This is probably a really dumb question, but I have a motor that says SINGLE-PHASE 115 VAC @ 50/60 Hz on the side with two wires coming out of it. If I just wire it to a plug will it run on a 120V home circuit?
If the motor is still good, it will definitely run.
Yes, it will work fine. You should use a heavy duty switch to turn it on and off.
The motor frame needs to be grounded for safety. This can be using the ground pin in a 3 wire cable and plug, plus the other two for active wires.
Reading the label is a good starting point, but don't stop with voltage and frequency. Check: LRA, RLA, HP, and CW/CCW. Any LRA over 48 amperes (RLA 8 amperes, 1/2HP) will have an equal and opposite starting torque in the rotor and frame (the entire motor will leap and try to spin when you plug it in). You would have to firmly hold any motor you try, so be sure to use a three pin recepticle and ground the frame (even if there is no dedicated ground wire). Before your experiment, you should probably familiarze yourself with the circuit breaker of the outlet you plan to use. Make sure the fuse or breaker is rated for the motors RLA, and unplug anything else on the line which you can't afford to replace before the test.
