Porter-Cable 7518 router not working. How to remove it from the Woodpecker Lift?

[radhak]

I'd like some help here please...?!?

I have the PC 7518 router installed in a Woodpecker table with the Woodpecker precision lift. (I bought this as a package off Craigslist many years ago).

It has been working great till this morning, when I was routing a few red oak rails/styles for a cabinet door. Half-way thru it was making some odd sounds, and when I shut it off to investigate, it would not turn on.

I hoped it was just sawdust clogging the works so I went about vacuuming and cleaning the router with a compressed-air-blow-gun; it did spit out a ton of sawdust - I wish I had thought of doing this cleanup before.

Anyway, it still does not turn on. I now want to open it up to take a look - maybe it's something easy to fix, maybe the brushes have to be replaced. But I don't know how to remove it from the lift-mechanism, and I can't find a manual online.

The Woodpecker site is not helpful, because they have upgraded to V2, which is very different from the previous version.
(I did find the user manual for the newer version of this lift, which confirms the difference)

I found a review for my router-lift at newwoodworker, but of course it does not tell me how to remove a router from the lift.

This is how it looks when installed on the lift but before being seated into the table:



I want to believe the two large bolts at the middle of the router body hold the router to the lift, but am wary of wrongly loosening/opening anything.
I also don't want to mess with the rest of the table setup if possible (like the router plate).

Any thoughts, comments?

[LCHIEN]

Pretty sure that those two nuts circled in red are holding that split clamp piece that retain the router motor assy.
It might be a dust filled switch - that has skunked many a router before. The switch may just need blowing out, or may need to be removed and cleaned or replaced.



Looks like a series of screws hold the cover on the router (red ones above and maybe more on the other side). Remove these to remove the switch. Can probably do without removing the router from the lift.

Nice looking lift, BTW. Any complaints?

[radhak]

Thanks, Loring, that matches my thought that those two nuts hold the router in place.
I just don't see how I'd align the motor when putting it back. I might have to use a permanent marker to draw lines so that I put it back to exactly the same place; or maybe put some blue tape. I don't want to change anything from how it has been set up.


I have this whole assembly contained inside a metal box under the table, leaving it rather cramped for much work in-situ.
But now that I think about it - with just 4 screws, probably not difficult to remove the box from the table (and easier to put back!)




And that lift? Is awesome! I have it for more than a decade, and it has given me zero complaints. Ranks with my Dowelmax and LV planes in solidity and dependability.
The vertical movement - 1/32" for a full rotation of the crank on top of the table - is something you might think is a pain, but it grows on you for high precision. I bought this entire setup from craigslist for a bargain, but it's worth full price.

[LCHIEN]

I believe that the curved sections in the machined aluminum that grips the sides of the router are basically self-aligning.
You don't have to worry about it. Basically the fixed piece contacts the radius of the router at many places and the radius of the router sets the center point. Clamping the router with the removable piece (after taking off the two bolts) will simply ensure the radius is firmly against the fixed piece which has little to no play with respect to teh columns it rides up and down on.


I have a Jessem lift that has done me well. The lift is 16 turns per inch. With a four inch crank its easy enough to make 1/4 turn increments or even 1/8th turn. So that gives me adjustability of 1/128 inch or about 8 mils per 1/8 turn. Which is what I use for final adjustments.

[radhak]

Thanks, that is heartening - hopefully I should not muck this up! Will try this weekend.

[radhak]

I couldn't wait for the weekend and wiggled out my evening walk with the wife to get to this!

I was able to remove the router as anticipated, and opened up the bottom to see an ugly chockful of sawdust filling up every cranny inside:



Yes - that's the bottom of the router, with the 'cap' removed, showing the sawdust inside!

That must be the accumulation of dust from more than a decade. I bought it off the estate of a good doctor, and no doubt it has never been cleaned!

That clean up took almost an hour for me...

Nothing as satisfying as to clean that up and get to this:




The brushes and all looked okay, so tried it out this morning, and it runs beautifully! As good as new!!

So, thanks Loring for holding my hand in all this. I look forward to installing it back into the table and completing my project!

