Official Luthiers Forum!

In another thread http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=25420
I've been posting a few details about my 'adventure' with a used SteelCity 16/32 sander. This sander is virtually identical to the Ryobi 1600, King and Laguna 16/32 sanders.
The short version of the story: The roller assembly was improperly designed/manufactured/assembled with absolutely no end play, and the drive roller was essentially 'jammed' between the mounting brackets. This led to overload on the motor, motor overheating after 45 min of operation, armature short and blowing the controller triac and diodes.

All of this could have been prevented if the manufacturer had provided any protection (fuse or thermal cutout) for the DC drive motor. Gotta save that 75 cents!

If you have a similar sander without DC motor protection, adding a fuse or circuit breaker for the (1/15 HP. 0.9 amp) DC motor would be a good idea, I think. At the very least, keep an eye/hand on the motor temperature - it should not run hot.

When the motor overheated, I was thicknessing a bunch of stock for laminating and was standing at the side of the machine, away from the feed motor. I'm not in the habit of putting my hand on the motor of my machines anyway. I guess that has to change!

Cheers
John

BTW, there's a second 'Speed Control' variable resistor on the controller board, so you can change the 'speed range' to some extent.... while you are in there adding the fuse holder!

Cheers
John