New OF1400 up in smoke?

[j123j]

Ellou

I've just unpacked my of 1400 and did some light passes on oak with a chamfer bit.

Every time I stopped and placed the router on  the bench there was smoke coming out of the ventilation holes.  :-\  It didnt smell too bad but there was quite abit of smoke coming out. I was doing light passes so it wasnt overloading and the router didnt feel too hot anywhere.

Brushes just setting in?

 

[zapdafish]

I bought mine home from the store last week. I sure didn't see any smoke coming out of mine when I was done with it. I flush trimmed 1/2" thick mdf. The equilavent of going around almost 2 full sheets.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Smoke is definitely not normal. I would recommend that you return to your dealer to exchange it assuming that's an option. If not, then contact Festool service for warranty repair.

 

[MAK]

Definitely shouldn't smoke. I've used one for three years, no problem. Take it back.
Hope you get it sorted :

 

[lostdiaspora]

Definitely Something very wrong. I have used one for over 3 1/2 years and done some very heavy work with it and the only thing that smoked was the wood when yours truly didnt move the router fast enough!

 

[j123j]

Update:

Nothing was found in the inspection by festool.

I was told the smoking is normal when breaking in the tool.  They told me it is caused by the motor break heating up the brushes and there is some sort of oil in the brushes? that was smoking.

??? im not totally confident...

Oppinions?

 

[Alan m]

howld is it. if its reasonably new you can return it to the store and get your money back. it wont matter what festool says as your consumer rights will over ride anything they can say. return it.
if it was one little puff and then worked perfect after that it could be setling in but anything more is conserning and needs sorting

 

[Ken Nagrod]

All I can say is use your own best judgement.  You have had a number of people on here tell you it hasn't happened to them, including myself.  I've never seen it from any tool I've ever owned or used other than the drill I fried the motor on during my drill test a couple of years ago.

 

[ajones]

I have never had smoke come out of a new power tool of any sort the computator is such a small area and the brushes are carbon so any oil on them would dissipate within seconds of firing it up.

I think the smoke is being blown up your  ass[thumbs up]              (an ass   a four legged creature similar to a donkey ) just in case anyone is confussed

 

[waho6o9]

return it for a new one.

 

[pugilato]

sounds like a lazy employee to me... return it.

 

[fdengel]

If it were the brushes, wouldn't that happen right after it was turned on then go away, like, immediately?

This does sound VERY fishy...

 

[Erik63]

My 1400 started smoking a little the last time I used it. I might have been pushing it a little hard, but I have pushed it much harder before and the overload protection kicked in. I figured the overload protection should come in before I damage the tool. How bad is it for the protection to kick in on the overall life of the tool. I had to use the 1400 for some large cutters when my large Freud router died on a job.

 

[j123j]

routed some sliding dovetails with the OF 1400 today... still smoking even after being "serviced"...

Cant return it since the 30 day period is over...

Aint this a peach, got a few month old router smoking and the service department doesnt even know whats wrong.

 

[Ken Nagrod]

routed some sliding dovetails with the OF 1400 today... still smoking even after being "serviced"...

Cant return it since the 30 day period is over...

Aint this a peach, got a few month old router smoking and the service department doesnt even know whats wrong.

Is there any odor associated with the smoke and what color is the smoke?  That might help figure it out.

 

[j123j]

Thats the weird part.

It doesnt smell at all. Im a smoker so my sense of smell is abit lower than a nonsmoker but I couldent smell the smoke even when I sniffed the vents it was coming out of.

The smoke is very "light", gray, dissappears very fast...

 

[peter halle]

I would suggest that you send the send the unit to Festool for investigation and possible repair.  After all it has been going on for  a while.

Peter

 

[j123j]

I did send the router to festool for inspection/repair and the tech called, first he said he couldent find anything worng with it and didnt know where the smoke was coming from. He guessed it was either some sort of grease burning by the heat generated by the brake when the router is stopping or some oil burning in the brushes.

He said it might happen the first few times the router was used. Well its been used and the issue remains...

In any case, he wasnt able to give a definitive reason for the smoke.

 

[TomLewis]

I've worked in a repair shop. (Avionics.) Nothing gets a techs attention faster than a return after service. If it's still not resolved send it back again. Manufacturer's normally track these things and you'll probably find that the service department will perk up.

 

[Ken Nagrod]

Try the U.S. service center.  I hear they're really good.  [wink]