Dewalt 735 shutting off...

[Jeffrey Hood]

I have a Dewalt 735, and replaced the blades with a Shelix head... planer works great, and gives a great finish when planing... Problem is that it shuts down frequently and I have to wait a few minutes and push the reset to start back up... I don't know if I have some electrical issues, or it is just the way the planer works... I can get about a 1/16 cut on softwood (pine, cedar, etc...) with few problems, in both the fast and slow speeds... in hardwoods (last night I was milling sapele...) I can only get about a 1/64 pass reliably without the intermittent shutoff issues... (about a 1/4 turn of the handle...) I was planing wide boards, between 8 and 11 inches, but it happens even on narrower boards in the 6" range... When I go to a half turn (1/32") pass, it seems to work for about 5-10 feet of board and then shuts down... It does seem to do better on the slower finishing speed and not shut off as quickly, but between the super light cut and the slow speed, it takes forever to get a 4/4 board down to 3/4"...

The breaker on the electrical panel never trips, and it is a 15 amp breaker... and I do have a 6' heavy duty extension cord between the planer cord and the outlet... I don't know if that is related to the problem or not...

I don't want to do harm to the planer by over working it, but 20 years ago my Delta lunchbox planer could easily take heavier passes without shutting down...

Am I missing something, or is this normal for this planer and head...?

Thanks,

JH

[Prashun Patel]

FWW reported this to be a problem a couple years ago. I have also read that because a spiral head has cutters engaged throughout the entire feed roller rotation providing constant resistance, unlike a straight knife head, which resists only a couple times through a rotation. This implies that the shelix can require more amps to feed the board than a straight knife head.

I suspect this is just the overload protection at the tool tripping close to 15 amps.

[Andrew Hughes]

I think it’s the high rake angle of the inserts. 30 degree facebevel scraping cut. 735 Dewalt planers are best with straight knifes.

[Clark Hussey]

I had the same problem with blades and the helical cutters. I finally removed the little circuit breaker. And haven’t had a problem since.i did order a new circuit breaker. Just haven’t gotten around to putting it in.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I’ve experienced the same thing on a 735 with a Shelix head. I also think it’s the internal circuit breaker tripping because of the higher amperage load required by the helical head. It’s common knowledge that you would want a larger motor to run a helical head in the same planer compared to straight knives. Many folks praise the Shelix head in a 735, but I personally think it pushes the little screamer too close to the abyss for its own good and isn’t really what the machine was engineered to handle long term. Just my opinion from experience.

You could remove the internal circuit breaker, I suppose. Time will tell if that’s a good idea or a risky one.

[Grant Wilkinson]

Two guys in a local club removed the internal circuit breaker when they had the same issue. Both fried the motor in pretty shot order. Dewalt voids the warranty on the 735 if they find out that the stock head has been replaced. I love this planer, but it is not built to take the load that a helix head puts on it.

[Clint Baxter]

I had pretty much identical results after I installed the Shelix in my DW735. of course, at the time, I was trying to thickness 12” wide hard maple, and I could only take the most minuscule cuts. Loved the finished product, but detested the constant motor tripping.

I ended up upgrading to a Hammer A3-31 with the silent power head and selling the DW735.

I think it’s normal operation for a DW735 with the Shelix head and you’ll just have learn to live with it. (Or upgrade to something else.)

Clint

[Jeffrey Hood]

Thanks all... I don't really feel like frying the motor (I do like the planer...) and the finish from the Shelix head (for my purposes...) is worth the extra time... I might order a replacement breaker since I have read that it might be going bad and see if that helps, but I don't really feel like removing the Shelix head and putting the old one back in just so I can hog off more in a pass... It is interesting that when I was researching the Shelix head I never came across the downside of putting it in... maybe I just missed it, or maybe others feel the same as I do on the finish being worth it... Knowing this I will probably get the lumberyard that I use to just plane the stock down to close to what I need and go from there if I have a big job...

Thanks for all of the advice...

JH

[Mike Gottlieb]

I run mine on a 20 amp line and have never had a problem.

[Clark Hussey]

So I put the new on board breaker in. So far so good. Planning 4/4 cherry down to 3/4 doing a quarter turn at a time.

[Ken Howell]

Where do you get the breaker?

[Phillip Mitchell]

So I put the new on board breaker in. So far so good. Planning 4/4 cherry down to 3/4 doing a quarter turn at a time.

A quarter turn is 1/64” isn’t it? That is painfully slow...but I know how it is and have been there. I usually take 1/32” off per pass in hardwoods unless it’s very wide 10” + and the last couple passes, but mine has the stock straight knives.

[Jeffrey Hood]

I was wondering if having it on a 20 amp line might help... I'll have to check with the electricians that wired it and see if that is an option...

