Hi Dale,
Thanks for the information. I never did, and probably never will, understand this horsepower rating stuff. I once owned a table saw that was rated at 2 horsepower and it constantly bogged down trying to cut heavier pieces of wood. At some point, I inherited a saw with a 1.5 horsepower motor and it never stalled no matter what I put through it. Both were belt drives with 10 inch blades. I never could figure out why a 2 horsepower motor would bog down cutting a piece of wood that wouldn't make a 1.5 horsepower motor even break a sweat. Years ago, my company decided that all non-electrical engineers (software, mechanical, optical, etc) needed a basic understanding of electricity and electrical concepts. They put all of us through six weeks of training using an extensive collection of video recorded classes. Many things made a great deal of sense after the class but, after not using most of the information for years, most of what I learned has faded into oblivion. Maybe it's time to haul out my recordings of the classes again and take a refresher course. But, being electron and proton challenged, I'm sure I'll be writing the list with all manner of electrical related questions. And yeah, before some smart ass on the list points it out, I do know that there are such things as neutrons. Take care, Ed Przybylek From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dale Leavens Sent: Thursday, October 08, 2009 5:32 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] electric motor question I don't know really how you would do that without very specialized equipment but it really doesn't matter much so long as it performs to your requirements. There quite probably is a measure which can be said to produce a horsepower of that rating at least briefly and the manufacturer could probably produce that proof or definition but for practical purposes a horse and a half is about all you can get out of a 110 volt 15 amp circuit. My Delta 18 inch drum sander and my compressor will both trip a 15 amp breaker. The sander is rated at 1.5 HP but I have to watch not to feed it too fast and allow it to bog down. I always knew that my compressor over rated it's horsepower but it too will trip it's own 15 amp breaker I believe on start-up. Not all of the time, I often forget to turn it off and it will cycle for a couple of days then apparently get fed-up and shut itself off for me. I suppose that ideally one would power a treadmill with foot power. I don't much like treadmills for that reason and really they should only need to produce enough power to move the belt along. Big powerful motors really only exercise the power company turbines. The article I read on Wikipedia on horsepower indicated that a human can produce the 550 foot pounds only very briefly. a 3 horsepower treadmill presumably can do 1650 foot pounds indefinitely. What for? ----- Original Message ----- From: Edward Przybylek To: [email protected] <mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com> Sent: Thursday, October 08, 2009 8:47 AM Subject: RE: [BlindHandyMan] electric motor question Hi Dale, Pretty much, what you said is what I thought but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. How would I verify the horsepower of the motor? Both the manual and the label on the side of the motor claim it's 3.5 HP. My knowledge of electricity and motors is almost 0. Any information is greatly appreciated. Take care, Ed Przybylek From: [email protected] <mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:[email protected] <mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com> ] On Behalf Of Dale Leavens Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 6:02 PM To: [email protected] <mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com> Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] electric motor question Well, it isn't the end of the world to trip a breaker so I wouldn't worry about it too much. I can however pretty well guarantee that motor isn't anything near 3.5 hp. regardless what they rate it at or tell you. Why would it have to be anyway, one horsepower is 550 foot pounds per second. Unless you are running an elephant or you have quite spectacular foot pounds you won't be taxing a motor anything like that hard. ----- Original Message ----- From: Edward Przybylek To: [email protected] <mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 3:11 PM Subject: RE: [BlindHandyMan] electric motor question Hi all, I've been following this thread with much interest because we just purchased a new treadmill. The unit has a 3.5 horsepower motor, is capable of a 12% incline and has a top speed of 10 MPH. This discussion thread has concerned itself with motors 2.5 HP and lower and whether there needs to be a concern about breaker ratings. Given that this unit has a motor with 3.5 HP, are there concerns I should be addressing? We use the treadmill for power walking and I'm quite sure it will never see speeds much over 5 or 6 MPH. We've had the incline up to 8 percent and I'm sure we'll have it up to the 12% maximum before too long. We haven't popped a breaker yet but I just want to be sure that there isn't something I should be doing just as a precaution. Thanks. Take care, Ed Przybylek From: [email protected] <mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:[email protected] <mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com> ] On Behalf Of Tom Fowle Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 1:43 PM To: [email protected] <mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com> Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] electric motor question David, One Horsepower is generally considered to require about 750 watts. so 2.25 HP will need a solid 1700 watts. This is probably a peak rating, but none th less it must be on a 20 amp circuit that isn't used much. If you have a coule 200 watt outside lights on at the same time, it will get very close to the max rating of a 20 amp circuit. tom [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
