Hi,
i recently found an old electric singer sewing machine and have been tinkering with it. The motor/light that came with it worked, but i seem to have made it explode.

On the top of the motor it says ac/dc 220/250v, its got 4 connections for a plug (which i dont have). One of the connections is definitely earth, and i THOUGHT that one other was neutral, then 2 live connections for the motor and light.

I just plugged in what i thought was motor live and common neutral today and a small black box wired in parallel with the motor exploded. I realised later that i had plugged neutral into live and vice versa.

The box (what is left of it) says **ilier **pressor (suppressor?) 0.02uf +/- 20% 250vacwkg sc/k. What is it? Why was it there? and why did it explode?

I should say that before this i plugged in live for the light and common neutral and the light worked fine, i also had the motor going briefly but it stopped because i think i got oil in the brushes.

Thanks!

Tom Catling, December 2009

Hello Tom,
You can ususally do away with the suppressor, they were put in years ago to suppress interference on TV's, it was required by law but not now because of all the technology, it sounds like a very old motor.

drivewithken, December 2009