I ordered a replacement breaker (OEM part from Amazon...) and will see if that helps...

Thanks,

JH

[Clark Hussey]

A quarter turn is 1/64” isn’t it? That is painfully slow...but I know how it is and have been there. I usually take 1/32” off per pass in hardwoods unless it’s very wide 10” + and the last couple passes, but mine has the stock straight knives.

That’s great you can take a 1/32 off with the straight knives. When I had the straight knives on it I couldn’t get that much off. I’m on a a 20 amp breaker that is brand new. I’ll try 1/32” tomorrow and see what happens.

[Ken Howell]

I was wondering if having it on a 20 amp line might help... I'll have to check with the electricians that wired it and see if that is an option...

I ordered a replacement breaker (OEM part from Amazon...) and will see if that helps...

Thanks,

JH


Thanks for that. You can probably check yourself to see if you can use a 20 amp breaker. Just look in the box and see what gauge of line you have. 12 gauge would be sufficient for 20 amp. 14 gauge is for 15 amp.

[Ron Selzer]

a breaker that has tripped numerous times especially one that small will not hold full amperage and wil trip sooner each time.
Probably once you install the new breaker in the planer it will work ok.
Good luck
Ron

[Clark Hussey]

A quarter turn is 1/64” isn’t it? That is painfully slow...but I know how it is and have been there. I usually take 1/32” off per pass in hardwoods unless it’s very wide 10” + and the last couple passes, but mine has the stock straight knives.

Today I planned 8” wide cherry, doing 1/32 of an inch at a time. I didn’t have any issues.

[Alex Zeller]

If you're not sure how accurate the internal motor thermal overload is then you can bypass it and wire in an external one. You would then have the advantage of being able to dial in the exact amperage you want it to trip at.

[Curt Harms]

It might be worth investing in a clamp-on ammeter. I have one and split a heavy duty flat extension cord so the conductors are separate, tape as required. The clamp must go around only one conductor. With that I can tell how many amps the motor is actually drawing.

[David Kenagy]

I watched a dozen videos about a helical cutter’s advantages, but saw few comments hint about the problem many of us have after putting a helical head in a 735: the extra force needed for cuts takes a toll on more than just the circuit breaker.

My tripped breaker only happened once (so far) because it came at the same time as a shredded belt. Since then, I’ve made 1/4 turns my standard. After running ~8 bd ft of poplar (using a new belt and 1/4 turns) I inspected the belt. Already a couple grooves show signs of heat and friction. When I plane oak it might get interesting.

One post here made a good point: the 735 wasn’t built to use a helical head. I like the cut quality, and will keep the new head. But I’m thinking ahead about what planer to go to when this one fails. What are serious home woodworkers buying?

[Travis Conner]

Grease those posts. Mine rusted and it binded up making it useless.

[Mel Fulks]

David, that's the first mention I've seen on Dewalt planer with helical head. They are pretty slow with the standard knives.
A friend asked me to help him plane some 20' boards.....excruciating, couldn't pick up my feet. Had to just slide 'em about
an inch at a time. I should have demanded a new pair of shoes !

[Randy Heinemann]

I realize that this is a bit off topic, but... I have thought about replacing the butterhead on my 735 with the Shelix head but due to cost and the fact I'm not a mechanic, I decided not to. So, my question it this . . . With the number of posts here that indicate a problem with overloading the motor to the point of tripping the overload switch on the planer, it would appear to me that this means that replacement of the heads is not a good idea because the planer is not made with the proper specs for the spiral butterhead. Am I wrong? No one has to convince me that spiral heads are better, quieter, give a better finish, and are great at dealing with figured wood. I have a Jet Helical Head jointer which I love. I just thing that this might be one of the reasons that Dewalt never offered a helical head as an option.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I said it earlier in this thread (or another one similar to it), but I really don’t think these planers were engineered or built with a helical head upgrade in mind and they don’t stand up as well as straight knives to the increased load under continuous / frequent use.

The 735 is already a screamer with a universal motor that can only take off 1/32” in hardwood with straight knives on good day. The continuous engagement of a spiral head is too much load for this little planer that really is a pretty excellent machine for what it is in stock form.

[Curt Harms]

David, that's the first mention I've seen on Dewalt planer with helical head. They are pretty slow with the standard knives.
A friend asked me to help him plane some 20' boards.....excruciating, couldn't pick up my feet. Had to just slide 'em about
an inch at a time. I should have demanded a new pair of shoes !

That planer looks like it's 2 speed. Did your friend have it set on slow speed? I had a Delta 22-580 for a while which was also 2 speed. I tried both speeds on domestic species and couldn't notice any difference in finish between the two speeds. Perhaps the lower speed helps with 'difficult' woods.