Grounding Motor Frame

[Crashcup]

Hello all,
Quick question on grounding an electric motor.

I have an old Ajax motor that I got free, and I'm connecting it to a cord to test to see if it works.

I'm not finding a place on the motor or box (not really sure what this is called; it's where the capacitors are) to connect a ground wire. Perhaps it was grounded through metal conduit at one time?

I'm thinking of drilling and tapping a hole through the bottom of the box (it's on the top in the attached pic) for a ground connection. Does this sound like it would be sufficient?

Thanks!
Keith

 

[waross]

You may find a ground connection inside the terminal box. That is very common. The ground conductor would run with the power conductors.
Yes, drilling and tapping a hole in the base plate will be good.

Bill
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"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter

 

[Crashcup]

Thanks, Bill!

I looked again inside the terminal box. Didn't find anything that looked like it was specifically for grounding, but I realized one of the four bolts fastening the terminal box to the motor housing would do nicely.

And now.... woohoo! It works!

I got this motor from freecycle. Had no history on it, and no idea of whether it still worked, but I figured chances were good.

5hp, 1ph, 240V Ajax motor with a triple v-belt pulley on it.
I know these things go for a few hundred $ new, now I need to figure out what the used one might be worth.

Keith