Electric planer motor question.

[bigegg]

I bought a mff80 Elu electric planer a few weeks ago.
Sold as "spares or repairs" because "sparking"
Only paid a fiver.

I've come to open it up, with a view to ordering new brushes...
It's not the brushes.
One of the bars is missing from the commutator, so it's sparking as it jumps the gap.

A new armature is c.£130
Not gonna happen!

So.
Worst case scenario if I carry on using it?
Apart from the fire risk if sawdust gets in the way of the spark?

It sparks horrendously, but am I right in thinking, I'll lose a little bit of power, and wear out the brushes much faster? But not much else.
As it stands now, it's scrap, so I've nothing to lose, really.

 

[rtbcomp]

I don't think it'll last long, the damaged segment will damage the brushes which will cause damage to the other segments. There's bound to be a fire & electric shock risk too.

 

[GW8IZR]

If you just want to stop it arcing as it passes that seg, epoxy is your friend.

 

[arther dailey]

i think you will find it has more than one section blown..you could use filler to bridge the gap,smooth it back so brushes dont get so beat up jumping the bridge as it were, then use it till it blows completely.make sure you plug it into one of those plug in trips,save tripping everything when it goes..

 

[arther dailey]

hmmm,I take to long typing ! beat to it,ha

 

[bigegg]

Ta.
I'll give the epoxy a try.
Or not.
Might just stick it on eBay as "untested"


(Not really. Boils my blood when people do that)

 

[brightspark]

its toast unless your a tryer and don't mind failing

 

[bigegg]

its toast unless your a tryer and don't mind failing

I've put an eBay auto search on for the part number for the armature.
Gonna put it back into storage.
I'll find a cheap armature, or another with a good motor, or it'll go to car boot sale when weather improves.

Ta gents!

 

[arther dailey]

what you will find though, is if it stops on the dead section it wont start,for obvious reasons

 

[brightspark]

even if u epoxy it the sparks jump the gap to the next segment and burn it out

 

[GW8IZR]

even if u epoxy it the sparks jump the gap to the next segment and burn it out

it'l work for ages like that.. he's not planning on a mission critical safety of life application.

 

[brightspark]

it'l work for ages like that.. he's not planning on a mission critical safety of life application.

it wont last 5 minutes and well down on power

 

[zzr1200]

Ta.
I'll give the epoxy a try.
Or not.
Might just stick it on eBay as "untested"


(Not really. Boils my blood when people do that)

Save your money on the expoxy, you've already wasted a fiver on the planner (sorry), and cut your losses, just bin it and chalk it up to experience.

 

[Gwil]

My identical planer did the same. While I was wondering if I could just, just manage one more plank.....it quit in a cloud of smoke.

PS: the looky likey DeWalt version which came after this model feels far less well engineered, although externally identical. The original Elu was made by Scintilla, who used to make the fabulously expensive Vertex magnetos. Breeding will out they say....