Near Impossible to Change Router Bases

[WestofLongBeach]

Since I bought the excellent Ryobi router with three interchangeable bases, the same problem has plagued me: I almost never change bases because it takes about an hour of incredible effort to do so.

The problem is the high friction between each base and the motor housing. I have tried graphite, not wanting to use oil for fear of damaging the plastic. Does anyone else have a problem like this? Would a grease work to ease the difficulty?

I'm not weak, I row 10km a week, but this has me really stymied.

Thanks.

Don.

[LCHIEN]

been a long standing complaint about ryobi routers.

Don't have one... so FWIW, Maybe keep the motor out of the bases until use, remove immediately after use. Wipe down motor housing with WD40 or wax after use.

[herb fellows]

Not to beat the obvious horse to death, but have you tried calling Ryobi?

[gsmittle]

Don, my set was very easy to change bases for about a month. Since then, I've had the same problem. At one point I had to use a giant pair of channelocks to get the motor free of the D-handle base. I solved the problem by keeping the motor in the plunge base. The other two are gathering dust in my shop.

g.

[Brian G]

Same issues here. I've learned to remove the motor from the fixed bases when I'm done. The problem seems to worsen if I wait until the next day.

My observation is that fine dust gets between the threads of the plastic depth adjustment ring and the plastic motor housing. This causes sandpaper-like friction, and makes turning the depth adjustment ring difficult.

I mostly use the plunge base, but I do like the D-handle for certain operations.

[cwsmith]

I have the RE1802 3-base set and I have the same problem. Actually, I had the motor housing replace at the end of the 2-year warranty period and the new motor housing worked great.

I primarily use this set with the plunge base and with that I have had no problems whatsoever. But, last week I took out the D-handle base and what do you know... it is as tight as the original. Checked the regular fixed base and it is similarly tight.

I'm going to be calling Ryobi Techinical Support to see what they say about this, but I seriously doubt that they will have anything to contribute or admit. All they said two years ago was to send it to a service center. Out of warranty now, it would just be cheaper to buy a new router or just buy a new motor housing and fix it myself. The last time I checked the motor housing was around $10, IIRC.

It appears to me that the bases are not the problem and that it is the motor housing which appears to swell. Not sure why that is, but it is some kind of plastic and perhaps just not that stable.

Other than that, the RE1802M set is decent. Too bad they couldn't get the problem resolved before they went to production or perhaps even offered a reliable retrofit using another material for the motor housing.

I have an old R161 single-speed and there is no problem with it, though it appears to be a similar material and base design. My old Ryobi-built Craftsman from the mid 70's is still going strong with no base/housing problems ever. You gotta love material technology! Especially when it's not checked out before an application hits the market.

CWS

[master53yoda]

I have found that spraying the router body and inside of the base on my Freud routers with the same dry lubrication with wax tha I use on my bt3000 and in other metal to metal sliding components. It makes changing bases a snap as well as ease of adjustment with the plunge base and the router table base.

[WestofLongBeach]

Not to beat the obvious horse to death, but have you tried calling Ryobi?

herb,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, and they said their products were made of the finest materials and workmanship. This was a couple of years ago when the set was still new. I took it to the local service center, and they were able to move things around better than I could, so pronounced it healed.

[WestofLongBeach]

You folks got no idea how much better you've made me feel about this, because I thought I was the only person with this problem or was crazy (posted either here on Ryobi's site back then). And I'll try some dry lube I have left over from skiing to see if that helps.

I always think that oil + plastic is a no-no. And moly grease sounds messy, so dry lube may be just the thing.

Thanks to all for your group therapy-like responses. :-D

Don.

LATER:

What I have found out is that the ring on both the D-handle and conventional handle bases, is just flat smaller in diameter than the motor housing. When they get together they jam soon after assembly and before they progress more than a quarter-inch.

The motor has been attached to the plunge base, hanging on a table for a year or two, so there was nothing to keep the swelling down, I suppose. Maybe the blood rushed to its head?

It is really a design flaw. I hope cw has better luck than I have had with Ryobi.

It's too bad. They hardly ever miss much with a design, but missed here IMHO.

Don Again.

[phi1l]

I don't have this router, but from comments, I am wondering if it might be sap from the sawdust just making the surfaces sticky. Does the problem go away after a good cleaning.

