# Can't Get End Cap Off of Craftsman 315.174771 Router



## Digger1 (Apr 13, 2014)

Hi Guys,

First real post...

I've got an unused Craftsman router, model number *315.174771*, that I received brand new several years ago. I'm just now getting around to learning how to use it.

I unboxed it and fired it up. After less than 15 seconds of operation, it started making a horrible screeching noise.

Closer inspection revealed that what appeared to be a rectangular piece of greenish-bluish plastic had become lodged in the space between the motor's cooling fan and the external motor housing (I pulled said plastic piece out as far as I could to get a good look at it):












I considered just cutting this piece up and pulling it out (if that's even possible), but I'd really like to get a look inside to see what this piece is and if any damage had occurred. So I removed the three screws holding the end cap (item #3 in this diagram) in place and tried to remove said end cap.

No go.

It looks as if this red plastic spindle lock actuator knob needs to come off before I can remove the end cap:












However, said knob seems to be held on to an internal flat metal lever (item #6 in this diagram) by a small screw (item #25 in this diagram).

Now, my problem is that I cannot get decent access that little mounting screw so I can loosen it. Try as I might, the best I can do is to shift the loose end cap around enough to glimpse only a small but tantalyzing portion of the screw:












There's gotta be a trick to getting that screw out! Is there anyone out there who can help me with this?

Also, any guesses as to the purpose of that plastic piece that is gumming up the works?

Any insight is appreciated....thanks in advance!


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

"Closer inspection revealed that what appeared to be a rectangular piece of greenish-bluish plastic had become lodged in the space between the motor's cooling fan and the external motor housing (I pulled said plastic piece out as far as I could to get a good look at it" 

If you were not routing Greenish Blue Plastic then this has come from inside the router and that wold not be good, that part of the body has come off, I can't imagine how 'old age' made this happen and it looks like it did not go in through that slot, it is trying to get out, seeing that there is no warranty then I wold take it apart and have a look as well, you will have to just keep wriggling it until it come free but bearings and brushes can hang on. N


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## Digger1 (Apr 13, 2014)

neville9999 said:


> If you were not routing Greenish Blue Plastic then this has come from inside the router and that wold not be good, that part of the body has come off, I can't imagine how 'old age' made this happen and it looks like it did not go in through that slot, it is trying to get out, seeing that there is no warranty then I wold take it apart and have a look as well, you will have to just keep wriggling it until it come free but bearings and brushes can hang on. N


Hi Neville,

Yeah, I agree, it has to come apart.

Problem is, I can't get a screwdriver on the head of this screw that holds the red locking knob on:












Does anyone know a trick for getting that screw out?


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Digger; I think I'd be inclined to revisit the assumption that the screw needs to come out first.
If you can find the manual, and examine the exploded parts diagram, it will give you a far better idea of the disassembly sequence.
From the location of the screw, whatever it's screwed onto will also protrude through the case, from the inside.
Check the forum here, re manuals, if you don't have your own.
Good luck!


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## Digger1 (Apr 13, 2014)

DaninVan said:


> Digger; I think I'd be inclined to revisit the assumption that the screw needs to come out first.
> If you can find the manual, and examine the exploded parts diagram, it will give you a far better idea of the disassembly sequence.
> From the location of the screw, whatever it's screwed onto will also protrude through the case, from the inside.
> Check the forum here, re manuals, if you don't have your own.
> Good luck!


DaninVan,

Thanks for your reply and fresh approach to the problem.

As the router was still brand new and in the box, I've got the Owner's Manual. Also, here are links to the two available parts schematics:

http://www.searspartsdirect.com/par...00048129/00002?blt=06&prst=0&shdMod=315174771

(FYI, the schematic in the above link is the only one shown in the previously mentioned Owner's Manual.)

http://www.searspartsdirect.com/par...00048129/00001?blt=06&prst=0&shdMod=315174771

DaninVan, as your post inspired me to take a fresh look at the problem, I think I'm gonna try to remove the motor housing (item #27 in this diagram) before removing the end cap (item #3 in this diagram).

Looks like the collet nut, etc, needs to come off....

*Any other ideas out there?*


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## Semipro (Mar 22, 2013)

Looking a the schematic the piece just below the switch #24 comes off then you should be able to remove the screw, can not tell from picture how it held on but looks like it snaps into a hole in the center
good luck


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## Digger1 (Apr 13, 2014)

Semipro said:


> Looking a the schematic the piece just below the switch #24 comes off then you should be able to remove the screw, can not tell from picture how it held on but looks like it snaps into a hole in the center
> good luck


Semipro,

Thanks for your input.

