I just finished doing a huge deck repair, and right as I was finishing I turned off my sander, and then it wouldn’t come back on. It’ll give a little lurch when the power comes on but it won’t get going again.
This is a standard little wall mart “handi works” palm orbital. Can I take it apart and get it to free up or should I throw it in the trash?
At this point, if it doesn’t run, you have nothing to lose by taking it apart, right? So go for it, but remember, you’re doing this with the intent of putting it back together, running, so don’t just hack into it and strew parts all over.
I’ve been through more than one of my disc sanders lots of times, they still run, well.
All electric motors are pretty similar. There’s a field, an armature, two brushes, bearings, a switch and some wires in the motor, then whatever converts the spinning armature into the orbital motion you use.
I’d say go for it, if only to familiarize yourself with the workings of the tool.
I would suggest a good shot of compressed air through whatever vents you can find, until no more dust comes out. Then try to switch it on again. You might be surprised, and it might save you a complete pull-apart…
you could always use it as an excuse to get a better sander, yeah?
Uhm, you have nothing to lose but time by taking it apart. Like has been said already, a little shot of compressed air, general cleanup, you might be pleasantly surprised.
Funny you should mention that, actually. Spent a few minutes today getting a small and seized-up wood chipper apart, cleaned out, oiled and reassembled and the procedure will probably be similar for your sander.
Before, it made one of those small, sad ‘brrrrrt’ noises when I flicked the switch. That’s good news, it means the electrical connections work and the motor itself isn’t fried.
Ok, check for obvious debris in the way of moving parts ( after unplugging it ) and clear out any of that. Hooked up a hose to the compressor and a long snooted air squirter ( http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=42424 ) to the end of the hose and blew out any fine crud that I could get at. Reconnect, switch on, nada but the ‘brrrrt’ noise again.
Awright, time for surgery. Remove the brushes, check them - if they are fine, set 'em aside in something flat like a pie plate on a stable surface 'cos they are spring loaded and they’ll mess you up if they are already in when you’re reassembling it, something I found out after ruining a cheap router many moons ago. Start unscrewing things, setting the parts in your pie plate so they don’t get lost or brushed around, cleaning out crud at every step.
Whenever you get to a bearing, see if it turns very freely and if not, give it a little oil - NOT WD-40, by the way, machine oil. I like air tool oil, it doesn’t eat plastic or rubber the way the penetrating lubes can. WD40 is lovely stuff for freeing up things, but it evaporates and leaves no lubrication at all while it also washes away what lube was there, so you really need to give it a few drops of oil or a dab of grease if it’s a grease kind of place, don’t just squirt it with WD-40, loosen it up and forget it.
Okay, back at the wood chipper, I had it apart to the housing on one side ( cleaned the crud outta that ) and the chipper drum-motor combination ( freed up a slightly stuck bearing, blew dust out of everywhere and slopped oil on the bearing and it all turned very nice and very easy, no horrible grinding sounds) so it was time to put it back together. Did that, tightening things down in a kind of criss-cross pattern where necessary like you would with lug nuts or a cylinder head, hooked it up and ‘whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr’…which is a lovely sound.
Now, you may well ask, what the hell does ol’ Doc want a wood chipper for. Ex-wife left years ago, etc. Well, you see, I have this apple tree, actually apple trees plural, which get pruned annually. And I have small-ish apple branch trimmings, lots of 'em. Chip 'em up with the aforementioned chipper, put a handful of chips on the coals in the kettle barbecue and you have the nicest tasting charcoal grilled tuna or swordfish or marlin you ever had, or chicken or pork or mebbe a piece of cheap beef that roasts slow. And I’m planning on doing a little fishing later this week, mebbe smoke up some fish, and apple smoked fish ( or hams too ) are as nice as it gets.
Maple is nice too, or pear or peach, hickory of course, some like oak. Don’t use softwoods or locust.
Have fun, and bon appetit…
doc…
Yeah, like Doc said. Not sure of brand name on yours - if you kept the paperwork that came with it, check for parts list, diagram and authorized repair shops. This place has schematics and parts for most of the big name power tools:
Cool. Thanks guys. I got it spinning a bit again just by banging on it and rotating it by hand. I’ll bust it apart and see if I can’t get it going again …
“I will not sand lam resin”
“I will not sand lam resin”
“I will not sand lam resin”
“I will not sand lam resin” …
Whoa, leave well enough alone for the moment. Blow the dust out, yeah, but don’t go looking for trouble. If it doesn’t make horrible grindy noises, it’ll be okay as is.
What they said. But it’s probably gone. Maybe easier to just go ahead and replace it.
Most orbitals have a eccentric weight on the motor shaft to produce the vibratory motion. This can get loose and jam. If it’s a cheapo sander and this happens, chuck it because it’ll just get loose again. The vibration of these sanders is also very hard on the bearings (which normally aren’t sealed). Replacing bearings with sealed ones is usually more than the cost of tool if it’s a cheap one. Do the procedures Doc recommended, and see if you can get some more life out of it. Good tools have good motors, and they’re generally worth rebuilding when needed. I buy a lot of the Harbor Freight stuff, and I don’t have any expectations that they’ll last as long as brand name tools. This is OK as long as the tool performs at least 85% the way a brand name will. I find that it is cheaper to just replace the tool (and get new overall performance). I can buy 3 Harbor Freight disk sanders for the cost of 1 Makita for example. The only tool I don’t do this with is orbital sanders (not random orbit), which really take a beating sanding boards. You can get a decent 1/4 sheet Dewalt for about $50 at Home Depot which is well built and very repairable. Remember that orbitals are considered finishing sanders; don’t put 80 grit paper on them and expect heavy sanding ability.
try this one too:
“I will not buy cheap tools”
“I will not buy cheap tools”
“I will not buy cheap tools”
Let me just add to what Pete said that random orbit and especially orbital sanders with built in dust collection using motor cooling air are really not going to like sanding resin.
Beware of sanders ( or any tools, for that matter ) which have the cooling air vents placed where your hand covers them in normal use. http://hottoolprices.com/pcrosanders.htm#333 shows an example of what you don’t want, both in air vents and in the dust collection arrangement.
In the random orbit category I have, like and heartily reccommend the Porter Cable 7335 variable speed, in orbital ( 1/4 sheet) the Porter Cable 330 Speed Bloc. Neither has built-in dust collection, both are made as production tools for pro use, I haven’t killed mine over years of wood, glass and even metal working use.
hope that’s of use
doc…
Speaking of Harbor Freight, one of my customers (remember the good a good job) gave me a fathers day card with a 200.00$ Harbor Freight gift card in it! Last winter he bought me tickets to Hawaii, now it’s off to get some new TOOLS! Thanks, Rob Horton!
yet another coincidence:
I sent in an order this morning, including http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=43614 , a downright cute ( and cheap ) edge clamp for banding, veneers and such, might be of use on stringers? http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=47795 - a toggle clamp, quick and easy hold down for a jig ( they have a bunch of other types cheap ) and http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=47869 - a micro pneumatic die grinder, uses the same shank as Dremel attachments. You might like 'em…
best regards
doc…