PC 7518 woes - fix or replace with Milwaukee or Bora Portamate?

[Tapper]

Nice going Bill - great video!

To the OP:

I have two 7518's, both in router lifts and both still going strong with no problems as yet. One is close to 20 years old and the other one probably less than 10. If the boards on these went bad I wouldn't hesitate replacing them as these routers have been workhorses.

Good luck,

Doug

[kurt18947]

I wonder what the part situation is going to be on the 7518 going forward. Are they on SBD's hit list? I'm not certain if ALL P-C routers are going to be discontinued or not. I had a variable speed module go bad on a P-C 8529 and good luck finding a replacement. I wired around the module, removed it and use an external speed control. Not an optimum solution but it works for now.

[Bit_Fiddler]

It appears that PC has discontinued parts for the 7518 - several of the websites I use for parts are showing the speed control board as Manufacturer Discontinued.  There are a number of 3rd party sellers on Amazon and other places selling the boards for up to $200.   Not sure that I want to chance $200 on a part from an unknown seller.  Spent some time cruising Ebay and found a take out board for $75 where somebody modified routers for an external speed control.  Still a bit of an expensive experiment and no returns, but I'm rolling that one around in my head.

Times change and machines wear out, but it stinks when a workhorse product from a one time powerhouse company circles the drain like this, going cheap instead and then out of the business.

[Tony Z]

I have three: one in my Kreg router table, one in my Onsrud overarm router and one spare. Check your brushes and also blow the air out.

[Bill_de]

It appears that PC has discontinued parts for the 7518 - several of the websites I use for parts are showing the speed control board as Manufacturer Discontinued.  There are a number of 3rd party sellers on Amazon and other places selling the boards for up to $200.   Not sure that I want to chance $200 on a part from an unknown seller.  Spent some time cruising Ebay and found a take out board for $75 where somebody modified routers for an external speed control.  Still a bit of an expensive experiment and no returns, but I'm rolling that one around in my head.

Times change and machines wear out,  but it stinks when a workhorse product from a one time powerhouse company circles the drain like this, going cheap instead and then out of the business.

Not a recommendation, this says $75, but also offers 2 or 3 year protection from Square Trade for $5 or $6 respectively.

Porter Cable Router 875087 Speed Controller New | eBay

[Bit_Fiddler]

Not a recommendation, this says $75, but also offers 2 or 3 year protection from Square Trade for $5 or $6 respectively.

[/url][url=https://www.ebay.com/itm/274481200910]Porter Cable Router 875087 Speed Controller New | eBay

Thanks - that is the one I was looking at last night, but I didn't see the Square Trade warranty.   I may have to solder some wires, but that is not a big deal, been doing that for longer than I care to recall.  I just ordered the board - I'll update this thread once I get the board installed.

[Bit_Fiddler]

Thanks - that is the one I was looking at last night, but I didn't see the Square Trade warranty.   I may have to solder some wires, but that is not a big deal, been doing that for longer than I care to recall.  I just ordered the board -  I'll update this thread once I get the board installed.

Well, life got in the way for a bit, but I finally pulled my 7518 out of the lift to replace the speed control board.   Replacing the board wasn't too bad, turned out to be easier to de-solder the wires off the old board, de-solder the wires out of the new board and then solder the original wires into the new board.   Wires were too short and tight to try and mess around with cutting them off and applying new crimps.   Old speed control board showed no signs of damage, overheating or anything of the like.  The year old brushes and other motor parts looked just fine.  Put it all back together and into the lift.  

The new speed control board seems much more stable than the old one - lands on and stabilizes speed quicker.  Has more power when spinning the big panel raising bit as well - no more stalling.  I've done 12 panels since the repair without a single stall, so I'm going to call this fixed.  Kinda sad to know parts are going to be hard to find in the future for this router - it's been a workhorse for me.

Dave

[JDuke]

Well, life got in the way for a bit, but I finally pulled my 7518 out of the lift to replace the speed control board.   Replacing the board wasn't too bad, turned out to be easier to de-solder the wires off the old board, de-solder the wires out of the new board and then solder the original wires into the new board.   Wires were too short and tight to try and mess around with cutting them off and applying new crimps.   Old speed control board showed no signs of damage, overheating or anything of the like.  The year old brushes and other motor parts looked just fine.  Put it all back together and into the lift.  

The new speed control board seems much more stable than the old one - lands on and stabilizes speed quicker.  Has more power when spinning the big panel raising bit as well - no more stalling.  I've done 12 panels since the repair without a single stall, so I'm going to call this fixed.  Kinda sad to know parts are going to be hard to find in the future for this router - it's been a workhorse for me.

Dave

Glad you got it fixed.

Someone else mentioned the 8529, those had a known set of 2 capacitors that went bad on the board, some were obvious some not so obvious.

I bought a couple of the 8529’s back when they were being cleared out cheap, 15-18 years ago.  One I replaced capacitors in and the other is still going although with significantly less use. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug1QJmspmMw

This video is for 8529 repair should someone have one that needs it and happen onto this thread. 

Duke

[jstraw]

Glad you got it fixed.

Someone else mentioned the 8529, those had a known set of 2 capacitors that went bad on the board, some were obvious some not so obvious.

I bought a couple of the 8529’s back when they were being cleared out cheap, 15-18 years ago.  One I replaced capacitors in and the other is still going although with significantly less use. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug1QJmspmMw

This video is for 8529 repair should someone have one that needs it and happen onto this thread. 

Duke

I did the same thing.  Purchased one when they were discontinued and ran it until the board failed.  Spent $1.20 for the better Japanese version of the junk Chinese capacitors.  One hour on the workbench and now has over a decade of use in my router table. It’s not as powerful as other options, but I love the through table adjustment. The power has never been a big issue for me.

It’s a nice designed router. Unfortunately it was doomed from the start over cutting a few pennies by using Chinese counterfeit electronic parts.

[Cabinet Monkey]

Isn’t the Bora made in a China too ?