Actually, the schematic is a bit misleading here. As seen in this link, part #24 is merely a decal.

Nice try, though!

*Keep those ideas coming...I'm sufferin' here!*


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Hey, Digger;
# 5, 6, 7, 8, are the internal connections to that orange dohicky. It looks like the metal inside extension is designed to slide outwards a bit; will it do that? If it moved 3/8" outwards, it 'd reveal the screw completely.


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## Digger1 (Apr 13, 2014)

Inspired by y'all's efforts, I decided to attack the problem from the other end.

As mentioned above, I decided to try removing the motor housing first, before removing the end cap. So, I reinstalled the three end cap screws (parts #2 in this diagram) and snugged 'em up, to keep the end cap from moving around while I was working on the motor housing end.

After I snugged said screws up, I locked the spindle to prepare for the removal of the collet nut. That was when I noticed something that made my lil' ole peepee hard....the hidden screw was now exposed in all its glory! Here is a look at it, with an Allen wrench inserted into its head:












Apparently, with the end cap loose, the red knob was prevented from moving outward far enough to expose this screw.

Well, I was an idiot (again!), but right now, I'm a happy rabbit....


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Well done, That Man!!


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## Digger1 (Apr 13, 2014)

*The Mystery Deepens!*

The mystery deepens (I'll expand on that in my next post).

But for now, I'd like to document the disassembly procedure for the next poor slob who comes along seeking to take this model of router apart. *Anyone who sees anything incorrect, please feel free to respond with a correction.*

I'll be referencing the following two schematics (I'll call them the "upper" and "lower" schematics):





















Note that I've skipped the steps involved in stripping external stuff off of the router's central assembly, so we'll start after said external stuff has been removed.

Remove the screw holding on the spindle lock knob (said screw is part #25 in the lower schematic) The picture below shows said screw being loosened with an Allen wrench:












Next, you'll need to remove the three screws holding the end cap in place. These screws can be seen as parts #2 in the upper schematic. One of these is depicted below:












Pull the end cap off. One or both brushes and their housings may fall out. Indeed, this is as far as you need to go if you merely want to replace said brushes.

If you want to remove the top bearing plate assy (part #16 in the upper schematic) from the motor housing (part #27 in the upper schematic), you need to remove four Phillips-head screws (depicted as parts #12 in the upper schematic). One of said four screws is shown here:












If you peer underneath the flat brush conductors, you'll see, one on each side, two slot-head screws (depicted as parts #11 in the upper schematic). DON'T remove these yet! If you want to remove these, it is best to wait until all of my steps are completed (see below). For reference, one of the slot-head screws is shown below (FYI, the above-mentioned flat brush connector is gold-colored):












Now, try to pull the motor housing (part #27 on the upper schematic) from the top bearing plate assy. This didn't work for me, so I carefully tapped the collet nut with a mallet until I could separate the two pieces. The picture below shows the situation right when things broke loose for me:


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## Digger1 (Apr 13, 2014)

Now, I'm faced with a mystery.

When I pulled the motor housing away from around the motor, two rectangular pieces of dense fiber sheet fell out:












Each one measures 1 3/4" x 1 3/8", and is curved along the long dimension. You can see that one of them is beat up a bit, this is the one that got caught in the motor's cooling blades and caused a racket (see the original post).

Hmmmm....what are these things? What purpose do they serve? Where are they supposed to go?

You can see that one of the motor's cooling fan's blades is chipped, and there is minor rubbing damage over the whole fan:












I snooped around trying to figure out where the loose rectangular sheets are supposed to go. I noticed two openings in the bottom surface of the top bearing assembly that looked to be about the right size. Here is a picture of one of said openings:












Curious, I slipped one of said loose rectangular sheets into one of these openings. It went in there like it had eyes:












My current theory is that these sheets served as part of the router's "double insulation" (indeed, the material that these sheets are constructed from appear to be insulative in nature).

A peek inside the Owner's Manual uncovered the following verbiage:


_*DOUBLE INSULATION* is a concept in safety, in electrical power tools, which eliminates the need for the usual three wire grounded power cord and grounded supply system. Wherever there is electric current in the tool there are two complete sets of insulation to protect the user. All exposed metal parts are isolated from the internal metal motor components with protecting insulation._


At this point, I'm thinking that this router will never be safe to use, since I can't figure out a way to place the rectangular sheets into position in such a way that I can guarantee one or both will not fall out again.

*Any thoughts? Am I missing something here?*

Thanks again, for your inputs!


