I do or rather did use my dp for rodbuilding. I have a reconditioned Ryobi bench drill press which I purchased primarily because it has a 3 inch travel. I used it about a month ago with no problems. So I try to drill some cork and it will not start. Armed with my voltage sniffer if can determine that there is power to the motor. I had suspected a bad switch but no such luck. The only outside item is a starting capacitor which I did not "sniff" for voltage. I am already frustrated with the Ryobi website which is of no help. I banged on it a little but that did not do anything. I thought maybe it had brushes that were dirty but nothing is really accessible from the outside. Any suggestions on what to try? I am not certain where to get a motor. It is an induction constant speed motor. Thanks

John
God bless the troops and USA

If your switch checks ok, then its possible it is the capicitor, but you need to be REAL CAREFUL, if it has a charge stored in it and you touch it wrong its a lot worse than just getting hit by the voltage supplied to the drill press. If you insist on messing with it, un plug the machine, take an insulated screw driver and short across the connections on the capicitor.
your best bet is take the motor off and take it to a motor repair place, probably won't take much to fix it and cheaper than a drill press.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/01/2009 03:33PM by Jim Creed.

I avoided the capacitor for just that reason. I guess I really am resisting to take the motor off etc.

hi john,
an induction motor does not have brushes.does the motor make a humming noise when you turn it on?if it doesn't you may not be getting power to the motor.regardless of what a voltage sniffer tells you.it may be that power is going to the motor but the circuit is not being completed because of a faulty switch or an open wire.did you try to help it start by spinning the chuck in its normal direction of rotation?some motors have a set of contacts inside the motor that work off the centrifugal force supplied by the spinning rotor shaft.i have seen them get stuck in one position.some motors have a built in circuit breaker usually a red button on the side of the motor ,if it has one push the button.If it were me i would first test the switch for continuity,and check all the electrical connections to make sure everything has a good connection before i started to mess with the motor,they usually give you some indication they are going bad, not work fine one time then just do nothing the next.if you do determine that its your motor there should be a plate on the side of the motor that has the info that you need to replace it.the most important things are the frame size,voltage,horsepower,and RPMs.rpms dont need to be exact,just close.most are1725 rpms.ww grainger should be able to help you with a new motor.i am sure there are other suppliers also.WORD OF CAUTION ELECTRICITY CAN KILL YOU! if you don't feel comfortable with it take it to someone that knows what they are doing.

Get an electric hand drill if all you are doing is drilling cork rings out.
Until you can fix the press.

Bill - willierods.com

It's a Ryobi, chunk it and get one that's meant to work. No offense intended but I've never had any luck with their tools and now use anything but them. They cost a little more but you just about can't beat a Craftsman and the customer service is great.

You can't just go by name brand anymore. Sears buys their stuff from a bunch of different sources and slaps a craftsman label on it. Ryobi makes makes tools for many different labels and Craftsman is one of them. Look in your local yellow pages for electric motor repair and take the whole drill press to them. Chances are they can fix it pretty cheap. If not you can give it to me! I need a good project.