Oliver 199 planer help

[Sal Kurban]

Good morning:

I am working on a 24" Oliver 199 planer. I greased the planer. It has a direct drive 5 HP, 3 PH motor. However the cutterhead does not turn freely, it is very stiff. There are adjustment knobs on the top and some of these lower and raise the "chip breaker" for the lack of a better term. When I plug it in and turn in on, it turns may be 1/2 turn and the motor hums. It then trips the breaker. I did not take it apart to inspect the bearings. The machine has been sitting for couple of years unused. One possibility is the grease dried up but I doubt it. Any ideas?


Thanks,
Sal.

[Dave Mcintire]

I am assuming the motor drives the feed rollers also. I would suspect this may be the problem and not the cutter head. See if the are free to turn.

[Sal Kurban]

I am assuming the motor drives the feed rollers also. I would suspect this may be the problem and not the cutter head. See if the are free to turn.

The rollers turn freely and are belt driven by the pulley that is attached to the cutterhead shaft. I removed the belt and the cutterhead is still stiff (cannot be turned by hand easily). I also removed the motor cover and cleaned up dust and debris and that did not improve things.

Thanks,

Sal.

[David Kumm]

You need to pull the head and bearings. The grease probably has gone bad and they are dry. Even if that isn't the problem you should check them. I'm not familiar with the 199 but if it doesn't have oil cups ( which is what I would have expected ) it should have grease zerks. Most old greased bearing machines I've taken apart have more grease in the motor than inside the bearing. If the bearings are greased,. Jack Forstberg (sp) told me about SKF grease and it is the stuff you want. Dave

[Sal Kurban]

Thanks David,

I got a chance to remove the motor apart, indeed the grease dried up and it was gummed up especially between the stator and the rotor. I cleaned it up and put it back together (not an easy task) and it runs free except I hear some cracking sounds which I suspect may be due to bad bearings.
Sal.

[Bruce Volden]

Also I would check ALL electrical connections starting at the plug and working my way back. People don't realize AC "vibrates" and can loosen connections and simply tightening screws etc. can eliminate problems.
But yes, do check for dried bearings etal.

Bruce