Planer: Won't Turn on

The carbon brushes are spring-loaded pieces of metal, that ride on the commutator and supplies electricity to the armature. Carbon brushes wear down over time, and with use, and will require replacement. When the carbon brushes are worn out, they will no longer be able to transmit power. To check the conditions of the carbon brushes, remove the brush caps on the side of the motor and remove the brushes. Brushes under 1/8 of an inch, or less, are considered to be worn and will need to be replaced. Please note – brushes will still transmit power until they are completely worn out. However, they will spark more before they completely wear out, which is a good indicator they are failing fast. Install new carbon brushes into the housing and then reinstall the brush caps

A malfunctioning switch can cause the planer not to power up. To examine the switch, remove it from the switch housing. Examine the back for signs of melting, burn marks, a broken wire terminal or anything else out of the ordinary. Before detaching the wires from the switch, take a photo or make a note of where the wires attach too. You can test the switch using a multimeter set to an ohmmeter. Place the leads from the multimeter to the terminals of the switch. In the ON position, you should get a reading which indicates the flow of electricity. With the switch in the OFF position, you should not have a reading; it will read infinity or O.L. for “out of limits.” If your switch is doing anything else, it is bad and requires replacement. Replace the switch transfer and attach the wires referring to your photo. Do no mix up where they attach too. Once completed, install the switch back into the housing.

A missing safety key, or a damaged once, will prevent the planer from powering up. Make sure the key is properly installed into the slot, on the switch. Replace any broken or missing keys.

The circuit breaker protects the motor from becoming overloaded. A malfunctioning circuit breaker in the planer can stop transmitting power to the planer. To access the circuit breaker, remove the switch from the front panel. Remove the nut on top of the circuit breaker, securing the circuit breaker in place. Remove the circuit breaker through the switch opening.
Take a photo of the wire attachments as a reference guide and then disconnect the wires. Examine the circuit breaker for signs of melting and sparking, causing the circuit breaker to overheat. Look for any other signs of breakage or anything else out of the ordinary that could be impacting the performance of the circuit breaker. You can test the circuit breaker using a miltimeter set to an ohmmeter. Place a lead on each terminal on the circuit breaker. In the ON position (button in the down position), you should get a reading. In the OFF position (button in the up position), there should be no reading – infinity or O.L. for “out of limits.” If your circuit breaker is not doing this, or doing anything different, replace it. Attach the wires to the new circuit breaker and reassemble the breaker back into the housing. Install the nut to secure the breaker in place. Reinstall the switch.