Replies

1. 
   RalphBarker | May 01, 2009 11:39pm | #1

   According to the (new) Unisaw brochure, 3hp and 5hp Marathon motors are the options.

   
   

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   Edited 5/1/2009 4:40 pm by RalphBarker

2. 
   Don01 | May 02, 2009 05:15am | #2

   Both saws should provide you with motor specifications. That should give you some indication. You could take the specifications to a motor repair shop and they would be able to tell you.

   Don

3. 
   bowmkr | May 02, 2009 09:27pm | #3

   Your question is more complex than you might think ! However I am a rigid saw owner as well so perhaps what I have done may help you. I just got my rigid 10 in 1 1/2 HP contractor for 336 dollars since they phased these out to make way for the granite top ones. Not sure how long you have had yours but I can say mine, running on 240 (changed out the plug as on the motor it states it can run 120/240 volt wich means you can go to "220 volts" by changing the plug on your machine power cord and plugging it into a breaker capable of handlling that. 30, 60 or 80 will work. I am fortunate as my best friend is a journey man electrition building our Light Rail train here in phoenix..here's what he did for me:he put double 60 amp breakers on a sub pannel in the garage with back up amp time -delayed curcuit breaker. Some people state that if possible, make it a dedicated pannel not a sub but I can tell you I have not experienced any dimming of the lights in the house while running my saw and 2 HP cyclone dust colector while my son drilled on my 120 only drill press!  He tought me that using a heavy extension cord is critical or you might as well not bother! Here "heavy" means that in american wire the smaller the number the heavier the guage, this is imperative when you have to run a long length of cord. But even if your run is short (mine is overhead near my 3 main power tool machines but he still made it heavy my size cord is a  25 ft #16 size 13 AMP/125 volt/1825 watt cord on a self retracting wheel that mounts on ceiling, nice keeps cords off floor and stops kinks. you can of course get even bigger ones. An additional 50 ft cord is a 14 guage. I did a test for fun to see if it made a difference, what I did was borrow a power feeder and run various thickness wood through the saw before and after the change and I can tell you without a doubt the power change was impressive as heck! My friend told me it's hard to say that you "double the horse power as it is dependant on other factors  (he started talkign and I got lost!) but the peerformance I got was equilevant to my other friends Grizzlly 3 HP Cabinet saw. The belt Rigid uses is good, beter than a v belt linked believe it or not. One thing that has been shown to amp up power on a table saw quite a bit is using a thin kerf balde. Together I have competed with my friends saw and the cut quality pretty much says it all! He may be able to feed faster (but not much) but I can feed pretty quick and the cut is near perfect without signs of burning.. even on 2 inch thick rock maple! Remember that as saw performance increases so does it's ability to kick back harder too so use the splitter, anti kick back pawls, zero clearance inserts and other tools it came with attached to the blade guard to reduce this accept of course on non-through cuts! The set we have takes a thin curf balde without modification fortunatelly. Good luck !

    

   I hope this helps !

1. 
   BruceS | May 02, 2009 10:48pm | #4

   There is more to the 120/240 V. conversion than just changing plugs.   I hope you did a little internal wiring change in the motor ;-) Work Safe,  Count to 10 when your done for the day !!

   Bruce S. 

    

2. 
   SteveSchoene | May 03, 2009 04:48am | #5

   As Bruce mentioned, you MUST change the wiring at the motor, not just the plug.  Be sure you have done this correctly. 

   Also, wiring a motor to run at 240 instead of 120 will NOT increase the power generated by the motor.  Unless the house wire leading to it is deficient, it will have no effect on the performance of the motor in any dimension. You certainly will NOT turn a 1 1/2 hp. motor into the equivalent of the 3 hp. motor by rewiring to 240--1 1/2 hp stays 1 1/2 hp. 

   Heavy duty extension cords are 12 guage, and help when long runs are contemplated for high draw equipment. 

3. 
   habilis | May 03, 2009 11:53am | #6

   Not sure what you are talking about when it comes to extension cords. I wouldn't use a 25' 16 ga. for anything but lights. A skillsaw or hand drill should have 12 ga. for 50'. You will notice a big difference in these tools going from 14 ga. to 12. Look how your house is wired. 15 amp circuits use 14 ga. wire and coded for lighting circuits ~ 6. 20 amp circuits, 12 ga. wire used for outlets up to about 8. These are used for small appliances and lamps. Minimum for shop tools should be 12 ga. Now, I will admit finding outlets connected to speaker wire, but don't ask me to sleep there. Moving on to the dryer etc.; amps go up, ga. # goes down. Cheap, overloaded extension cords are one of the biggest causes of house fires.And as others have said you can't just change the plug to go from 120 to 240.Edited 5/3/2009 4:59 am ET by habilis

   Edited 5/3/2009 5:02 am ET by habilis

1. 
   Tinkerer3 | May 04, 2009 06:34am | #7

   Oh, you can just change the breaker to go from 120 to 240 volts without changing the plug.  But, for obvious reason, DON'T!!

   Edited 5/3/2009 11:36 pm ET by Tinkerer3

1. 
   habilis | May 04, 2009 06:39am | #8

   Why would you even think of doing that?

1. 
   Tinkerer3 | May 04, 2009 06:50am | #9

   I wouldn't even think of doing that.  Which is why I gave the caution.  A word of caution can save a tubful of problems.

   Edited 5/3/2009 11:50 pm ET by Tinkerer3