[GeorgiaFred]

Well I got the bright idea of building a Duplicarver to make roughouts.

I got it all built and had used a Ryobi Laminate Trimmer for the carver.

I carved three carvings with it and the motor burned up after the last one !

It smoked real good and tripped the circuit breaker ! sob!

I took it apart and sure enough the windings were fried,,,, well done !

I admit I was hogging a lot of wood. But the motor didn't seem to be bogging down or overheating.

Now, i need to get another Laminate Trimmer ! I like the Ryobi and may try again.

I wonder if I just had a bad unit and should return it for a refund or just bite the bullet and buy another one and save the old one for parts ?

What would you do ?

Thanks,, GaFred

[GeorgiaCarver]

Harbor freight, $19.99

[Thomp]

im thinking your going to go through several trimmers in the corse of a year duplicating,
goody posted that he uses rotorzips on his multihead duplicator, that he gets off ebay,
if the trimmer you burned up was a recent purchase i would haul it back to the manufacture or the place i bought it,

like greg posted you could go cheap and put up with the harbor freight junk, for their price you could buy 2 and keep one on hand,
for 5 bucks more each you can get the extended warrenty and not feel bad about going through many of them in a year,
I keep all the paperwork for the things i buy from hf in its original box ready to be taken back,
hey they dont argue they replace it..
but i dont overwork nothing thats electrical, I hate to stop my progress and have to take a tool back so i have several duplicates of the same tool.

but looking at it as if it was defective, ?
i would think even hogging off soft basswood shouldnt be a load on a trim router, unless the vents on the tool gets clogged,
Prevention of a repeat malfunction, maybe run a fan or vacume over the duplicator to get the dust away and keep the cooler air available to the motor.

if its hot at your place as it is here it dont take long to overheat a tool under load at 100 degreese...
i noticed my dremel overheating after using it for 10 minuets the other day.. shaping

[mark yundt]

I have gone through several of those trim routers. Some didn't make it a week,,some have made it for a few years. All under the same conditions.Same for the router that came with my duplicarver,,a B & D,,first one lasted 'bout 6 months,,,the second has been in for a few years,,though I don't use it that much anymore...

[AlArchie]

Most of those small power tools, routers, drills, trimmers, hand grinders, etc, are made for intermittent use, and the shafts are supported by sintered bronze bushings, not ball, needle or taperd bearings. Added to that they are all "permanently lubricated"! Right!

To make matters worse, we use them on, of all things, WOOD! that leaves a lot of wood dust floating around in the air that gets caught up in the unit's cooling fan, and deposited on the motor's electrical windings, insulating them from the small amount of cooling air that is supplied.

All of these factors add up to rapid failure to to heat build-up and shaft wobble.

There are few things we can do about the design factors of these tools, but one thing that can extend the life of those small tools is regular cleaning of the wood dust accumulations from the internal motor parts. No need to dissassemble the unit, just blow the dust out occasionally with compressed air. If you can access the "oiless" bearings, a drop of STP on each once every so often will help, too. Go lightly with that stuff though.

The guy who rebuilds my motors for me advised to do the same for the motor on the table saw, bandsaw, planer and jointer, as dust and chips can and do get into the centrifugal switch, clog it and bring these motors to a halt.

Al

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

I agree, cheap at harbor freight, but get the "Chicago Electric" brand..as for Ryobi....don't bother in my opinion...doubt they would last through 3 carvings!

[GeorgiaFred]

Thanks Guys !

I took it back and told them what happened and they gave me another one !

Whew !

I decided to stay with the Ryobi. It looked well built on the inside and had a metal case.
I spent 38 years building electric motors and the motor looked well designed. But, any electric motor can burn up for many reasons...
The only other problem I have ever had with Ryobi was with the switches going bad, which i fix myself.

Thanks again!

GaFred

[redbird46]

I am using a Harbor Freight cheapie in my duplicator and have an extra one on stand-by. It may be that living in Southeast Texas and having to run several fans on me because of the heat and humidity keeps the dust from getting into the router motor? I had even thought of putting a wrap of pantyhose arount the vent holes but haven't lost a router yet. I do wear goggles and a mask in addition to the fans!
Jr.

[mark yundt]

Yup! surprisingly enough,,the Chicago Electric angle grinders have been holding up for me better than the expensive pieces. I bought them in doubt,,but figured I could by at least eight of them for the price of one of the others,,,and low and behold they are holding up just fine.Go figure!

now the bench grinder is another story,,,it runs,,but don't expect to grind anything more solid than sharpening a pencil ,,just has no power.
The panty hose idea is clever,,should act as a rudimentary filter,,at least keeping the bigger pieces out.The fans aren't a bad idea either,,two birds with one stone kinda thing,,,keeps you cool,,and the dust away. One thing to consider though,,where is that dust going,,,just circling around the room? If so,,a filter ( on you as well as the router) is a good idea.Even so,,if the dust is getting in the router,,your face ( and nose) isn't really that far away to suck up your share of the dust as well.Those fine particles can stay airborn for quite a while and you don't notice breathing them as you would bigger chunks. Err on the side of caution,,wear a filter,,I know they get hot,,but that bit of discomfort won't hurt you the dust can.

[redbird46]

Mark, just making one rough-out seems to leave enough sawdust to fill a trash can so I would never consider duplicating inside. When I want to run the duplicator I open the garage door and slide the duplicator which is mounted on a sheet of 3/4" plywood out onto the wood picnic table that I slide into place and then I am actually working on a concrete and covered carport. Just shut the garage doors and when finished I use the electric lawn blower to blow all the dust out into the grass!
Jr.