Planer woes AGAIN

Ned Bulken

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Lakeport NY and/or the nearest hotel
Well, there goes my big project of the month... my Planer just croaked on me. I was just starting to plane some more boards for my cutting board project when it all of a sudden went silent on me. and a rubber seal fell out onto the feed platform. Guess that project's on hold til I figure out how to afford to get it fixed. :bang: I wasn't even in the middle of a board, it just quit.
 
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I'm debating whether to tear into it on my own or to schlep it down to the local tool repair guys...

When the expensive printer/photocopier in an office began print black lines on every page, the office manager called a local repair shop where a friendly man informed him that the unit probably needed only to be cleaned. Because the store charged $100 for such cleanings, he said, the manager might try reading the manual and doing the job himself.

Pleasantly surprised by his candor, the office manager asked, "Does your
boss know that you discourage business?"

"Actually it's my boss's idea," the employee replied. "We usually make
more money on repairs if we let people try to fix things themselves first."
 
"Actually it's my boss's idea," the employee replied. "We usually make
more money on repairs if we let people try to fix things themselves first."

There goes the coffee on the monitor again.

Bummer Ned. It is so disappointing to be "on the move" in the shop and get stopped dead like that. What kind of planer was it?
 
When the expensive printer/photocopier in an office began print black lines on every page, the office manager called a local repair shop where a friendly man informed him that the unit probably needed only to be cleaned. Because the store charged $100 for such cleanings, he said, the manager might try reading the manual and doing the job himself.

Pleasantly surprised by his candor, the office manager asked, "Does your
boss know that you discourage business?"

"Actually it's my boss's idea," the employee replied. "We usually make
more money on repairs if we let people try to fix things themselves first."

:rofl::thumb: Thanks Dan, that's exactly why I'm Not tearing into it.

That bites Ned, sorry to hear about that. What model is it? Any smoke, grinding, or kurthunks?
DW734 12.5"... quick perusal online says that $350 will get me a New one of those (useful for knowing how much to spend on repairs or not) I didn't See any smoke, but there was an odd odor when I was planing last night, so I think it may have 'been going' then. The rubber seal or belt (thinking seal as it is only about 1/8" in diameter) shows it is fairly brittle/old. The planer is about 8 or 9 years old by the calendar, and probably has only about 5 years worth of light shop usage (discounting 2 to 3 years of storage time from the total).

There wasn't a kerthunk or anything out of the ordinary when it quit, it just went silent all of a sudden. I had my hearing protection on (direct drive motors are horribly noisy as we all know)... Have to see what my options are. I'll give the local repair shop a call and see what diagnosis will cost.
 
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Not seeing any parts that look like a o-ring/seal...

http://www.ereplacementparts.com/dewalt-dw734-type-1212-inch-planer-parts-c-1009_2664_2986.html


With it just quiting I wonder if it might be part of one of the caps that hold the brushes in, losing one of those would make it just quit.

Edit: looking at pics, that would be pretty obvious...so may not be, but may check both sides of the motor to see. Possible the back one may have vibrated out and fell into the cutter.
 
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Not seeing any parts that look like a o-ring/seal...

http://www.ereplacementparts.com/dewalt-dw734-type-1212-inch-planer-parts-c-1009_2664_2986.html


With it just quiting I wonder if it might be part of one of the caps that hold the brushes in, losing one of those would make it just quit.

Edit: looking at pics, that would be pretty obvious...so may not be, but may check both sides of the motor to see. Possible the back one may have vibrated out and fell into the cutter.

I did take the shield off and check the cutterhead, as I've had a problem with a screw backing out, and bending a blade before. All is well in cutter head land... and the motor still turns, as do the feed rollers, just the blades aren't spinning. 'just' he says.

and I did check the brushes on both sides, they're a little worn, but easily 2/3 of the brush is still there.
 
I well understand the frustration when something like that first happens.
Being in my mellowing years :rolleyes: , I now often just walk away and return the next day. Amazing how the situation can look clearer on a second take.
Hope it is a simple belt replacement job.
 
Ned, sometimes the pulleys have a ring on the inside and outside edge. If one of these rings came off the pulley they do look similar to a oil seal. It could be that you will need a new pulley. These rings help hold the belt onto the pulley.
 
Sounds like you have the situation at hand, and that the CFO may have made a pretty good decision [this time].
Good luck Ned. IIRC, I fixed a drive belt on a Ryobi lunchbox planer once, and I don't think it was too bad a job.
 
Dragged the planer over to Syracuse Industrial today... they say it should be ready tomorrow. I'd rather pay them to fix it than totally mess it up. They said it Might be a sprocket failure in the drive as well, but that they have parts on hand. Much more than I would have been able to fix.
 
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