Delta DC-380 Planer transmission problem

[Raymond Seward]

I bought a DC-380 and it is stuck on the high speed setting. I took the cast iron cover off....removed the chains & gears....and bolts for the transmission cover...the gear oil came out as expected ( I was worried that the oil was empty) but I cannot remove the cover. I can only get it about an inch away. I can look inside a little and was able to move the shift lever to the low speed setting but cannot move it back to high speed. Has anybody been down this road? I learned long ago never to pry too hard or beat on things with a hammer :-)
Thank you
Ray

[jack duren]

I have a DC-33 and would suggest looking at the specs to see why you can not remove the cover.

[Raymond Seward]

Jack....that's the first thing I did....before even taking off the outer cover to expose the gears/chains. But thanks for your insight :-)

[joe maday]

Try looking at some site/forums that relate to changing the cutterhead to a byrd shelix head on a 15" planer......some have photos and instructions on taking the gear box apart...I believe one of the shafts come out/off with the cover. It has been a while since I changed mine on the Jet....... but they are all similar...It might give a clue..?

[Raymond Seward]

Success! The hold up was the gear changing shaft bearing that was pressed in the tranny cover.....it took a little prying but came off no problem....now the shifting problem...there is a hole in the gear changing shaft that holds a spring and a ball bearing. The spring was mangled and the ball was no where to be found. The spring pushes the bearing up which slides inside the 2 speed gear......there are 3 small detents which the bearing will fall in...1 for hi speed....1 for lo speed and one for neutral. I believe the spring was preventing the shifting out of high speed + the shaft had a burr on it which also helped prevent the shaft from sliding freely. I replaced the spring and ball....put it back together....loaded it with gear oil and I'm back in business :-)

[jack duren]

good to hear all worked out easily. Plus good info for future reference....

[Bruce Wrenn]

The DC-380 morphed from the Rockwell R-33 to Delta DC-33 to Invicta made (Brazil) DC-380 to Tiawan made DC-380, to China made 380. But almost every 15" planer is a copy, with main difference in which moves, beds, or cutter head. Almost all use feed rates of 30 or 16 FPM, which tells me inner workings of gear boxes are most likely the same.

[Raymond Seward]

Agreed Bruce....I used a 15" Jet for a while.....I didn't see any difference between the 2 planers