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Post by hescores on Nov 30, 2009 13:07:13 GMT -6
This is going to be a bit vague of a post, but I'm hoping that someone may be able to point me in the proper direction.
I bought the Rigid 13" planer about 3 months ago. When I first plugged it in to try it, I popped the electrical circuit. I just upgraded my electric this past weekend so as a test I turned on the planer.
Well, when I turned it on there was an awful screeching noise. I knew that something wasn't right and I turned it off. I noticed that there was some smoke coming from the right side of the machine when looking at it from the infeed.
I didn't take note if the blades were turning or not and I haven't had a chance to look at it further, but can anyone give me some thoughts on what to check when I do get the chance to look at it?
I had previously gone through all the various setup/alignment steps and as far as I know there isn't a blade safety lock or any type of "shipping device" that I was suppose to remove that hadn't been already.
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Post by TDHofstetter on Nov 30, 2009 13:16:40 GMT -6
Bill, it sure SOUNDS like something's jamming the cutterhead. That'd account for the screeching noise (belts slipping) and the breaker popping. Did the smoke smell like burning rubber?
So... it's time to do one of two things: Claim warranty or crack that sucker open & find out what's got that cutterhead stalled. I've got a feeling one of the knives has slipped out of position and (what a BLESSING!) jammed tight against the chipbreaker. Sure be exciting if it tossed a knife while it was running!
Quick check: Put on a pair of heavy leather gloves (unless your hands are calloused like mine), unplug the planer, open its maw (as if you're going to plane 6"-thick lumber), stick your hand inside, and try to rotate the cutterhead by hand. It SHOULD ROTATE, but it SHOULD be a LITTLE stiff because of the belt resistance & the pulley reduction. It SHOULD turn smoothly, though. Try turning it both ways. If you can get it to rotate, try rotating it through one full turn. As each knife presents itself to your (gloved) hand, check to feel if that knife seems out of alignment or extended too far.
If I'm right, if a knife is extended too far & jammed against the chipbreaker or something else, then that knife is probably nicked pretty badly & needs to be reground.
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Post by larryh86gt on Nov 30, 2009 13:26:14 GMT -6
I bought the Rigid 13" planer about 3 months ago. I Did you buy it new or used? If it was new and still under warranty I would just take it back and exchange it. If you got it used then Tim's advice is the way to go. Larry |
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Post by hescores on Nov 30, 2009 15:30:06 GMT -6
I bought it brand new. Don't have the box any more though. I figured I would claim it under warranty since it has lifetime warranty, but I also didn't want to go through that hassle either if I'm able to "fix" whatever it is - assuming (yep, there's that dreaded word) it's something simple.
Thanks for the tip Tim. I'll try to check out the movement tonight and report back.
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rrich
WoW Member
Posts: 737
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Post by rrich on Nov 30, 2009 16:53:08 GMT -6
Did you remove all the packing stuff intended to keep the knives from rotating etc?
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Post by TDHofstetter on Nov 30, 2009 17:42:43 GMT -6
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Post by hescores on Dec 1, 2009 8:36:29 GMT -6
Tim, that is exactly what it was. I went home last night and tested if I could rotate the blades and found that the blade lock kept engaging. I thought it was a problem with the lock, but yes, the dust hood is/was off so it is functioning as was designed. I went through the manual front and back at least 7 or 8 times since I've had the planer and didn't remember reading that until last night. Of course it may be because it is buried in the blade replacement section.
Thankfully it does appear that my blades, belt, bearings and pulleys have been spared for now. Of course the lifetime of them may have been decreased a bit, but thankfully I shouldn't require service at this time.
Although, I must say it is an extremely poor design by the folks at Ridgid - not the safety feature, but the dust hood. In order to fold up the outfeed table you have to remove the dust hood and the dust hood can actually be a PITA to put on because of the way the plastic was molded.
Thanks everyone for your help.
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Post by sachbvn on Dec 1, 2009 18:42:26 GMT -6
haha - how awesome is this?? I have the EXACT planer, and I did the EXACT same thing - tried to "test run it" (just turn it on) w/o the dust hood attached - it's a safety mechanism, you must have that little red lever pushed down with the dust hood.
I called Ridgid tech support and they helped me, fixed the problem - now get planing away - it's a great planer IMO!!!
Zac
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Post by sachbvn on Dec 1, 2009 18:43:37 GMT -6
Oh - and I agree.... piss poor design in the fact that you have to take the dust hood off to fold the out-feed table up.... I just leave mine down - easier than taking the dust hood on and off.
Other than that - I really have no complaints on the planer.
Zac
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sawduster
Moderator 
The Motley Crew
Posts: 1,831
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Post by sawduster on Dec 1, 2009 19:25:49 GMT -6
Different planer, but the safety mech is the same sort. I don't ever raise the in/out feed tables on mine because I have added an "auxilliary" table of 3/4" mdf about 4' long and just wide enough to slide through. A batten on the underside set so that it catches on the edge of the in feed table keeps it in place.
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Post by hescores on Dec 2, 2009 16:18:35 GMT -6
As of now I need to lift the table because of space constraints. However, I hope to get to the point of not having to do so.
In any event, glad to see I'm not the only one this happened too. Misery loves company you know. I certainly felt like an idiot when I figured out what it was. Not the first time of course, and certainly wont be the last.
It does irritate me a bit that they put this in the blade replacement section though. You'd think it would be in the warning section, the setup section, and possibly even in the usage section. Heck, the average male is probably not even going to read the dang manual and certainly wont read how to change the blades until he needs to.
Heck, I'm certain that it isn't just the two of us that this has happened to either.
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Post by sachbvn on Dec 2, 2009 17:06:26 GMT -6
Bill,
To be real honest - I think they need to put a large, removable, stick on the machine that says "WARNING: machine will not run w/o dust chute" or something to the like.... I'm fairly certain it's not even in the "set up" part of the manual.... OR the trouble shooting!
Zac
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Post by hescores on Dec 2, 2009 20:07:53 GMT -6
Zac, you're abso-fricken-lutely correct!
It isn't in any other part of the manual except for the blade changing.
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