When you put oil on plastic, it has a tendency get into the polymer matrix expanding & hardening the plastic, & making the plastic part larger. In this case, it sound like that might not be a bad thing

[d_meister]

I have had a Ryobi three base set for years. I had the same problem with changing bases. I once tried a spray silicone and the carrier liquid almost welded the plastic screw thread body and base parts together. Be very careful with chemicals. Ultimately, what works is good old Johnson's paste wax. I haven't re-applied it once in over 4 years, and everything slides along nicely.
A bigger PIA is getting the arbor lock pin to clear the housing while changing bases.

[cwsmith]

From my experience, it is not sap, dirt, dust, or any evident environmental problem. I keep my tool very clean and never let dust or debris accumulate beyond the moment's use.

But, even if that were and exageration on my part, the problem occurred as follows:

I bought this 3-base set on a clearance ($87), brought it home, checked it out, reboxed it and stuck it in the closet. A year or so later, I took it out and immediately found the problem. At that point it had not been used at all. It had been stored, as received from the factory, in the fixed base. I procrastinated for several months (I'm really good at that), but finally sent it in for service, with only four weeks left on the warranty.

The motor was repaired by Ramsing Electric in Syracuse, NY (a Ryobi service center at the time) and they replaced the motor housing, that is all.

I get it back, it works great. Motor is easy to change in and out of the two fixed bases with no problems and adjustment is very easy. I use the fixed base a couple of times over the next few weeks with no problems, but then switched to the plunge base and that is where it has been used for the last couple of years. The two fixed bases have been wrapped in plastic bags and stored in the fabric bag, on the top shelf in the shop.

I pulled out the D-handle base last week to edge an 8 ft board last week. The D-handle base has neve been used and in it's plastic bag, hasn't seen a spec of dust. The motor goes in very hard and takes two hands in an attempt to adjust it and once it, it left me wondering if I was going to be able to get it back out. Same with the other fixed base.

The plunge base still, and always has, worked great.

So a few minutes ago I talked to a rep on Ryobi's "Technical Support". He has heard of no problems with the RE1802M! "Nothing has been reported" is not acceptable to me and I have asked that this be elevated and that someone needs to get back to me on this.

I further told him that this problem was reported several years ago when I first looked into it and it is still being reported with a number of owners here on this forum.

Bottom line, is that they are not documenting any complaints and therefore "mine" is the only one that they are aware of. They are going to send me a new motor housing so that I can change it. IF that happends, I will change it out and intend to send my present one back to them.

The adventure continues and I'll post anything further that I hear.

CWS

[WestofLongBeach]

cw,

So a few minutes ago I talked to a rep on Ryobi's "Technical Support". He has heard of no problems with the RE1802M! "Nothing has been reported" is not acceptable to me and I have asked that this be elevated and that someone needs to get back to me on this.

I further told him that this problem was reported several years ago when I first looked into it and it is still being reported with a number of owners here on this forum.

Bottom line, is that they are not documenting any complaints and therefore "mine" is the only one that they are aware of. They are going to send me a new motor housing so that I can change it. IF that happends, I will change it out and intend to send my present one back to them.

"heard of no problems" is a bit laughable, since they sent me to the local service center when mine was under warranty.

I wish you the greatest of luck in getting further with elevating and perhaps getting the attention of the company on this. Even if your luck weren't my luck. I hope.

Glad you know what to do, here. Good work.

Don.

[gsmittle]

I keep my tool very clean

Wiser words were never said!

g.

[cwsmith]

Don (and anyone else),

When the Tech replied that they have no other calls or reports on this, I responded with "then your problem recording needs some serious improvement" and then went on to tell him that it was a much discussed problem on the Ryobi forum soon after the "1802" was dropped from the product line and that it has been ongoing and presently being reported on this forum.

I asked him if there were any "bulletins" or other tech documents that spoke of the problem or the possible cause. He said there were not. I suspect that such things are possibly ignored, at least with regard to service response.

In any case, if I do not hear back from anyone, I will make further attempts to contact someone within Ryobi in an effort to find a fix or cure or prevention, if there is one. My main concern was to find out the why and if prevention is possible. It does little good to replace the part, if once again in a few months or years or so, the same problem re-occurs.

I will post whatever I hear.

CWS