Wax to the rescue

[jteneyck]

The motor of my Bosch 1617 router became more and more difficult to install into the base, and the motor body got more and more scuffed up each time I removed/installed it. When the fine adjust screw became nearly impossible to turn, I had to do something. So I put some paste wax on the inside of the base and outside of the motor with some 0000 steel wool. The motor just about dropped into the base afterwards. Wow. Better than new.

In 25 years I've never had to do that with my PC 690.

John

[Sawdustd]

Thanks John. My 690 is having the same symptoms.

[Herb G]

Thanks for the tip.

[jlanciani]

The original 1617 routers used magnesium castings. They had a known oxidation issue and it was so bad that Bosch was replacing the castings with the newer aluminum ones for anyone who requested it, regardless of the age of the router. I'm not sure if they are still offering to repair the problem but for anyone who has an older 1617 that is getting stuck like yours was it might be worth calling and asking.

[jteneyck]

Mine's only a year old and I'm guessing it's aluminum. I think it's as much a design issue as a material one. The clearance between the motor body and base is very tight and the contact points in the base are milled such they have sharp edges. Combined, it's easy for the motor body to get scraped up as you put it into the base and that makes the problem even worse. The PC 690 has really sloppy tolerances so the motor almost falls into the base, yet when you tighten it up it holds the motor fine. From a practical standpoint it's a better approach. But if a little wax will cure the ills of the Bosch I'm OK with that.

John

[JIMB49]

i,ve tryed sprays but i'm going to give this a try today