Makita 2040 info, motor swap?

[Lyle W. Kerr]

Hello.

I just picked up a Makita 2040 planer to replace my Delta 22-580. I needed a larger unit, and I have read many good things on it.

I know about the rollers, mine are in good shape, (original rubber), for now. I manufactured a dust collection hood for it yesterday and cleaned/lubed it all up. Finally got to run my fist board through it, pine 2x6 scrap, and noticed it bogged down quite a bit. I was taken off about 1/8" the first run then only 1/16" the second, 1/32" the third.

Any ways, the one weak point on these I have read is the motor, loud, under powered etc. Compared to the Delta and my old Craftsman, this thing is a Lexus.

My question is should I look at the brushes or something else? I have 240V in my work shop can I convert/re-wire it to 240? How feasible is a motor swap? I have read some others have done this but no details on it. I did check the blades and they are in great shape and feel pretty sharp, not sure of the last time they were sharpened though.

Any help would be great, thank you!

[Don Jarvie]

First thing to check is to see what the motor is wired for. If the motor is wired for 220 running at 110 or vice versa it's not going to run right. I have expierenced this too many time.

Second, I learned this is the hard way. Make sure the brushes on the motor are lined up correctly. A hair off and the motor will run but not like it should.

Don

[Lyle W. Kerr]

I will take a look at look at the brushes tonight and double check the 240 vs 120V wiring. The person I got it from may have had it wired already and never changed the plug on it.

Thank you.

[Lyle W. Kerr]

Don,

I took a look at the unit last night and it is wired for 120V and also checked the brushes as well for alignment. I am not sure how the brushes could be off since there is a slot for them an now adjustments that I could see.

I did check the gears for speed, the unit came with the low speed gear set, and the low speed gears are on there. I ran some more wood through it last night, including some oak, and it goes through (With a better cut than the Delta 22-580 it replaces) but the motor does bog down more than I would have thought. I am curious if this is just normal for the unit.

Any ideas?

[Don Jarvie]

If everything is tight (belts, etc) it may just be the motor isn't strong enough to really rip threw it.

Do a google search and see if anyone else has any issues.

I looked at the manual and it's strange how you change the brushes on the motor.

Wish I could be more of a help.

Don

[Lyle W. Kerr]

I did a Google search and found an old blog post with a lot of info on the unit for maintenance, adjustments etc. One of the things I read in there was that, "If you can get used to the motor change speed a lot depending on the size board you are running through, it is a great machine." Nough said about that.

I ran a 5/4 by 15" wide piece through tonight I will use for a new bath vanity, and with small cuts it worked great. A little loud for the neighbors though, according to the wife, at 9PM. Opps.

I am getting a lot of residue from the rubber rollers, I will need to get them repaired ASAP.

Thanks for the help.

[Don Jarvie]

Lyle,

Glad it seems to work fine. You may get smoother boards by taking a little off at a time.

I recently bought a Belsaw 9103 with a hugh 3hp R/I motor. I tore the planer and motor apart, repainted, set up the whole 9 yards.

Not knowing how exact you need to set the brushes on a R/I motor I set it up and it ran like crap. The motor kept bogging down, etc.

Once I got everything dialed in, wow. The planer tore through everything. This is my 1st planer and didn't know how they should run.

Don