Milwaukee Router maintenance

[jeff_rowley]

Twice in the last two days, my Milwaukee router has cut out and quit running in the middle of a job. This sucks! Two bits down the tubes, getting up against a deadline, and afraid to run a job...

It does not appear to be a problem with power from the shopbot, if you plug the router in directly it still doesn't run. If you leave it sit for a few minutes, then it will start again. Nothing feels hot to the touch or anything.

Is this a sign that I need to 'change the brushes'? There is a Milwaukee service center locally, but if it's something easy, I'd just as soon take care of it. Also, how do you know when it's time to replace the bearings? They feel fine, but it seems like it takes longer for it to spin down at the end of the job...

The embarassing thing is that in my day job I do engineering/repair/maintenance for multi-million dollar hardware, we just don't deal with AC motors. ;)

[gerald_d]

Those are the typical signs that the brushes need changing. Don't try and run it with bad brushes - the extra arcing will burn the commutator on the armature (expensive).

[jeff_rowley]

Thanks Gerald! I was hoping one of you experts would be able to help.

[gerald_d]

"how do you know when it's time to replace the bearings? They feel fine, but it seems like it takes longer for it to spin down at the end of the job..."

Quite the opposite. When the spin down time shortens then the bad bearings are adding friction.

Your spin down time has lengthened because the worn short brushes are not pressing hard against the commutator any more.

You are not doing too badly, by actually noticing the difference in spin down times!


Often, a brush change on a router is a DIY job, but I don't know the Milwaukee.

Here (http://www.toolpartsdirect.com/images/schematics/milwaukee/5625-29_395a.big.pdf) is a list of parts and exploded view.

[jeff_rowley]

Ran over to the local tool store/repair place. They had new brushes in stock, and installed them for a grand total of $4.52... Pretty tough to beat that. Thanks for your help!

[superior]

Count your blessings........
Two weeks ago I had the bearings and brushed replaced in my PC. Total tab: $100.36.
Still, better than $300-$325 for a new one.
Doug