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

A thin bead of silicone along the top edge, where it lodges under the plastic housing, should make a semi-permanent lock. 'Loc-Tite' would probably work just as well.
If the damaged piece is toast, you could cut a piece of synthetic gasket material to the right size. The chance of you needing to do this again is probably nil.
Nice photo-essay!!


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

Digger you have come too far now to give up on using this router, I agree with your assessment regarding the two pieces, so I would use some construction adhesive like 'Max Bond" just put two smallish drops on the inside of each of them and slip them back in place and then press them down against the armature, the max bond will spread out and dry, in Australia then we say that something will stick like s**t to a blanket, so Max Bond will stick these two pieces in place and they will not move, if the drops are small, but not too small, then I cannot see how the adhesive will affect the router and all that will happen is that the two items will not move again, if this is the only issue then the router will run, I can see one other issue, the fan impeller, it will be out of balance due to the twist in one fin and I would get a new one if I could and it was not too expensive, you could cut off any fin that sticks up or down past the normal line so that the fin will not be hitting any internal part of the router, if there is no other damage then this should work normally if you can reassemble it correctly, if you cannot get it to run then I recommend that you keep it and use it as a door stop, when you are in your dotage and your Grand Children ask why you keep it, then you say with a wise voice "Ah, that was how I spent the winter of 0014" You could then all sit around a fire and talk about your great struggle. N


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## Digger1 (Apr 13, 2014)

neville9999 said:


> Digger you have come too far now to give up on using this router, I agree with your assessment regarding the two pieces, so I would use some construction adhesive like 'Max Bond" just put two smallish drops on the inside of each of them and slip them back in place and then press them down against the armature, the max bond will spread out and dry, in Australia then we say that something will stick like s**t to a blanket, so Max Bond will stick these two pieces in place and they will not move, if the drops are small, but not too small, then I cannot see how the adhesive will affect the router and all that will happen is that the two items will not move again, if this is the only issue then the router will run, I can see one other issue, the fan impeller, it will be out of balance due to the twist in one fin and I would get a new one if I could and it was not too expensive, you could cut off any fin that sticks up or down past the normal line so that the fin will not be hitting any internal part of the router, if there is no other damage then this should work normally if you can reassemble it correctly, if you cannot get it to run then I recommend that you keep it and use it as a door stop, when you are in your dotage and your Grand Children ask why you keep it, then you say with a wise voice "Ah, that was how I spent the winter of 0014" You could then all sit around a fire and talk about your great struggle. N


Neville,

Thanks for your reply and the useful tips. But, mostly, thank for the humor.....I got a few good belly laughs.

Take care.....


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## redhuskerred (May 2, 2014)

OMG!! I had this exact thing happen, in the morning I will go out and take a pic of mine, one of the pieces of what I referred to as a protective insulation stayed in place where as the other completely fell loose and killed my fan, Literally! This is a Craftsman 315174921 or a model really close to it. Anyway I will get it posted for you as soon as I can so you can see how and where they go. I took mine apart to the point of getting the fan off the shaft, because there was no blades left on it, and no sears/ craftsman do NOT have a replacement part for it. I did however find some similar ones online. 
Post pic. in the morning. 
Rachele


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## redhuskerred (May 2, 2014)

This is what the internal housing of my router looked like, I put a blue box of where one of the insulation pieces are located. The second piece.is the one that fell out and killed.my fan. I put a red arrow on pic where the piece that fell out was supposed to be. I would apply a drop of super glue or some other type of adhesive to keep the piece from falling out again. I realized later after reading your complete post that you may have already completed your repair. Hope this will help anyone else with same issue...


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Neville is correct about the out of balance problem. The ideal solution is to replace the fan. If that isn't possible or practical then the ******* solution is break another fan blade off that is precisely opposite the the damaged one. Better if you can grind them off at the hub as it will likely balance better that way. I have done it before and it works. Sometimes you have to improvise.


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## TenGees (Sep 12, 2012)

That definitely looks like insulation material. I used to work at a transformer company as a teen. I'm not sure that gasket paper would be a good replacement though. That stuff is probably heat resistant. I would rather reuse the existing ones. Silicone can withstand heat quite well, so that would likely keep it from moving again as Dan suggested.


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## nitro-mech (Sep 12, 2014)

*Brown Wire*

Need help as to where brown wire connects as it came disconnected from one of the wire nuts when removing upper cap.

It comes from part #21 in 'Upper Schematic" in post #11 to .......?


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## TenGees (Sep 12, 2012)

Dave, all I can suggest is to look through your pictures, or if the wire broke off, maybe the end is still in the wire nut.


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