Although very stout when built, the wiring in these saws is over 60 years old. The original wiring is cloth covered and that cloth erodes over time. As you can see below, this is why the saw needs new cable. That wire is an accident waiting to happen with the break in the sheathing near the terminal, that exposed wire is a problem which has to be corrected.
The magnetic starter control box will likely be different on your saw. I have two GE's and have seen 2-3 others and NONE of them have the same make of control box. This is likely due to the fact that they may have been replaced prior. They all do operate the same however, they assist the motor in starting up.
Here is what my box, which is badged Allis-Chalmers, with Square D electricals inside, looks like.
The first thing to do is thoroughly clean everything inside the box. I blew all dust and sawdust that remained from my first general cleaning out with my compressor. I then vacuumed anything else I could get out. Using a Q-Tip with a little dish soap on it, I cleaned around all the terminals and all the areas you see that are black phenolic. I used a dry Q-Tip to clean any additional muck and crud that was in there.
I then prepped it for repainting as I wanted it gloss white to match what the table will look like. I stuffed it very well as I didn't want any of the electric parts to get paint on them.
Now that the box is as clean as I can get it and repainted; it is time to start the re-wiring process. There is no correct order. I started with the smaller 12/3 cable that comes to the unit from the on/off switch in the end cap. Yes, I'm aware that I will have to disconnect this to put the switch back in, I am doing it for educational purposes here so this material relating to the electrics, is all in one place.
In the photo above, you can see the three leads coming out of the conduit hole at the bottom right of the photo. Wiring colors were somewhat different back in the 40's and 50's. I see some three wire schemes black/red/green and others black/white/green and sometimes the red or white is brown. Just match your wires to their original mates if the saw was operational when you started working on it. If not there will be another post on troubleshooting the electrical components if your saw is not operational.
In my case, the wires for the starter were black/red/green. Since my new cable was black/white/green, they each connect to its like colors terminal, with my white replacing the old red.
You can see in the photo above I used 10-12 size ring terminals and heat shrink tubing to secure the connection. DO NOT FORGET TO CRIMP YOUR RING TERMINAL. Below, you can see the newly connected wires for the start switch.
I moved on to adding the cable for the 230V power outlet. I put a 50 amp plug on one end of this cable, Sorry but I forgot to take any pictures of that process. It's pretty simple as the instructions come with the new plug. If your undertaking a project like this, then I'm sure I don't need to go into how to rewire a new plug.
As you can see in the photo below (bottom left corner), I used a 3/4 inch lock tight waterproof connector. I did so for aesthetics and because the lock tight connector will keep a lot of dirt and sawdust out of the enclosure. It is important to start with your leads long enough so that you can cut them slightly to the proper length so they fit properly inside the box.
For each wire I do the following
- measure and cut it so it exactly fits the length needed to reach its terminal with a little wiggle room
- strip 1/4" of the wire end
- slip the heat shrink over the wire
- put a 10-12 ring terminal on the end making sure some of the copper strands protrude from the ring terminal opening
- crimp the terminal
- slide the heat shrink over the terminal to the bottom side of the ring
- heat it so the heat shrink shrinks around the ring terminal
To heat the heat shrink tubing you can use a heat gun, blow dryer, lighter or a match. They all work, the first two are a little cleaner.
Here is the new plug cable and connected. You can tell the new wires as they have heat shrink around the terminal connections.
I then moved on to wiring the cable for the motor. I have 30 ft of 10/3 SJOOW portable machine cable for this. I won't be 30 ft, the old cable which I believe was original, was 15 ft long. I will cut it when necessary to the proper length.
The conduit hole for the motor wiring wasn't big enough for the 3/4" lock tight connector. I had to drill out the hole carefully so as to not damage any of the wiring inside the control box to 1" so the connector would fit. The process was the same as for the plug wire so Ill spare you the details. Here is the new wring inside the control box.
The whole process took about an hour, including the time it took me to put the plug on the other end of that cable. That plus the $85-90 for all the new cable.
Here is the completed (almost) unit.
I say almost completed because there was an odd shaped Allis-Chalmers badge, which mounted on the two holes you see in the cover. It was all scratched up and faded, but legible. I hated to put that back on so I went to the expert in badge replication, Jim Kull. You can find him on PracticalMachinist.com. It was pricey as it was an odd shaped piece but I figured if I'm going all the way, then go all the way! You can see the new Allis-Chalmers badge below along with the other two badges I had remade due to their poor condition. sometimes it is cheaper to have a replacement badge made than to spend hours trying to clean up a badge that is beyond repair. I always buy a few extra, it makes them cheaper per badge and if I don't need the extras I can always sell them for what I paid for them. I needed two each of the DeWalt's anyway as I'm restoring two Model GE's.
I am finishing up painting the motor, when it is finished Part 4A will be wiring the motor to the starter and testing if it still works!
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