porter-cable router heating up?

[Brian Peters]

I have a porter-cable router 894pk, almost a year and a half old. Barely used it, not as much as my other routers. I've always been loyal to PC for routers and belt sander but I think their new product lines are junk. I have a feeling their products have been getting cheaper for years too. I have an older PC router that still runs like a champ never changed the bearings.

aNyhow the root of the problem. I can run this router for maybe 2-3 mins no load no tool just air and the collet gets VERY hot. I'm talking hot enough to burn you if you hold your hand there. The spindle, case everything is cool just the collet gets hot. Anyone ever heard of this happening or solutions to the problem? My next bet is to call PC but I have this feeling they will just feed me a line about a replacement bearing kit and its going to be even cheaper than the one I have in it now.

Thanks for the help.

[Mike Henderson]

There was a recall on the 890 series for a problem with overheating. Contact PC and I think they'll take care of it.

Mike

[Tom Esh]

Probably nothing wrong with it. That's characteristic of the 890 series but does not seem to have any adverse effects on the tool itself. Mine's over two years old and sees fairly heavy use but still runs good as new. Just have to remember to let it cool down or use gloves when changing bits after it's run awhile.

[Brent Smith]

I had the same problem until I traded out motors on the recall. It still runs hot, but no where near before. Doesn't matter a whole lot though, I prefer, and use, my 690's far more often.

[Gene Michael]

My 890 overheated badly. When I called PC customer service, they said that I probably didn't know how to use the tool or my voltage was too low, or a handful of other excuses. After several days of frustrating calls, I called the PC service center in Nashville. The technician told me about the recall. Sent it in (at my expense) and got a new motor a couple of weeks later. The new motor runs warmer than my Bosch 1617, but no longer overheats.

No longer have the service center number, but you should be able to find it on line.

[Brian Peters]

Thanks for the info guys. I will give them a call; I suspected that I would get a run-around like they gave you Gene so I didn't bother until now. Now, is the whole body on your router getting warm or hot or just the motor? How long did it take them to replace it? Thanks.

[Brian Peters]

Called PC today, good fast support no long waiting. But the woman checked with the "technician" and he said that the seals on the bearings cause the overheating or something like that; and that it is overheating the collet because I haven't broken it in yet. I may not be using this every day for the last year but I have certainly broken this thing in :confused:. They said the overheating will go away over time with usuage. Is that just a line they are feeding me or do you guys find it to be the truth. I didn't investigate that recall until after I got off the phone, should I call back and insist on servicing it? It's not NORMAL for routers to overheat at the collet and this router is the only router I have ever owned that has done it.

[Brent Smith]

"Over heating because it's not broken in".......naw I don't believe that. If your router is on the recall list Brian, demand a new motor. If it's not, take it to the nearest service center and tell them to fix whatever is broken!

[Brian Peters]

Nuts, I just ran the router cutting for about 15 minutes and touched the collet when I was done and it burned and cut my hand it was so hot, was bleeding, got a good gash. :eek:

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml06/06072.html Checked there this is the recall you're all referring to correct? It doesn't have the T on it, I will call tomorrow and demand a replacement. This whole "breaking it in" sounds like a load of crap to me and I'm surprised they would rather put their customers at risk of safety.

[Bill Houghton]

"Over heating because it's not broken in"

Hard to understand how that can work with an electric motor and ball or roller bearings. Fresh out of the box, they're at their ideal condition and, like all of us, begin deteriorating from there. So a tool that's overheating when brand new is not good.

Bill, three P-C routers (mid-1950's Model 100, recent Model 100, older Model 690) and their 310 laminate trimmer. Love them all; haven't been thrilled by the designs of the newer tools.

[Brian Peters]

Couldn't agree with you more; all of their tools in the past have been excellent have never had to replace anything. But after this I doubt I will so willingly just buy a PC product anymore; looks like they and Delta have taken the B&D plunge of crappy quality.

[Brent Smith]

Bill, three P-C routers (mid-1950's Model 100, recent Model 100, older Model 690) and their 310 laminate trimmer. Love them all; haven't been thrilled by the designs of the newer tools.

I think I have about 8 PC routers, never a problem with any of them till I bought the 890. Even after the recall motor switch out I still don't like the thing. Chances are I'll buy another 690 or 2 and just keep them in a box till I need them.

[Brian Peters]

How did the recall switch go? I'm going to try to do that tomorrow; were they speedy, did they "fix yours" or just have you send it back and sent you a refurbished one? How did that all work? thanks

[Brent Smith]

I was one of the first at my service center so had to wait 5-6 days for the new motors to come in. Some of the guys I talked to after that said they just walked in with their motors and the exchange was made on the spot. At this point they may be using refurbished motors for the recall exchange.

[Luther Oswalt]

Mike - On a motor recall I just called the nearest service center and they told me to bring my motor in and they just handed me a new one ... This was the recall for a wire that may or maynot have been assembled so it would wear ...they had no cases of actual wear on that wire but they did not want to take a chance! I have never had problems with PC.
Leo

[Mike Cutler]

Thanks for the info folks. I bought an 890 from the borg a few years back amd this is the reason I don't use it very often.
I'll check mine tonite and see if it's included in the recall. Hopefully it gets rid of the heat issue.

