Performax 16-32 performance question

[Matt Zach]

I just purchased a Performax 16-32 from Amazon. The first one arrived and had a small dent in the ventilation shroud on the drum motor. I didn't think too much of it until I assembled the unit, powered it up for the first time, ran a few boards through it, and noticed that the motor seemed very weak. In fact, it started to pop its circuit breaker, unless I just barely removed any wood during each pass. I called Amazon and requested a replacement, which they sent, and I assembled and tested again today. Again, the motor seemed very wimpy, popping the circuit breaker again, unless I fed the boards through it in an almost delicate manner. Most of my tools are 220 volt, heavy duty and not what I would describe as requiring wood to be fed delicately into or through. This

16-32 sander just does not seem right to me. Can any of the sander users comment on how beefy or delicate their sanders are? I'm wondering if either I am too 'heavy handed' with it, or if I have received another defective motor.... hmmm ? Thanks in advance again. Matt

[TeamCasa]

Matt, I have the same machine and it does trip the internal breaker if you take to deep a bite. I use it only for sanding not as a thickness planer. Slow the feed rate and take smaller bites, you will grow to enjoy its many virtues.

Dave

[James D Kountz]

Sounds to me like you may have a bad motor again. I am definitely not gentle with mine and I never pop breaker with it. Curious, what's the circuit like that you have it on?

Jim

[Scott Post]

That's normal behaviour. A 1/4 turn or less of the handle is all the bite they can take.

[Matt Zach]

[Matt Zach]

[RWM]

something strange is going on. I have a six year old 16-32 + that has never trip the breaker. If fact, until I read this thread I didn't even know that there was a breaker. I wonder if the motor has changed since I purchased mine.

When I first purchased the unit I took way to much off in each pass and it never complained. One time I took about 1/16th off a 16" x 54" cherry panel and it did fine until the high spot in the middle. The machine kept chugging and I finally shut it off. My only problem with the unit is burning the sandpaper if I don't watch it.

Good luck - Bob McBreen

[Anthony Diodati]

[Scott]

Ditto with my new Performax 10-20: tripped when I tried (inadvertently) to take off about 1/8" at one time. That's what the planer is for. The sander is pretty slick for taking off 1/64 or 1/32 though, and having thickness-sanded a few classical guitars the old fashioned way, the Performax is a welcome addition to my shop, doing in seconds what used to take me hours by hand!

Cheers,

Scott

[RWM]

Sorry for replying to my post. I just checked and my unit has a Leeson motor.

[TeamCasa]

Matt, I use the 80 or 120 for sanding veneers. If you slow the feed rate down to much the sander will burn or burnish the wood if you are trying to take to big a bite. The older models do not have the same over-current protection. They only have a thermal overload protection.

I am assuming you are using an adequate dust collection system, if not the belt will clog and burn very fast.

Just to resolve the issue of , is it a bad motor, I tested the amp draw up to the time it tripped the internal pop-up breaker. 13 amps +/-. I'd say the breaker did its job.

I really don't want the motor to drag, dim the shop lights, smoke, burn the wood before I realize I have taken to deep a bite. Scott is correct, 1/4 to

1/3 a turn is all you need. If you need more, get a surface planer or jointer.

Dave

[Matt Zach]

[James D Kountz]

This is just wrong and I dont care what Performax or anyone else tells you. You can absolutely take more than 1/100th of an inch on a 6" wide piece of oak. My 16-32 would eat that for breakfast, lunch and dinner and beg for desert. I just did some 24"x36" Purpleheart panels taking between 1/4 and

1/2 turn using 120 grit and it took them right on down.No problem. My motor is a Leeson too by the way. Now if Performax changed the motor I would say based on what other folks here have said, thats you're problem. I believe another owner with a Leeson motor stated his performed better than this too. So there you go, get from it what you will but if it were me Id have my answer.

Jim

[jds]

Matt,

I have two of these units. Motors appear to be the same as yours -- 14 amp, made in Taiwan. The only time I've experienced what you're talking about (tripping the reset button) is when the motor has overheated from long periods of use or trying to take too big of a bite or working with clogged sandpaper. One thing I have learned to do is what Performax recommends and that is to insert the piece I am going to sand under the drum with it shut off and lower the drum to where you can just hear the sandpaper tic on the piece when you turn the drum by hand before you start sanding the piece. This will prvent a lot of the starting trips, gouging and burning that can result from trial and error feeding. If you do this, run the board through the unit at this setting to insure you don't have high spots and from this point you should be able to sand oak, maple,etc in 1/4 turn increments with

80 - 150 grit paper without any problems. Harder woods like bloodwood are another matter. What I can remove in one pass on oak will take 5 passes on bloodwood.. If you follow this procedure and are still having problems you probably have a motor problem.

Dave

[Scott Post]

It sounds like they've changed the motor. My year or so old 16-32 has a lousy Asian Baldor (insulation class A). Baldor must rightfully be embarrassed about this motor since their name isn't on it. The only reason I know it's a Baldor is because it was replaced once under warranty and came in a Baldor box.

I'd expect a class F Leeson to perform a whole lot better.

[TeamCasa]

One more point. Your sander may trip to easily if the power to it is undersized. Make sure you have an adequate cord and circuit powering the machine.

Dave

[Gary]

First off, I love my 16-32.

On the issue of the motor circuit tripping, I've had mine for over 3 years now. The first 2 years, the circuit breaker on the motor may have tripped once or twice. Now days, it seems if I look at it, it will trip, doesn't even have to be plugged in!!! Okay, that may be stretching it a bit, but....

I think I can rule out the power getting to the unit as a reason. I can run my DC and other large machines on the same circuit, most of them have larger motors drawing more amps, and never a problem.

Even if I sand thin strips, the motor over heats. I am fairly certain if I just power it up, not feed anything through it, the motor *will* get warm, and the circuit on the motor eventually trips. Under use, it trips sooner. I've been thinking it's a faulty motor, now this thread tells me the problem is more universal, and not just my unit. Now I'm back to square one wondering what gives???

G

[Doug Miller]

Sawdust buildup in the motor housing, perhaps? You said that didn't happen when it was new...

-- Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

How come we choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America?

[Gary]

Appreciate the stated possibility.

I could/should have stated I have my DC hooked up, and what dust that thing doesn't suck off, including the paint, I also blow out the inside of the unit thoroughly and often with air pressure. Nor does it matter which grit of sand paper I have installed. And, the drum spins *very* freely by hand, and takes forever to come to a halt after cutting the power to it. Taking all that into consideration, with my other comments in my earlier post, makes me think I definitely have a faulty motor.

I've sent my local supplier an email asking if he has had any other customer make similar complaints.

G