Elma Super Elite

[AnthonyCarey]

I pulled the plug and bought this Elma watch cleaning machine. I payed quite a bit for it, but I reckoned that it was the right thing to do. It works perfectly but was pretty dirty, so after a good clean it looks a lot better. I'm going to replace all the cork gaskets though, so when they arrive I'll probably strip the whole thing down and give it a 'deep clean' and re-wire. I haven't seen many of these for sale, it's normally the off white version, and I'm really looking forward to using it.

[Jon]

If it has original German wiring, be wary that the red wire is earth. Great machines. I've got a few

[mikepilk]

1 hour ago, Jon said:

 be wary that the red wire is earth. 

  WTF. What is the logic with that ?  I bet that has caused some appliances to go bang.

[caseback]

That is confusing.. Germany is our (I'm Dutch) neighbor and in our old colour code grey was earth, the phase wire was green and the neutral was red....

[mikepilk]

7 minutes ago, caseback said:

That is confusing.. Germany is our (I'm Dutch) neighbor and in our old colour code grey was earth, the phase wire was green and the neutral was red....

That's nearly as bad .  Surely it's more logical to have earth as green (i.e. green grass) and live as red (red = danger).  I'm surprised there's any of us still alive.

[praezis]

15 minutes ago, mikepilk said:

I'm surprised there's any of us still alive.

But only connected with users fiddling with internal wiring. I am sure, these machines were secure originally even with wrong colored wires.

Frank

[RichardHarris123]

In some places the ground (soil) is red.

[AnthonyCarey]

Thanks for the comments. When I said 'rewire', that sounded a bit grand as I only intend to replace the main cable in, as it doesn't look great. I'll leave the rest well alone!

12 hours ago, RichardHarris123 said:

In some places the ground (soil) is red.

Indeed Richard...living in Devon, I can testify to that!

[Waggy]

17 hours ago, AnthonyCarey said:

I'm going to replace all the cork gaskets though

Here is the best solution I have found for replacing the lids and cork gaskets:
 

 

See half way down page 12 for these:

 

[AnthonyCarey]

Whilst cleaning this machine, I came across this earth wire just cut off. Anybody know where it should go. It looks like it was delibrately cut. I'm wondering if it should be attached to the wire clamp on the casing?

[rjenkinsgb]

It looks like there is an earth screw inside the main casing, with a green & yellow wire coming out of the left hand switch & going to it? Can you put a solder tag or crimp eylet on the stray wire and add it to that screw?

 

[caseback]

Usually you'd be fine connecting it to a random metal piece of the housing. But, could it be cut because it made a earth leakage circuit breaker trip perhaps?

[Jon]

Any part of the housing will do. on my Elma, there is no earth going to the motor, as it is earthed in the housing where the timer is. I've attached a photo of the red earth wire (50s German wiring) earthing at the rheostat switch. If it is tripping with an earth in place. I would find out why before using it. There is no way anyone in their right mind would use this without an earth. 

[AnthonyCarey]

Thankyou for your replies, it's really appreciated, and a big thanks Jon for the photo. I believe I have found out where it was attached but I'll take a couple of photos and post them for clarification.

Edited September 28, 2024 by AnthonyCarey
spelling mistake

[praezis]

Don‘t connect wires blindly and don‘t rely on colors! Check first if the wiring matches the schematic!

Frank

[AnthonyCarey]

On 9/28/2024 at 2:09 PM, praezis said:

Don‘t connect wires blindly and don‘t rely on colors! Check first if the wiring matches the schematic!

Frank

Thanks Frank. I I would like to live a little longer, if possible, so your advice will be followed to the letter!

[AnthonyCarey]

OK...the earth wire that I said was loose, wasn't! It was thread back through the rubber grommet in the motor housing and earthed to the holding clip that is screwed to the bracket that slides up and down on the center shaft (does that make sense?).

So the motor itself has the live and neutral attached, with it's earth as above.

Is this right??

Thanks for all your help on this one, it's truly appreciated.