Delta 15" planer just stopped turning on

[Sam Beagle]

Title says it. I have a great condition 1980s delta planer. Always worked perfect. Went to use it and nothing. It has a a reset and that doesn't work either. Any thoughts.

[Cary Falk]

It's hard to tell. Do you have a volt meter? I would start by checking if I had power at the wall, at the switch, after the switch, at the motor and then go from there.

[Michelle Rich]

I always check the easiest stuff first..As cary says..but for me it is 75% of the time the switch...easy to replace.

[Bill Dufour]

does this have a switch or a contactor? I would suspect wood dust in the switchgear.
Bill

[Jacques Gagnon]

... once you have checked all of the above, you may wish to test the capacitor.

[Brian Henderson]

And the easiest thing, check to see if there's power to the outlet. It's usually the simple stuff.

[Bill Dufour]

After you check for power at the outlet check to see if there is power into the switch. The male plug may be bad. Even if the capacitor is bad the motor should make a hum if power is getting to the windings. You might not hear the hum but maybe you can feel it or watch a compass needle move near the motor.
240 or 120 volt? Any other tools/lights not working? i would exercise the breaker supplying the outlet.
Bill

[Lee Schierer]

I would bet it is the switch. I've had two OEM switches fail on my Delta Band saw. They worked the previous time the saw was used and then they didn't.

[Brian Henderson]

I would bet it is the switch. I've had two OEM switches fail on my Delta Band saw. They worked the previous time the saw was used and then they didn't.

I had the same problem with a couple of Delta tools. Switches are cheap and easy to replace.

[Sam Beagle]

Thanks guys. I haven't had any time to check. But there is power to the outlet. Thanks again

[Charles Lent]

I've had to repair or replace the switches on almost all of my Delta equipment. Lately, I've been wrapping the seams of the back portion of the switches to keep the sawdust out and the switches seem to be going further between repairs and cleaning. One in a Delta shaper was packed so full with very fine sawdust that the switch lever wouldn't move to it's extents. I took the switch apart and found the sawdust, then cleaned it out and wrapped tape around the seam. That was 2 years ago and it is still working fine. The one in my Delta drill press kept burning up the contacts, so I replaced it with a switch with heavier duty contacts. I had to make a new switch plate because the new switch was a different size. I also wrapped this new switch with tape. This was only a few weeks ago, so it hasn't been used enough to have problems yet, but I expect it to last much longer than the old switch.

Charley