Matts Precision Matthews 1236

roadie33 said:
I was always told that 10 gauge is the smallest wire to use for 220v and the minimum a 30 Amp breaker. Just a thought.
May also be the cause of tripping breaker and excessive heat at motor too.
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The voltage has no relevance to the wire size for residential applications. Wire should be sized according to ampacity, or current carrying ability.
Voltage is definitely a factor for choosing wire type.
 
zoom zoom said:
I have a stockpile of 14/2. It has a ground!! 2 coated wires and one bare inside a 14/2 wire. 110 has one hot and a neutral+ the optional GFCI grounding wire, 220 is 2 pole, with 2 hot (110v) legs and one optional neutral. A lot of 220 accessories will be internally grounded, but this lathe does have the third neutral wire and it is hooked up. The wires off the machine appear to be 16ga to me, but I could be wrong.
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The ground wire in your 14/2 is thinner than the 2 coated wires.

Thinks of it this way: with 110v on 14/2, the hot and neutral path are the same gauge so the power on the hot and the return to ground at the panel are equal.

With 220v on 14/2, each of the 14 gauge wires is a different 110v phase. Now we have the hot path on one phase returning to ground at the panel on a thinner wire, then the other phase does the same. Using 3 wire with ground, 10/3 or 12/3 or 14/3, has the the return gauge the same as the power.

As for the thinner wires off the machine, it has to do with the length of the wires. Longer wires, more voltage drop.
 
I'm a new guy here, but I would really like to make a comment about your wiring situation.
I am a Fire/Arson Investigator for major suburb of Dallas Texas. I have investigated many residential fires. I say all that to say this; you are taking a big chance on burning your house.
No one here wants to hear what I am about to say, but please for the safety of your home and family call an electrician. The breaker is tripping for a reason, that reason is the amperage draw of the circuit is causing the breaker to over heat. If the breaker is overheating (which is what makes them trip), the wire is also heating up. If the wire heats up enough it can and eventually will cause a fire inside the wall of your home. That fire will travel into the attic and void spaces fast. Remember, the purpose of the breaker is to protect the wiring in the circuit, it is not to protect the machine or appliance which is plugged into it.

The more times a wire or electric plug over heats, the less heat it takes to start a fire. For example, a wire that heats up one time to 300*F may not do any damage. If it heats up to 300*F 10 times, the 11th time it may start the insulation on fire when it reaches as little a 200*F.

Please, you have spent several thousand on a nice lathe, and many hundreds on tooling for it. Please spend a couple hundred for a licensed electrician to make sure you can use it safely and not burn your house and family.
 
Sorry guys, must have had a Homer Simpson moment when I typed my reply. I was intending to say the same thing as Rick above but wholeheartedly agree with "Mr Fixit's" comments above.

will try to make sure head is pulled out of A$$ before any more comments.
Dave H.
 
Once upon a time the ground was smaller. As far as I know all three conductors are the same gauge in 12/2 with ground or 14/2 with ground. Don't use the uninsulated ground wire as neutral. It's only for ground. Really, getting an electrician would be a good idea.


Steve Shannon
 
I'll leave this post up as a small contribution to this site, for posterities sake, I feel I did a good job of contributing my experience as a first time buyer and machine owner but you guys are absolutey ridiculous, ridiculing me several times over AFTER THE ISSUE WAS FIXED! Good riddance.

I had to change the oil since I drained the feed box to fix the lead screw. It was close to the recommended time to do the first change anyway.

I had put this magnet in on day one. I stuck my hand in the oil that came in the machine and I felt a LOT of tiny particles, I thought the magnet was going to be worse but that really isn't too bad.
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Youtube video

Back right corner
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Better pic of the whole right side.
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This left side was pretty much clean and clear of any debris.
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I used rags to soak up the remaining oil and clean out the straggler pieces of metal shavings.
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The thing took EXACTLY 1 gallon of oil to refill to the sight glass.
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I don't have any good pics of the feed box, but it was pretty clean.
 
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