Has anyone replaced the motor on their JET 13-40 Lathe?

G

greer

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I'm looking to replace the 2 HP, 230v single phase motor on my Jet 1340 gearhead lathe with a better quality motor. If someone out there has already done this I would love to hear from you. The guys at the motor shop here said that it might be hard to find one with the right size shaft, frame, etc. Jet said the same thing. I know I may end up having to modify the base plate so it will fit, but thought I would just ask around just in case there's something out there that would drop in. Thanks alot. greer
 
replacing your lathe motor

greer said:
I'm looking to replace the 2 HP, 230v single phase motor on my Jet 1340 gearhead lathe with a better quality motor. If someone out there has already done this I would love to hear from you. The guys at the motor shop here said that it might be hard to find one with the right size shaft, frame, etc. Jet said the same thing. I know I may end up having to modify the base plate so it will fit, but thought I would just ask around just in case there's something out there that would drop in. Thanks alot. greer
Click to expand...

Your Lathe is an import. That means it is a metric motor. I replaced my Grizzly lathe single phase motor with a 3 phase motor. I found it was easier not to change the sheeves and stay with a metric motor with the same foot print. There are NEMA metric motors available I suggest you go to a real electric motor shop. When I converted my single phase to three phase with a VFD (Varrible frequency Drive) true 3 phase converter, it cost just under $100.00 per horse power to match a VFD rated for the motor. The American NEMA Metric motor that fit the footprint of my original motor (3 hp) was a 7 hp motor. My lathe is smmother and stronger than ever. Even when run at a derated number of cycles.

You might check the Home Shop Machinist and Practical Machinist web sites, they have threads just on this subject.

Good luck
Nat Lambeth
 
I replaced my 2hp single phase metric motor with a 2hp 3ph NEMA standard motor. The shaft size was an issue and I had to change sheaves. In retrospect I should have gone with a 3 phase metric motor. The performance of the lathe improved a lot with smooth ripple free torque of the 3ph motor compared to the single phase motor. I could see a difference in surface finish right away.

Fitch
 
Ron. Thanks, I'll do that. I wasn't familiar with that company.
 
Thanks for the replies. I need to research what it will take to convert to 3 phase and the advantages on a smaller lathe.

Lee. I've had the lathe about 10 years. I bought it new. From the beginning it would occasionally make a rough, straining sound when I started it up. I would switch it on and off a few times and it would eventually start up and run right. It might be weeks or months between these bouts. In the last year I've had to replace the starter capacitor twice and a switch or contact twice. Now its acting up again . I might replace the #12 wiring to the lathe with #10 although the #12 should be fine with this size motor and the short distance it is from the breaker box according to a chart I found. I have been on a Home Machinist forum and found several complaints concerning Jet motors so maybe this is not so uncommon. Thanks again. greer
 
I replaced the original 2 hp motor on my Jet 13x36 with a NEMA frame, 2 HP, 4-pole, 3-phase. The Jet motor sheave bore was slighty larger than the new motor's shaft, so I made a sleeve and a stepped key to fit it to the new motor. It all went together nicely and the with a Hitachi VFD driving the new motor , I could not ask for a better set-up. I got lucky and found the motor, a new Siemens industial duty TEFC motor on eBay for cheap.

RWO
 
My jet 12 x 36 ran for two years on 115 VAC. In that time it growled often and ate switches about 4 times. It has now run
for nearly 20 years on 220 Vac single phase . Switch was changed at that time to a Square D rotary and I have never had
a problem since.
 
Yes, I replaced the 220V motor in my 12 X 36BD with a 90V DC motor. AMAZING difference. No funny finish on turned pieces due to the 60hz vibration. Infinite speed control. So much more power. Able to turn at much higher RPM.

I bought the motor brand new on Ebay for $90 and got a controller from Surplus Center (do a search) for $60. A bit of "figuring" to get it all squared away, but it came out great. Using a link type V belt removed the last bit of vibration. Now my lathe runs smooth as silk!

All info here:

http://public.fotki.com/Rbertalotto/machine_tool/jet-1236-dc-motor-c/

DCMotor006-vi.jpg
 
RWO, Bob, Roy. Thanks alot for the replies. I'm feeling pretty ignorant right now. I'm going to print this thread off and take it into the motor shop and hopefully I'll be able to sort out the best option. It sure is a hassle to have a chamber reamer rented and the motor start acting up. As common as this lathe is you'd think there would be a higher quality aftermarket motor that would drop in. The motor's power has always been fine for what I do. I'll keep you posted. Thanks again. greer
 
This is all very interesting. Mine is working just fine however. If it should go on the fritz this will be some good info to look back on. Thanks for sharing. Lee
 
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