Decided prevention is better than cure for once.

[BobL]

the EM was working when I had the earth lead connected to the little pin.

Thats probably because the other end was internally connected to active and the earth was acting like a neutral.
It's too difficult to go into why this is not advisable here.

Your meter looks like it won't cope with more that 12V.
It's beyond me why anyone would even think of tackling ANYTHING involving Mains V - even replacing a plug or socket - without a working 250V meter.

Its quite possible the motor wiring has the colours the other way around - it sounds like this is best referred to a sparky.

[Bohdan]

Kuffy if it doesn't look promising PM me your contact and address and I will arrange a drop in, grab my meter and fix it for you.

[Mobyturns]

ADDED BY ADMIN

DISCLAIMER

No liability is accepted by UBeaut or the Wood Working Forum's administrators
or moderators for advice offered by members posting replies
or asking questions regarding electrical work.
We strongly advise contacting a Licensed Tradeperson for all electrical work.
WARNING

Information supplied within posts is not to be considered as detailed formal instructions to complete a task.
Members following such information do so at their own risk

I can't believe I'm reading this????? Why not just pull the whole thread???? DIY electrical repairs are illegal in most (all??) Australian states.

Kuffy do yourself a big favour and get a qualified electrician to fix the switch.

[Kuffy]

If the thread got pulled, my lathe would have an earth wire connected to the little A1 pin on the switch. I would have even been willing to sell the lathe in that condition believing it was good as gold. But now thanks to this thread, I have some motivation to get a sparky to do it for me. And apart from making the lathe spin for 10 seconds or so, I didn't use the lathe in the poor condition I put it in. Discussions are great entertainment, my actions are my own.

[justonething]

I can't believe I'm reading this????? Why not just pull the whole thread???? DIY electrical repairs are illegal in most (all??) Australian states.

Kuffy do yourself a big favour and get a qualified electrician to fix the switch.

It is not illegal to repair your own electrical appliance as long as it is not permanently wired to your electrical supplies.

[Pearo]

It is not illegal to repair your own electrical appliance as long as it is not permanently wired to your electrical supplies.

Yes it is. At minimum you need a restricted electrical licence.

[Mobyturns]

If the thread got pulled, my lathe would have an earth wire connected to the little A1 pin on the switch. I would have even been willing to sell the lathe in that condition believing it was good as gold. But now thanks to this thread, I have some motivation to get a sparky to do it for me. And apart from making the lathe spin for 10 seconds or so, I didn't use the lathe in the poor condition I put it in. Discussions are great entertainment, my actions are my own.

That may well be the case, but it could just as easily have been a friend or family member finding you on the floor - DEAD!

But the really scary part is it could easily have been another party.

[jmk89]

There is a reason for the warning and for not pulling the thread.

Information, especially when combined with exhortations to comply with the law, is more likely to lead to a good or better outcome than ignorance and a message that you need to go to the professionals. Further, the forums exist to encourage people with problems to ask for help and for members to provide helpful information, but in the case of some things (eg electrickery) to say that anyone who acts on the information does so at their own risk. That is not just to protect the forum owner but also all members, especially the one who is thinking of engaging in risky behaviour.

Here ends the rant (PS these are my personal views and not those of all admins/moderators)

[Kuffy]

This is the diagram on the side of the switch

Uc1kUly.jpg

Brown 13 IN, brown 14 OUT jumped to A1. blue 23 IN, blue 24 OUT = results in the lathe not staying on. If I jump blue 24 to A1 it works. in fact I have wired up the four main wires in every single arrangement and the lathe works perfectly fine every time I have 24 jumped to A1. If I jump 14 to A1 the lathe spins only while pressing the start button.

So at this point in time I am leaning towards getting a sparky to do it, but I fear he will just say that 24 needs to be jumped to A1 which will mean I spent a couple hundred bux for no gain (peace of mind is worth nothing to me). So I will actually ask an electrical question which isn't simply a question of curiosity. "should I be jumping 24 to A1?". A big thankyou to the guy willing to answer my question.

[BobL]

This is the diagram on the side of the switch

Uc1kUly.jpg

Brown 13 IN, brown 14 OUT jumped to A1. blue 23 IN, blue 24 OUT = results in the lathe not staying on. If I jump blue 24 to A1 it works.

That's it leave it there and make sure the earth wires are fixed to the cabinet

in fact I have wired up the four main wires in every single arrangement and the lathe works perfectly fine every time I have 24 jumped to A1. If I jump 14 to A1 the lathe spins only while pressing the start button.

The connecting line between 14 and A1 is not for you to do, it's already inside the switch, so you have to connect A1 to 24.
When you connect 14 to A1 you are shorting out the EM lockout so it won't work.

[Kuffy]

Ah thanks Bob. Now that you have pointed out that 14 is internally connected, it seems soooooo obvious to me from the diagram. Live n learn. If you are looking for me during the zombie apocalypse, just look for the house with all the lights on, that'll be me

Ok, now I am going to rewire the thing all nice and neat and it will be a much better job than the horrible mess that it was before I started.

[Bohdan]

The correct wiring, with A1 connected to 24, is that the active (brown) should go to 23 and the neutral (blue) to 13. But this is only significant if you have other switches in the line between A1 and 24 as it is convention that all switching be in the active wire and not the neutral.

The color of the wires assumes that the cable's plug and your wall outlet are correctly wired and for peace of mind these should be confirmed with a multimeter (but not your 12v one).

Check that the earth wires are securely attached to an unpainted connection of the machine's frame.

[Kuffy]

Cheers Bohdan. I will wire it the way you suggest with the actives on the 13/23 side. I was putting it on the 14/24 because I thought that was the active side due to the line connecting A1 and 14. The earth wire will be bolted to the cabinet in the back of the switch enclosure in a freshly drilled and threaded hole. I am rewiring everything. New cable from the power point to the switch to the motor. I am just using a heavy duty extension lead which I will chop the female end off and throw in the bin and use the rest. Took me ages to get the motor out of the cabinet, and as soon as I did it I realised I could just take the lathe off the top of the cabinet and have a straight shot at the wiring on the motor!!! ah well, some of the motor mounting bolts weren't actually doing anything, so I will replace them with good bolts. If my time was worth anything, I could have bought a brand spankin new vicmarc with the hours I have put into this old, non-variable speed woodfast. but where is the fun in that

[woodPixel]

I'm half expecting to see a post from Mrs Kuffy saying an auction is to be held for the estate....

[Gabriel]

. If my time was worth anything, I could have bought a brand spankin new vicmarc with the hours I have put into this old, non-variable speed woodfast. but where is the fun in that

Mate, totally agree.... If I had if just purchased the few bits of furniture I have produced that I'm Happy with, instead of buying the tools to do it then I could probably afford to buy a small island!!!