Any satisfaction on the plunge router from Ryobi?

[WestofLongBeach]

For a few years, now, my favorite woodworking tool company has been at odds with those of us who have their plunge router about it becoming impossible, over time, to remove the router motor from the plunge base (R181PF). Somehow, the threaded section of the motor housing seems to "swell" or distort so that it gets jammed in. In my case, there is no force I know of, short of a hacksaw, that will remove the motor from the base. The motor housing and the R181PF are now one.

So I dropped it for a while, but it seemed like some were pursuing the issue still, and I wonder if anyone ever got them to admit they had had reports of this issue (one was from me, which they now deny ever having heard, even though they sent me to the local authorized service center as it was within warranty at the time).

Any word?

Thanks.

Don.

[cwsmith]

Don,

You just hit a sore point with me too. Can I presume you are talking about the 3-base RE1803 Router with the fixed, D-handle, and plunge base?

On mine, the only base that still works is the plunge base, as with that the motor simply slips into position and is held with hand screw.

But on the two fixed bases (two-handle and D-handle) the motor only goes in part way and then sticks and it takes a tremendous amount of force to move it at all... usually just trying to get it back out of the base that you tried to start to fit!

Like you, I had mine fixed once under warranty and at that time they replaced the $8 motor housing. But within the year, it was stuck and I had to use a strap wrench to get it out. (Works fine in the plunge base though, as I previously mentioned.)

So I calle Ryobi, talked to a tech and customer service and another tech and then Tom Clinkscales. All were very nice, and all said that they have no reports whatsoever of the problem. I too reminded them of my previous warranty service, but to no avail. Tom even went so far as to say that just because a handful of us were complaining, it didn't necessarily mean it was a real problem or a widespread problem. (These are my words, but it is basically his meaning.) They tell me that the material does not "swell" and that they've used it on other routers.

I got so far as to have one of the techs send me a free motor housing. Great, I thought but after going through the process of changing it, I found it wouldn't fit at all. Stupid on my part, because one would think that I might be smart enough to see if the housing fit in the base, before I went through the disassembly and reassembly process... DUH! on my part.

I took it in to our metrology lab and had them measure it, and the new part was totally out of size and there's no way it could fit into the base. I can only assume that it "swelled" while in storage (though it was bagged) or they simply don't do any incoming QA on parts. In any case, I wrote, gave the dimensions and never heard anything back. I'm under the impression that they just don't care, as it's well out of warranty!

I'm not happy of course, but what does one do? I think I took it as far as I could and with an expired warranty I guess there are no avenues that I can think of to complain further. If I had my way, I'd love to have a new aluminum motor housing, but of course that's never going to happen.

It's too bad too, because I really like that router. It's got EVS control, soft start, a pretty decent collet and came with some nice options included with the three bases (depth control shaft, edge guide, collet adapter, dust pick-up shield, etc.)

If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

Thanks,

CWS