I have an old dewalt drill press that I love. The other day my son and I were working on a project and he said he got a shock when he touched the drill bit. I touched it and felt nothing but then I realized I was wearing redwings and he was wearing wet sandals. So I got out the voltmeter and had him hold the tip of the black lead and put the red lead against the drill press... 
Ok, I guess we've got some stray voltage. Now this thing has a two prong plug, I need to update that. But it seems to me like unless the short is in the cord itself this will only be treating the symptoms. So what is the best way to find the source of my short?
Make sure the 2 prong plug is plugged in the correct way. That is, try flipping it over and see what you get.
I would open the top cover and inspect the wiring from the plug to the switch, and the switch to the motor. If it's old enough for the insulation to have broken down, it could be some strands of copper have found themselves up against some metal part they're not supposed to touch.
It's a simple beast. I'd update the wiring.
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
You're right, when I step back and think about it it's just a cord, a switch, and a motor. The cord is ancient, I'll replace it and see how it acts.
ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) said:
just don't lick it.
Don't touch it with your hootus.
Growing up, we had bench top jigsaw that had this as a feature. Great fun to try to talk visiting friends into using!
Mostly we just ended up learning not to use it barefooted.
Dr. Hess (Forum Supporter) said:
Make sure the 2 prong plug is plugged in the correct way. That is, try flipping it over and see what you get.
This is the first thing to check Since it's old it may not have a polarized plug.
Is this a two pronged plug or three?
Scott_H said:
Is this a two pronged plug or three?
The OP has informed us that this is a two-prong plug.
stuart in mn said:
Dr. Hess (Forum Supporter) said:
Make sure the 2 prong plug is plugged in the correct way. That is, try flipping it over and see what you get.
This is the first thing to check Since it's old it may not have a polarized plug.
It is a two prong, non polarized plug. So a two prong plug is capable of making the whole drill press body live? How does that work. I'm kind of a dummy when it comes to house lectric.
In (very) oversimplified terms, one prong is power (hot) and one is ground (neutral). Because AC power oscillates, the tool doesn't care which way power passes through it. But if you plug neutral into hot, it will energize the entire tool case if there's a fault. And because there's no third prong (ground), the current doesn't have anyway to get back home, except through your son.
Tom Suddard said:
In (very) oversimplified terms, one prong is power (hot) and one is ground (neutral). Because AC power oscillates, the tool doesn't care which way power passes through it. But if you plug neutral into hot, it will energize the entire tool case if there's a fault. And because there's no third prong (ground), the current doesn't have anyway to get back home, except through your son.
That's it in a nutshell. The polarized plug (fits into the outlet only one way, as one blade (or prong) is wider than the other) and that ensures that the hot stays where it's supposed to be, assuming that the outlet was wired correctly.
gearheadmb said:
stuart in mn said:
Dr. Hess (Forum Supporter) said:
Make sure the 2 prong plug is plugged in the correct way. That is, try flipping it over and see what you get.
This is the first thing to check Since it's old it may not have a polarized plug.
It is a two prong, non polarized plug. So a two prong plug is capable of making the whole drill press body live? How does that work. I'm kind of a dummy when it comes to house lectric.
Did you do what I said? It was a fairly simple suggestion, not requiring a great deal of thought or effort.
In reply to Dr. Hess (Forum Supporter) :
Not yet, I haven't back in the garage to mess with it. But I will.
In reply to Mr_Asa :
Oh, ya like the game, huh? Do you really like it?