[Keith Outten]

I doubt it is the motors, its the bearings.

A couple of years ago there were lots of ShopBot owners complaining about PC7518 routers overheating at the collets. After a couple of months of beating on PC it was determined that the company had started using cheaper bearings. A whole bunch of people shipped their routers to PC to have the bearings replaced, some took them to their local repair facilities for the fix.

I'm pretty sure that the PC7518 has fallen from grace in the ShopBot community, many have now shifted to the Milwaukee 3.5 HP routers. MY PC7518 gets hot as well but I haven't attempted to get new bearings from PC and I doubt that I would offer them my money for new bearings. For me the best fix is a trip to my local bearing supplier, they can provide a substitute bearing that is far superior at a reasonable price.

Needless to say I doubt I will ever purchase anything else from Porter Cable.
.

[Brian Peters]

Good luck, called 4 times so far and waited for about 10 minutes each time to just get a "leave a voicemail for a call back." This last time I did just that and I'm guessing I will never hear from them. I wonder if they even have any techs working at that phone number anymore? :confused:

[Mike Henderson]

Good luck, called 4 times so far and waited for about 10 minutes each time to just get a "leave a voicemail for a call back." This last time I did just that and I'm guessing I will never hear from them. I wonder if they even have any techs working at that phone number anymore? :confused:
They may be closed today - veteran's day.

Mike

[Brian Peters]

Being impatient I called again, very nice woman answered, don't even bother calling. Just go here: http://www.deltaportercable.com/ServiceAndSupport/ServiceCenters.aspx and find your local service center, look for a portercable/delta/dewalt one first they carry them in stock other ones may just have to order one.

They will swap them on the spot; funny thing is she said that the reason they are recalling them is because of the overheating to the collet and the stuff mentioned on that recall page. Amazing, you call two different PC offices and they give you different stories :eek:

On my way to swap now. :D

[Brian Peters]

Called 3 that were closer to me, the delta/dewalt/pc service center is like 40 miles away; none of them were aware of this and said they could do it but it would take a week and all wanted to charge me a "service fee" even despite the PC rep saying they weren't going to and weren't supposed to. Still waiting to hear back from the PC service center. By they way was at HD today and they still had the 890 series routers in stock, the defective ones in their boxes collecting a mighty amount of dust. Can't believe retailers are still selling them. :confused:

[Brian Peters]

Well I just got my new one back from the service center. They were prompt and speedy shipped it the same day they got my bad one. And what do you know, the collet still overheats insanely hot after 2 minutes no tool fresh out of the box no load nothing. I'm calling PC back now this is crazy. I think this one gets hotter faster than the old one.

[Brian Peters]

Last Post for some reason doesn't show up:


Well I just got my new one back from the service center. They were prompt and speedy shipped it the same day they got my bad one. And what do you know, the collet still overheats insanely hot after 2 minutes no tool fresh out of the box no load nothing. I'm calling PC back now this is crazy. I think this one gets hotter faster than the old one.

Well this sucks, I have spent probably $3,000+ in the past years on PC tools alone. And I will gladly say I will never buy one again, ever. I'm totally frustrated with them and hopefully none of you buy their tools either. The only exception I have is to buy their older model tools; their newer ones in the past few years seem to just be junk.

I contacted PC about the problems still occurring with the router, they give me the run around saying its not their problem call the service center. I call them guy can't really help me, transfers me to someone else says to just ship it back he will ship me another try a different one. I suggest instead to just take one off the shelf plug it in run it for 2 mins on air and feel the collet. He says he needs a "technician" for that and to call back monday. This is so frustrating, I'm about to just drop this in the garbage and just go buy a bosch or milwalkuee router. :mad: Everyone just forwards me to the next guy. Needless to say to heck with porter-cable, black and decker destroyed another companies reputation and quality of product.

[Brian Peters]

Another update, finally got them to test their routers before sending me out another. :rolleyes: The other ones in stock do the same exact thing. Now I'm probably going to be out a router for another week or two. Going to go this afternoon and buy a Milwaukee 3.5 hp, I give up on PC and will never buy a product from them again.

[Chip Lindley]

As many have attested here, other P-C routers are the workhorses of woodworking. Appears the 890 is totally a LEMON tho!!

My 310, 100, 690s (5), and 7518, 7519 and 7538 do all I ever ask of them. A brand new router with collet hot enough to fry on is just WRONG and a POS. Steer clear of these new fangled P-Cs but give the older ones the reverence they deserve!

[Brian Peters]

Yeah I am in the same boat, I think I have used almost all of their router models and this is the only one I have had issues with. Funny though I saw the newer 895PK on amazon and most gave it 1 star saying it was even worse. This is the one produced far after the B&D merger I believe. I wouldn't expect anything of quality to come out of PC in the future. I was at the BORG the other night and saw the new stapler/nailgun line by PC and it looked significantly cheaper than their previous models.:rolleyes: