Scared to plug in motor

[lowell]

Hey all,
I'm sorry this has nothing to do w/ amps. I have a Delta thickness sander that was caught in a basement flood. The motor got quite wet. I pulled it apart and dried the internal caps etc.. and have let the thing dry for a couple weeks. I have plugged it into my bulb limiter and don't think that that is a good test for this motor as I believe it draws WAY more current than a typical guitar amp. (the bulb glowed brightly)
The motor is 1 1/2 horse power, 12.8amps, 3450 rpm at 115v, Insul Class B3, Thermally protected. Does anyone know if I can safely plug this thing in to test it out?

[rf7]

I'd bring it up on a Variac, with an ammeter in line to see how much current it's drawing. My Fluke meter only goes up to 10 Amps though, so you might need a Heavy duty Ammeter to check the current.

[sgelectric]

You might try a GFCI outlet as an initial test.

[nashvillebill]

Does the motor turn freely by hand? As long as the bearings haven't rusted any, I would not hesitate to turn it on, since you've already dried it out. I've seen motors at work --even open-frame motors--run under some appalling conditions.

[defaced]

More Googleing should turn up more specifics. If it spins free, I'd just plug it into a properly protected outlet (fuse, breaker, GFIC) and have a fire extinguisher near by. Because of the high inrush current nature of starting a motor, I don't think our typical "controlled start" methods are going to work. And your light bulb (assuming it was 100w) was seriously undersized. Your motor pulls about 1500 watts.

http://www.nema.org/prod/be/enclosur...lect_equip.pdf

Motors which have been flooded by water may be subjected to damage by debris or pollutants.
This may result in damage to insulation, switches, contacts of switches, capacitors and overload
protectors, corrosion of metallic parts, and contamination of the lubricating means and should be
evaluated by qualified personnel.

The manufacturer should be contacted for specific instructions on possible disassembly, cleaning,
and drying of the motor housing and internal components by trained personnel. Also, a method
for drying is described in ANSI/IEEE 43-2000, A2 and A3.

[lowell]

Well we brought it up on a Variac and all is good! Thanks guys.