch. Black is always hot, and red is always neutral. There is no ground.
At the motor there is a terminal board with five studs. The terminal studs are numbered 5,1,2,3,4. The red wire from the switch was wire nutted to a red (neutral) wire that goes in at the top of the terminal board. So I have three wires to figure out. Green and yellow (which do the F/R and the black (always hot).
So which terminals do the three wires connect to? Is there a way to tell which terminal goes to what?
The motor is a General Electric 5KC63AB
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, J.R.
 

Attachments

  • 20211230_134159.jpg
    20211230_134159.jpg
    95.3 KB · Views: 68
  • 20211230_134131.jpg
    20211230_134131.jpg
    51.8 KB · Views: 66
Based on my experience as a former electric Crane and Hoist technician:

For 220 power, 3 conductor wire is Black/Red/White/Green or bare. Black and Red are hot (Each is 110 out of the breaker panel.) Your yellow wire was white originally. On your motor terminals, 2&3 are jumpered together. 1 & 4 are Black and red respectively. #5 should be white. Green/bare is frame ground.

A pic of your reversing switch terminals would be helpful. But... according to GE wiring diagrams I can find for 5KC dual-voltage motors, reversing is accomplished by swapping 9&10 between 5&8. There should be 5 more terminals on your motor. 5&10 and 8&9 are paired according to GE.
 
jbenhayon,
The lathe ran correctly before I unhooked the wires. The lathe runs on 110 volts. The plug is two prong (not grounded). The cord with the plug is two conductor leading to the barrel switch. You are right about the yellow wire actually being white. There is only the 5 terminal circuit board and one separate red wire under the access cover on the motor. Four wires come out of the barrel switch. Red, white, green and black. The green, black and white wires from the switch have ring terminals. The red wire has no ring, and was obviously wire nutted to the red wire on the motor. That leaves three wires to figure out. The red wire is always neutral except in the off position. The white and green alternate between hot and neutral (for/ rev) depending on the switch position and have no power in the off position. Black is always hot even in the off position. Three wires to figure out and 5 possible terminals.
 
You might take It to your local motor rewind shop. They specialize in old motors like yours and will save you some headache
 
Contact a GE Apparatus Service Shop. A GE Service Shop provided me with enough information to rewind the stators and armatures for some DC motors. The motors were made in 1929. Thats service!
 
My friend Chad brought this motor and the switch to Morse Electric Company 380 East Broadway, Gardner MA 01440 978-632-3733. These guys figured out the wiring. They did a great job. Highly recommended.
 








 
Back
Top