DIY Router repair

I can only guess that the brushes are dirty, or need to be replaced. I have worked with buffers for many years, and the symptom is as you described. You will have to look for the screw cap that is 180 regrees from the other, remove the brush which should be attached to a wire and a thin washer with the wire where the hole should be. Clean it very carefully. I believe that alkacahol will leave no deposit carefully clean the armature with clean lint free cloth. the brushes are the blocks attached tp the wire, and one normally wears more that the other. replace if more than 1/2 is there, or there is evidence of the wire mount is showing. Hopefully, you will be able to take care of it. If you can see the brush area when it is runninf, there should be little spark showing. when dirty, or worn you will see a much larger spark trailling. this will be the sign to replace, or repair. I wish you well. It is not very hard to do, normally. altho some are much harder than others.

-- Saved, and so grateful, consider who Created it ALL!!!

My guess is the bearing closest to the base has gone bad, since that is where the heat is hottest. Brushes are on the opposite end and don’t normally get that hot or make bad noises even when worn out.

-- Joe

My guess would be the bearing too.

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

Bearing

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

Get a new set of brushes and a couple of bearings and you should be good for a while.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Thanks guys—I had pretty much guessed bearings too.
The sound was very much like bad wheel bearings.
Also —I pulled it out of the mount and held it while it ran under no load and felt exactlywhere the heat was starting—opposite end from the motor.
The brushes on this one are very easily accessible – for lack of anything else to try I checked them and they looked fine.
I guess the heart of my question was—whether these bearings were considered a ‘user serviceable’ part.
I’ve taken lots of things apart over the years – and gotten MOST of them back together.
Just had never popped the case on a router.
Wanted to be sure from some who probably had—- that I wasnt also opening a can of worms.

Secondary question would be wondering what I did to kill them and how I can NOT do it again.
Heaviest bit I use is an interlocking miter—and that is in pine and poplar.
I do some work in Oak – but that is mostly rabbets and dadoes.
This is my 4th router in over 20 years—I tend to get a LOT more than one years use out of them.

-- Those who insist it can't be done - should politely refrain from interrupting those who are doing it.

I’ve never popped the case on a router either, so I don’t know if it is user friendly on that or not. If the bearings are that bad, I wonder if the shaft is damaged too??

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

You may have found the problem. The place of most consern is the brushes and commutator. The next thing is to hope that the bearing will slide out. I would think that it is worth your time to try, By the time that a professional is done, the router may be better replaced.

-- Saved, and so grateful, consider who Created it ALL!!!

Re: taking it apart, etc. – I’d go for it. There isn’t that much stuff inside, and what do you have to lose? It is junk now, taking it to a pro would cost more than it’s worth, and you might be able to fix it! (If it can’t be fixed, it would be an interesting paper weight. ;).

Re: Why was the life so short – Who knows, could have been a random failure. What you are doing doesn’t seem to be abusive, unless you are making cuts that are too deep with a lot of side load on the bit. The main reason might be that it was a “cheap” router to begin with. Next time I’d go with a PC, Dewalt, etc. (Check the “My Router Died” thread to see what’s popular.

-- Joe

Give it a try. What can you hurt? It is already broke, if you fix it, great, if not, SHOPPING! Looks like a win, win to me.

Gotta have fun

-- Berta in NC

ajose—you are right about the use—
I DID make about 20 kitchen doors in April—LOTS of rabbets—but always in 2 passes.
Nothing I haven’t done before with routers half this size.
Oddly it was still running fine.

Guess that means you may be right on the quality
I was raised on Craftsman, Black and Decker, Stanley and Skil.
And I was rarely if ever let down by any of them.
I tend to stick with what has worked for me in the past.
But – sadly—times change—and not always for the better.

Thanks for the encouragement.
You are right—it cant be much worse than a motorcycle clutch or a strarter.
I am a tinkerer by nature. A trait that has gotten me into about as much trouble as it has gotten me out of.
Just getting cautious in my old age – wanted to be sure there wasn’t something specific to routers that make self-help hazardous.

Fortunately – I have a spare that will get me through this current project.
Then I can tear into it.

Thanks again.

-- Those who insist it can't be done - should politely refrain from interrupting those who are doing it.

my 2 cents toss it out and buy a new one I woudn’t waste 60 bucks fixing this if it’s so badly worn out.Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

Let us know how the router is turning out. It’s nice to follow the results, it gives us all something to check if ours heads south.

-- Saved, and so grateful, consider who Created it ALL!!!

Thanks for asking—managed to get everything done that required table before the router died—been busy with other parts of the project—oh and my ‘real’ job.
Sitting here now—I managed to get the top off revealing the shaft—
Upper bearing is fine—turns smooth and quiet—that leaves the only other source of friction the lower bearing – and you can definitely hearing it grinding—-
TROUBLE IS—I cant figure out how to remove the shaft to get to the lower bearing.
Yes – I removed the lock ring from the outside of the housing
Looking at the base of the housing I see what appears to be the end of three screws screwed into the base
But looking down inside the housing – I see no way to get to them—just a black shield of some kind around the shaft.
Any suggestions would be welcome.

-- Those who insist it can't be done - should politely refrain from interrupting those who are doing it.

You may find some help from this site: http://powertool.manualsonline.com/

-- Saved, and so grateful, consider who Created it ALL!!!

Try this:
A VERY LARGE SLEDGE HAMMER will solve your problem, and make ya feel better too.
Bill

If you search on Google, you can probably find an exploded parts drawing for your brand/model router. This should be a help when taking it apart and trying to find the replacement bearing (partsdirect.com usually has what I’m looking for).

Jim

Well – it has been a crazy month—but I finally ordered the bearing from Sears.
$2 for the part $7 for shipping.
I dont have a puller of any kind so I tapped the old one out and the new one back in with a mallet and a piece of 1×2.
Getting the shaft into the bearing was a little trickier—but I THINK I managed it without any damage.
When I first reassembled it and fired it up—I heard some unpleasant grinding inside the housing.
I could tell spinning it by hand that the something was rubbing inside.
I took the top back off—loosene the bolts and shifted the top around til it seemed to spin freely.
Tightened everything back – fired it up—no noise.
In originally taking the top off—I broke the wires that went to the LED work lights. Since I mount it in a table those are moot—so I didnt bother making that repair.
I just put it back in my table and made some tests with a tongue and groove bit—SEEMED ok.
The housing DID get warm to the touch after just a few cuts – dont remember if that was normal or not.
HOPING it has to do with the fact that it is 100 degrees out there. Guess I will find out next project.

-- Those who insist it can't be done - should politely refrain from interrupting those who are doing it.

I did one more small project with the repaired router.
Rounding over about a dozen shelves for a magazine rack.
Again – it got a little warm—but I am counting on that being normal.
It’s a little louder than I remembered—but – that could be my memory.
No unusual grinding at startup or shutdown.
Since then—I have been out of commission with pancreatitis and gall bladder surgery.
Still on limited exertion—but hoping for full release soon so I can get back to the shop while the temps here are good.
Thanks again to everyone for all the good advice. It looks like the fix has worked.
Lettiing Sears fix it for me would have probably been wiser—
But they wanted $60+ and doing it myself only cost less than $10.
Besides—if it holds til Christmas—and I am very very good—maybe Santy Claus will bring me a whole new set.

-- Those who insist it can't be done - should politely refrain from interrupting those who are doing it.