[LCHIEN]

Operating room clean! I don't know about that doctor's operating room...

I think you could have gotten to that part without taking it out of the lift, but it was probably easier to work on without dragging the lift around.

[radhak]

I liked it this way - I could clean it fully, and not worry about the lift and all. And looks pretty easy to put back too.

[atgcpaul]

I couldn't wait for the weekend and wiggled out my evening walk with the wife to get to this!

I was able to remove the router as anticipated, and opened up the bottom to see an ugly chockful of sawdust filling up every cranny inside:

Holy carp! That's gotta be a record or something. Some of the dust even looks like paste now.

When I was prepping my TS for storage, I cleaned it out with a vacuum and blow gun. I did clean it periodically so I was surprised with how much dust kept coming and coming. It was like an archaeological dig because some of that dust came from wood I hadn't used in years!

[radhak]

Yes, this has given me a great motivation to go around deep cleaning the major tools in the garage. Will keep me busy for a while!

[leehljp]

I don't know why I didn't think to mention this earlier. It just hit me today. I keep a lot of dust out of my "under the table"upside down routers with a simple dust deflector.
• I cut a 1 1/2 liter or 2 liter PET bottle. Cut the top off and the bottom off and make a slit down the side.
• Now I have a flat and almost square piece of PET bottle. I cut mine circular.
• I cut a hole in the middle - the size of the shaft of the router.
• It might need to be trimmed to fit between the posts.

Place it over the shaft of the router and let if float free. It covers the major portion of where sawdust falls into a router. And most of what falls down into the hole in the router table will deflect off to the side. And PET shield is clear so it does not hamper visibility; light weight and not in the way.

I have been doing this for years.

[LCHIEN]

Lee, does it allow for air circulation to cool your router motor? Or does it block airflow?

Could be a long term issue.

[leehljp]

Lee, does it allow for air circulation to cool your router motor? Or does it block airflow?

Could be a long term issue.

It allows for plenty of airflow. Think of it in simpler terms - a round disc of PET bottle thickness about 4 - 4 1/2 inches in diameter with a 1 in hole in the middle. . . . on second thought, there is no clearance on the router above (post # 1 & # 2 because of the metal shroud.

The pet bottle dust deflector on mine also has the round bottle memory somewhat, so, while not cone shaped to deflect dust, it is curved and dust falls off away from going straight down into the motor.

[leehljp]

WOW! The more I look at the pictures in the top two post, the more I realize that a Fence Dust Collection was an ABSOLUTE necessity to keep dust from falling straight down into the motor. There is no escape for dust on that router mount design if it falls downward into the hole.

What that means is that for free hand table top routing where the fence can't be used, the user is sore out of luck - The dust will fall straight down into the motor. I do not see a way to add a dual DC to that kind of mount - i.e. on top (in fence) AND below. Below the table, the shroud prevents a DC system to pull dust away from the bit and motor.

THANKS for posting the picts.

HAVE you read on Woodpeckers site ways to prevent the dust from falling into the motor when doing large free hand routing without a fence mounted DC system?

[radhak]

This is interesting, Lee. I have always taken for granted that an inverted router will suffer dust down its shaft, but you seem to have done something about it!

At the same time, I feel a pet bottle might have too much curvature for a flat surface around the router-bit, even if flattened somewhat by the fence. But, there's a lot of flat plastic around me that could work the same, I'm sure.

The free-float part of is a bit worrisome - if it floats into the bit while running there's a risk of distracting 'shrapnel'!

But if it works for you, I might be over-thinking it. Definitely want to try it out myself. Thanks for the ideas!

[leehljp]

The free-float part of is a bit worrisome - if it floats into the bit while running there's a risk of distracting 'shrapnel'!

When it is BELOW the table top and below the bit, and it is too large to go through the hole where the bit emerges, so there is no worry about "shrapnel". I have been using this setup for about 16 - 17 years on three different router table set-ups.

It is far more simple than you guys may be thinking. I will take a picture of mine this evening or tomorrow and post it.

[radhak]

Ok, that makes more sense to me now - below table-top would make it a great idea!

Would love to see some pics!