Heads up on Pro Planer Control Box potential failure

damagi · Post by **damagi** » Fri Jul 01, 2011 4:10 pm

pennview wrote:gpmark, you might be interested in how another member of this forum repaired one of those speed controllers using a bridge rectifier and dimmer switch at a cost of about $7.50. See -- https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=2484 -- it's a long thread.

http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showpos ... stcount=28

I have to admit that the suggestion of cardboard in there does not make me feel at ease.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Fri Jul 01, 2011 4:17 pm

damagi wrote:https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?p=24363&postcount=28

I have to admit that the suggestion of cardboard in there does not make me feel at ease.

Why? There is a card board like component in the controller when new.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Fri Jul 01, 2011 6:48 pm

Cardboard it ain 't. Flame retardant fibreboard yes. Commonly used in electrical thingies.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Fri Jul 01, 2011 7:00 pm

[quote="JPG40504"]Cardboard it ain 't. Flame retardant fibreboard yes. Commonly used in electrical thingies. ]

That is cardboard in my controller. It is thin and closely woven cardboard but it is not fiber board. If it had been fiber board it would not have torn when I tried to pull it out.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Fri Jul 01, 2011 7:08 pm

Gotta defer to your first hand experience here, but it is not cardboard like a cereal box.

Neither does it appear like the grey sturdy impregnated fibreboard of days gone by!

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Fri Jul 01, 2011 7:16 pm

JPG40504 wrote:Gotta defer to your first hand experience here, but it is not cardboard like a cereal box.

Neither does it appear like the grey sturdy impregnated fibreboard of days gone by!

No, it is not a Wheaties box and it is impregnated with something (possibly a flame retardant).

Whatever it is it is not exotic enough to drive up the cost of the controller but something in there is made of gold or titanium or something very costly.

tdubnik · Post by **tdubnik** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 6:40 am

pennview wrote:gpmark, you might be interested in how another member of this forum repaired one of those speed controllers using a bridge rectifier and dimmer switch at a cost of about $7.50. See -- https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=2484 -- it's a long thread.

I'm the one who fixed my control box in this thread. I can say that after all this time and hundreds of board feet of rough lumber planed that the planer is working fine. Since the fix I have not had a single hiccup and the planer will often run for a couple of hours at a time.

gpmark · Post by **gpmark** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:16 pm

Just reading through the follow-up posts and found a couple of things to comment on:

1) The "paper" is indeed used in many devices to provide insulation. The chance of fire here is minimal due to the type of circuit. My understanding is that it is also flame retardant.
2) Yes, Shopsmith is charging a bundle for a "cheap" component. A really good controller would pulse the motor at full voltage depending on how fast it was to turn, provide input protection on the AC line, and provide at least one of several protection schemes for the motor, and perhaps provide more efficient startup for the motor. Flip side is the Renco controller is no longer made and you know how folks charge for something that is no longer in supply. (I wonder what the newer planners use?)
3) Indeed a light controller can be put in and there are even router controllers that could be used. However, from my experience many of these devices do not have filtering because a light doesn't create the noise that a motor does. That's what the coil is for and that's the part that is missing on a lot of devices. Do some of them have it - yes. Can you get away with not having filtering - sure. But the reason it's there is to limit the noise going back into the AC line. That and the fact there is no mods needed is why I repaired the original controller, plus it's as good as most of these simple controllers out there.

mountainbreeze · Post by **mountainbreeze** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:25 pm

gpmark -

Thanks for all of your posts on this. I have a working planer but after reading this thread I had to go take a look. The solder joints on the bridge rectifier were good so I cleaned out the sawdust and put it back together. Thanks to you I now know what part numbers to get should mine ever fail in the future.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 2:14 pm

GPMARK: I assume you are adding a 'box' since you want to add stuff other than protecting the motor, but an inline fuse would serve well to protect the motor. Inline as in between the ends of the wire from the controller to the motor.