Belt Sander Woes something broke

[Craig D Peltier]

What could be causing my sander to do this. Its a porter Cable 3x21 belt sander. On the other side of picture the belt is fine. On this side the issue is that fly wheel, it either wobbles or the casing around the wheel which is loose hits into it as the wheel spins.
I ate the cord in it this morning. I was able to pull it out. Started making slight noise like plastic hitting, did maybe 20 seconds of sanding kept trying to hear where noise was from an then it stopped spinning. Now it spins but something is wrong for sure, plastic grinding around this wheel somehow very wrenching sound.
Again the housing around the wheel is loose and I can spin it about 120 degrees and it wont sit snug.'How do I take off this fly wheel, it looks like its just over a rod with maybe a bushing its all flat where its seated , theres no place to grab except the fins.
Well im off to buy another one, always good to have second one and im right in the middle of sanding a door etc. etc.

101449

[Rob Cunningham]

Sounds like a bearing is shot. To remove the flywheel, you need to remove the armature assembly. There might be a bolt on the far end of the shaft under a cover. It is most likely a left handed thread. Take out the bolt and slide the assembly out. The easiest way to get the flywheel off is with an arbor press. There should be a bearing inside the flywheel. There is also a bearing on the other end of the shaft which could also be bad.
Let me know if you need instructions on how to set it up on an arbor press. It takes some messing around to get it so you don't bend the fins.
I just went through this when my Dad asked me if I could fix his 1959 Craftsman belt sander.

[Craig D Peltier]

Sounds like a bearing is shot. To remove the flywheel, you need to remove the armature assembly. There might be a bolt on the far end of the shaft under a cover. It is most likely a left handed thread. Take out the bolt and slide the assembly out. The easiest way to get the flywheel off is with an arbor press. There should be a bearing inside the flywheel. There is also a bearing on the other end of the shaft which could also be bad.
Let me know if you need instructions on how to set it up on an arbor press. It takes some messing around to get it so you don't bend the fins.
I just went through this when my Dad asked me if I could fix his 1959 Craftsman belt sander.

Thanks im not that good with getting this deep. I may just get a quote on having it fixed, if its less than 100 I will fix it.