# Delta lathe capacitor



## tomwilson74 (Apr 3, 2019)

My Delta lathe (46-250) needs a capacitor. I’ve tried two different ones and they both failed after about 20 seconds. I can’t find one that will work. The motor runs but I have to spin the chuck until it takes off on its own. Anyone have an issue and able to find a replacement? I tried one from Grainger last week on a recommendation and it sounded like a .22 round firing off!


----------



## duncsuss (Apr 3, 2019)

The search I did took me to Sawmill Creek and a couple other places where this problem has been described, but not really solved.

It read like you might be better served replacing the motor than continuing to blow up capacitors

Reactions: Thank You! 1


----------



## tomwilson74 (Apr 3, 2019)

I just went ahead and bought a new Nova Comet II.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## William Tanner (Apr 3, 2019)

I recently did a rant here or on Wow about my Delta 46-460. After the off/on and forward/reverse had been problematic for years the lathe abruptly quit. Did some trouble shooting and decided the capacitor was likely the problem. It was soldered into the board. Also saw some unhealthy signs on the board itself. Ordered a control head (which came with a 1/2 hp motor) which I didn’t need from PSI. A friend came over today and the new control head did the trick. Back in business for about $150. Your lathe wasn’t listed for this kit but neither was mine. I called PSI and was told the kit would work for my lathe and it did. Might work for yours. Considering the cost of lathes this was a good remedy for me. Only drawback is the control head doesn’t have a reverse.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


----------



## tomwilson74 (Apr 4, 2019)

My Delta will run in reverse. I just spin it backwards and it takes off. It’s not supposed to though. ???

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 1


----------



## William Tanner (Apr 4, 2019)

You are right Tom sounds like the capacitor. For me it was less hassle to replace whole thing. I was worried about other possible issues in the controller. Had a club member who started his lathe by hand spinning the chuck. He didn’t have a forward or reverse issue though.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Sprung (Apr 4, 2019)

Might want to check in with @Schroedc - I know Colin used to run one of these lathes and had some electrical issues that he was able to take care of.

Even though you've got a new lathe on the way, if this one can be fixed and you have the space, having a second lathe wouldn't hurt anything. Would be nice to have set up as a dedicated buffer. Or to have two different setups going at once. For those reasons I'd have loved to have kept my previous lathe when I upgraded, but I didn't have the space to keep it and selling it was a provision of getting my wife to sign off on the upgrade.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## William Tanner (Apr 4, 2019)

Matt. So right about keeping the second lathe. So missed it when it was down.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## rocky1 (Apr 4, 2019)

tomwilson74 said:


> My Delta will run in reverse. I just spin it backwards and it takes off. It’s not supposed to though. ???



Pretty much any electric motor will run backwards, if you know how to wire them, and install a barrel switch to reverse polarity. In your case, you are the starting capacitor, if you turn the motor in reverse with power applied, it's gonna run backwards. All reversing polarity does is tell the starting capacitor which way to start basically, after which, current applied turns it whatever direction it started.

I'm sure you are aware of it, but exercise caution doing that if you don't have a screw on your chuck to lock it in place.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## tomwilson74 (Apr 4, 2019)

Sprung said:


> Might want to check in with @Schroedc - I know Colin used to run one of these lathes and had some electrical issues that he was able to take care of.
> 
> Even though you've got a new lathe on the way, if this one can be fixed and you have the space, having a second lathe wouldn't hurt anything. Would be nice to have set up as a dedicated buffer. Or to have two different setups going at once. For those reasons I'd have loved to have kept my previous lathe when I upgraded, but I didn't have the space to keep it and selling it was a provision of getting my wife to sign off on the upgrade.


Sprung, I plan on doing that. I’ll just use it with my Beall system as a buffing machine.

Reactions: Like 1


----------

