# Burning smell



## Rburgess0973 (Jul 10, 2018)

Hey guys.. have a quick question. Have a 2hp router that I've had only about a year. Yesterday I smelled an electrical burning smell when I turned it on. Pulled out the brushes and one side was lopsided worn, the other was fine. Fixed the one. Still has the smell. Blew air through it to get out dust, no help. See sparks through the vents but it isn't running hot. Could this still be brushes, bearings or is the motor just about to burn up?
Thanks for any advice.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Did you only replace the one, obviously damaged brush?


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

The one smell that is the death smell is of hot varnish. If that's the smell and it hasn't quit yet then chances are good it will.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

replaced the brush or reshaped the old one???
what brand of router is it...


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## doglover85 (Jul 4, 2018)

Let us know what it is when you find it!


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Welcome to the forum! When you get a minute go ahead and complete your profile with first name so it doesn't show N/a in the left panel. Your location is helpful, too.

David


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

A hearty welcome to you...

It's possible that there may still be some carbon in and around the commutator...do a good cleanup with a good contact cleaner.

Also...check the spring tension on the brushes...maybe they are weak and the brushes are bouncing/floating.

Did you replace the bad brush or "fix it"...? There must be a reason it went lopsided... Make sure you have the correct brushes.

If you fixed it, it may just need to wear in a radius to match the commutator...check the bad brush again.

And maybe it might be a good idea to swap the hot and cold brushes...

I would get new brushes just to make sure...

Good luck


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## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

Use this as an excuse to buy a new router.


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## radios (Sep 30, 2009)

you might have contaminated brushes, replace them.. I'd also sand paper the commutator with 220 grit, lightly, just make it clean. check that the gap between the copper poles have a groove in them, if not that can be fixed with a hacksaw blade that has the teeth ground flat on the sides, don't go too deep.. if this don't work, you might have a bad winding, you can check this by, with the router unplugged, connect and ohmmeter onto the 2 brushes, and make sure that you get a low ohms reading everytime the copper strips on the commutator align with the brushes when you rotate the shaft, if you get a high reading, that means a winding either has a bad connection, or burned out..


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