# Is my belt/disc sander dead?



## beelzerob (May 2, 2010)

We picked up a belt/disc sander at an auction about a year ago for $40. Overall, not bad. Its worked well enough, though it sure sounds noisy. It's an old Craftsman.

My wife uses it quite a bit for sanding down her wooden bowls, so we need it to be working. She was using it today when she smelled that electrical kind of burnt smell. She turned off the sander and that's when she noticed tendrils of smoke wafting up from underneath where the motor is. She unplugged it and called me, and I also noted both of those things, though not specifically where the smoke was coming from.

So the questions I have are:

1) Is it safe to turn it on again and see if it really is gone? She said she didn't notice any decrease in power or any other indications that something was wrong other than the smoke and smell. Could it have just burned up some sawdust or something?

2) With a new harbor freight 6/36" sander costing $75 (without discounts), is it going to be worth trying to replace the motor in this old craftsman as opposed to just buying a new one. I'm not particularly attached to this one either way, but hate to throw it out just for a gone motor. I'll do some google searches for the model name and number and see what it turns up. I have the manual to it too.


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## sweensdv (Mar 3, 2008)

Smoke is rarely a good sign.


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## klr650 (Apr 4, 2010)

beelzerob said:


> We picked up a belt/disc sander at an auction about a year ago for $40. Overall, not bad. Its worked well enough, though it sure sounds noisy. It's an old Craftsman.
> 
> My wife uses it quite a bit for sanding down her wooden bowls, so we need it to be working. She was using it today when she smelled that electrical kind of burnt smell. She turned off the sander and that's when she noticed tendrils of smoke wafting up from underneath where the motor is. She unplugged it and called me, and I also noted both of those things, though not specifically where the smoke was coming from.
> 
> ...


What the other guy said, smoke isn't a good sign. But... It depends on what the smoke smelled like - if it was acrid then it probably gave up the ghost. If it smelled like woodsmoke then it might just be burned up sawdust. You know, the motor casing got too hot and charred the sawdust.

You should be able to open it up and see (maybe not, depends on the model).


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## mickit (Oct 5, 2009)

beelzerob said:


> We picked up a belt/disc sander at an auction about a year ago for $40. Overall, not bad. Its worked well enough, though it sure sounds noisy. It's an old Craftsman.
> 
> My wife uses it quite a bit for sanding down her wooden bowls, so we need it to be working. She was using it today when she smelled that electrical kind of burnt smell. She turned off the sander and that's when she noticed tendrils of smoke wafting up from underneath where the motor is. She unplugged it and called me, and I also noted both of those things, though not specifically where the smoke was coming from.
> 
> ...


Small motors come with a limited amount of smoke installed...once it's gone, it's gone:laughing:. Seriously though, sanders of any sort do produce a lot of fine dust, and if the wood involved is the least bit pitchy(is that a word) the dust will cake on any warm surface. Quite possible that you/her just burnt some dust...I don't see a problem with trying to start it after blowing it out, but before you do have a sniff at the motor, if you notice that ugly burnt insulation smell, it's probably not a good idea to go further. As to replacing the unit with a HF, compare the price of the replacement motor to the replacement sander. I'd go with a rebuilt C-man as opposed to a new HF But that's just my free advice, and you get what you pay for:smile:


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

For the same dollars I would put a new motor on the old sander. I think you would have a better product.

George


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## beelzerob (May 2, 2010)

Well, we carried it outside, hooked it up with a power strip and a short extension cord, and let it run. It still ran. No sparks, no smoke. My wife actually used it while it was outside. It *almost* seemed like the speed of the motor/belts was changing slightly, but it wasn't certain. Anyway, for now we've decided that we'll just use it outside when needed so that if the motor does go it doesn't stink up the basement. But it seems to still live. Perhaps it was sawdust after all, though she wasn't running the sander long enough at that time to get that hot.


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