Ryobi RE1802M troubles

[corndog]

I've seen other posts about this problem but can't find them now. The fixed base part of this kit really sucks!! The locking lever won't stay locked and the depth adjusting ring takes both hands or a strap wrench to turn it! Yes, I've adjusted the nut on the locking lever to every position you can imagine and have cleaned, polished and lubed the inside of the router in an attempt to get the depth adjuster to be free! At best, as stated before, it just sucks! Heck, I have a small tool repair shop and can't master this POS. I can't seem to turn this "sow's ear into a silk purse"! I'm looking at the plunge part of the kit and wondering if that wouldn't be a better option to mount in my router table. The depth adjuster will give me a smoother means to adjust and the locking lever seems to be a more positive locking device. I don't really care about the depth indicator rod and scale because I use a machinist height guage to set my router bits anyway! Or should I just scrap this whole mess and buy myself a real router?

[devinjc]

I went through a similiar situation, and finally just mounted the plunge base into the BT. After one instance of firing my router into the floor b/c the depth adjuster slipped and the locking lever wasn't locked (yeah yeah, at least it wasn't on ) I took the springs out and now it works great.

[monte]

You may want to return the whole set if possible. Sounds like something is seriously wrong.

[daletour]

I have the same set and mounted the plunge base in the BT.It is my first router but seams to work fine in the table.The plunge is a little sticky so i lift it up past my height and lower it back down with the adjuster.I have used the fixed base only once but it seamed to work fine..

[silverfox]

I would definately return it for a new one.
Mike

[Davidatbird]

Ryobi freeze

I have had the same issue as corn dog. My 1802m router will not separate from its base so I can use either of the other two bases. Did anyone having the same problem find a way to resolve it? I have barely used this router and have not had it out in a year or so. If I had known, I would have dismantled it before storing. Has anyone had this issue and fixed it? Email: dfyfe@nycap.rr.com
Thanks!

[Black wallnut]

It would probably be better to start a new thread. No one else in this thread has been active in years.

[LCHIEN]

This was a very old thread (2004)
there were a lot of problems with that series router, I don't have one but I seem to recall the body or the base swelling up so it was difficult to impossible to remove or adjust.

Ryobi was sort of indifferent to the problem and they never admitted to a general design problem.

If it was me at this late date, I would cut my losses and get a new router. Probably not what you want to hear but there's a lot of nice ones out there, look at
Bosch 1617evs kit
Portercable 89x kits
Hitachi M12VC kit
Dewalt DW618 kit
Triton

The RE1802 were cheap, inexpensive. the above are all highly rated proven workhorses.

[cwsmith]

I would probably agree, but I think it was a pretty nice router IF it didn't have the lousy motor housing problem.

I do have this router combo and still use it, though only in the plunge base now. I had my motor housing replaced under warranty within the first year of it's purchase. Then a year and a half later the same problem occurred again. I filed several complaints and eventually talked to the technical service manager, who then claimed that they had no reports of any problems. It was a rather active complaint on more than just this forum.

They did send me a new motor housing, and it was so out of tolerance it wouldn't fit. I took precision measurement and sent those to Ryobi, hoping for some sort of action, but they further denied that there was any problems.

For awhile I was thinking that the problem might be related to humidity, but I'm not convinced that's the problem. I'm more of thought that it's just a poor material that isn't dimensionally stable.

So, bottom line is that it was just one more really poor product design, from a material point of view and Ryobi wouldn't stand behind it. SAD!

BUT, you may be able to get the motor removed from the base by using a strap-wrench and perhaps someone to help hold the base as you work on the adjustment ring to remove the motor.

Once removed, the motor unit should still work great in the plunge base; and that is where I use mine.

I did try to reduce the diameter of the motor housing by sanding it down by hand... I was able to ease the fit a bit, but it still wasn't right. If you had a lathe, one might be able to take a few thousands off the housing properly. But I haven't and therefore it is now exclusively a "plunge" router.

Too bad really, as I think this would have been one of Ryobi's more memorable tools. It has some very nice features and came with some good accessories... if only it wasn't for that lousy motor housing.

I hope this helps,

CWS