Originally Posted by
indysheart
Anyway- do these old machines really use so much power they could fry modern house wiring?
Your friend is wrong. Old motors use about 50W of power, which is less than a normal old style light bulb. Starter motors use many times that. If they used a lot of power, people wouldn't have used them.
Like all old things, they age. Luckily we can renew things like wires and brushes and make them new again. The only thing that's dangerous about your old SM motor is if it has faulty wiring (usually the rubber comes away and exposes the copper wires). Replace this and you have a better motor than a new replacement.