# Check your wiring.



## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

I was getting ready to use my drill press today and I found where the outer sheath of the wire going into the motor was worn threw. None of the wires inside were harmed so I taped it up. It was about 6" from the motor. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't like that when I bought it.

Be careful and enjoy your woodworking. :smile:


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

A good reminder, Don. And I'll second that because of what I found in mine 3 or 4 years ago. For no reason other than just doing a little drill press maintenance and clean up I pulled the cover off the junction box on the motor. What I found truly surprised me - there were bare wires! I also found bare wires on the switch.

This is what it looked like when I found it so I replaced the wiring and power cord that day - 
















David


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

That rubbery insulation flexes better but it degrades fairly quickly too.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

David, that’s some scary right there . Im certainly glad you did some routine maintenance and found it before it caused a possible accident.

Don that’s a good reminder for everyone, thanks


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

With a small shop, your're always moving tools around, and fraying wiring is almost a certainty over time. Thanks for the reminder.


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## Knot2square (Jul 11, 2015)

Not only moving tools around, but rodents will sometimes chew on the wires. I don't have rodents in my shop, but one cold winter I let my daughter keep her cat inside the shop for a few nights. Guess who chewed up the wires to my shop vac. Unfortunately the cat survived. As you might gather, I dislike cats.
Thanks for the reminder Don.


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## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

I like cats! They taste like chicken. God invented cats so dogs would have something to chew on. >


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## TenGees (Sep 12, 2012)

I caught a mouse in my garage. Little vermin chewed a tiny corner off of a grass seed bag. I thought it was just scratched and taped it up. Next day it was leaking again! Doesn't leak any more.


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## ggom (Apr 5, 2017)

hawkeye10 said:


> I was getting ready to use my drill press today and I found where the outer sheath of the wire going into the motor was worn threw. None of the wires inside were harmed so I taped it up. It was about 6" from the motor. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't like that when I bought it.
> 
> Be careful and enjoy your woodworking. :smile:


Good to know!

*Anyway, as long as grounding is well done, there is absolutly no risk.*

The fuse will blow or the differential switch will break circuit.
Here the differential current norm is:
30 mA for any plugged moving tools with ground or not.
300mA for fixed, grounded tools like a drill-press, planer etc.

Gérard


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

Switch died on my new HF drill press, within a week after buying it. Got a new switch at Lowes, for around $5, no problems since. That was probably 20 years ago.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

JOAT said:


> Switch died on my new HF drill press, within a week after buying it. Got a new switch at Lowes, for around $5, no problems since. That was probably 20 years ago.


We didn't have Lowes 20yre. ago it was Eagle Hardware until Lowes bought them out and Harbor Freight was Harbor Liquidators, or some such place.

Herb


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## old coasty (Aug 15, 2014)

Good reasons to unplug anything not in use. Back in a previous lifetime, bought a used car. Went into Kitchen to do paperwork. Guy had a charred countertop, and cupboard above was burned. He had come home to find his toaster was plugged in, and had shorted out for some unknown reason, and started a fire.


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

Herb Stoops said:


> We didn't have Lowes 20yre. ago it was Eagle Hardware until Lowes bought them out and Harbor Freight was Harbor Liquidators, or some such place.
> 
> Herb


I think it was the first Lowes in the Raleigh area, and around 20 years ago. There was a Home Depot very close, also the first in the area. Visited the HD, then several others when they were built later. No satisfactory visits with HD, which killed any desire to shop there. Always been satisfied with Lowes.


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## Santa01 (Apr 8, 2021)

When checking the wiring, as it turned out, it were chewed by a raccoon. The lights went out in the house and I immediately thought that something was wrong with the wiring, something had burned out or another problem. I saw the bitten wires, but it is strange that this rodent was not immediately electrocuted and solved this problem with the wires. This rodent I never found, but after a while he appeared in my yard, it was a raccoon, which was digging in my trash can and scattered all this garbage. I immediately kicked it out, cleaned it and decided not to stand idly by and turn to raccoon removal, which in the fight against it will definitely defeat this infection carrier. Because of him, I had to spend a lot of money, suffer with the wiring, but now everything is good.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Welcome to the forum @Santa01


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