Elu MOF 96 Stiff Plunging

[nijiiii]

G'day,

I have an Elu MOF 96. It sticks when it's pressed down into cutting position and is difficult to back up in the position where the blade is in the air again.

Can anyone tell me what I need to do to fix this. I have tried lubricaion but that doesn't help.

thanks

nijiiii

[Lignum]

DONT pull it appart the 96 and 177 have reverse cam lock and is so hard for a home made fix. Just sent it to a good dealer and they will do it for stuff all money.

Great router isnt it

[nijiiii]

Do you mean that I'll damage the machine if I try to dismantle it? The must be a way...

[Lignum]

The plunge on the 96 and 177 is the opposite of modern routers. You push the spring loaded lever then plunge to depth, then let it go to loc
So yes, you will stuff it if you try to fix it yourself. Normal routers easy.

[Wongdai]

Mine was the same. I lubed up the shiney posts with Lithium Grease and it came good in no time.

Might be worth trying that first.

[TermiMonster]

Mine sticks a bit too. I just give it a bang with the palm of my hand. But I always was a lazy bugger.
TM

[gerhard]

The plunge assembly in the 96 is different from that in the 177. The 177 has a locking/releasing lever, like its Mühlacker made predecessors 77, 98 and 31 had. The 96 has a vice system; one of the black guiding knobs presses a copper or brass piece against one of the sliding rods, effectively locking the rods and sole in a set position. By unscrewing the knob and releasing the copper pressing stud, the springs inside the rods are also released and push the sole out again. This copper bit is there between the knob thread and the sliding rod, because bare steel on bare steel would leave scrape marks and indentations on the rod, spoiling its smooth sliding action in its brass bush. The copper bit is known to change shape over years of use, especially when the user has the tendency to tighten the knob forcefully. The copper bit gets compressed and is known to get deformed and stuck, which may be the reason for sluggish sliding.

The copper bit is normally fixed to the threaded steel of the fixing knob, so when the knob is screwed entirely loose from the machine, the copper bit comes out as well and can be inspected and treated with a file if necessary. During the restoring of several MOF 96 types, i experienced one time that the copper bit came loose and remained stuck in the machine, in which case the machine has to be disassembled.
You should avoid that when the machine runs very smoothly, because the bearing arrangement is quite finnicky to put right again in the proper friction-free way.

So the way to go is:

1. first try if lubrication solves the problem. Turn the machine upside down, let a drop of light machine oil flow between each rod and its bush and then give the machine a gymastics lesson. Press the rods in and out and in and out until the oil is spread evenly. If lubrication was indeed the issue, you should detect dramatic improvement after a few strokes. After the oil is spread out, test the depth setting function. Press the machine down on its rods, lock the rods with the knob at "maximum plunge depth" and put the machine on a surface on its sole. Immediately upon releasing the knob, the router should spring up forcefully, against its own weight. If it doesn't, there's still too much friction.

2. if the oil didn't do enough, inspect the rods themselves. Are they damaged or grooved or lined or scoured in a matt finish? Than you may want to smoothen or polish them, which means taking the machine apart to do a proper job. Also check if the wear or damage or scouring on the rods is all around, or just one-sided. If the damage is one-sided, the router may have hit a hard floor on one side of its sole, possibly bending one or both rods ever so slightly. In that case the rods are slightly askew, causing one sided wear by the bushes. The rods may look solid, but they are in fact hollow steel tubes, with long push springs inside them. Granted, the rods are still very sturdy in spite of being hollow, but it is technically possible to bend them with a hard hit on something solid. A spirit level placed on top of the motor housing may tell you if the motor sits a bit crooked on its legs.

3. If the rods look gleaming smooth, without any traces of damage, there may be something wrong with the fixing system, in which case the suspicion first rests on the copper bit, as described above. Unscrew the fixing knob entirely, inspect the copper bit and treat it if necessary.

Also do ask advice from Damienhazo, he's the true MOF 96 expert in this forum.

Success and greetings from the Netherlands!

gerhard

[Lignum]

Thanks for that Gerhard

I tried to disassembled my 177 to clean it and couldn’t get it back together, had to send it in to be fixed by a pro.

[gerhard]

I added part of a schematic drawing, to illustrate the parts i told about in the story above. The drawing is from the DeWalt DW 614, the 750 Watts modern equivalent of the Elu MOF 96. Many DW 614/615 spare parts fit the vintage MOF96/96E as well.

Part 22 is the fixing knob, locking one of the sliding rods in place in a fixed height. Part 23 is the copper or brass bit, inserted in the thread part of the knob. Because part 23 is a typical wear-and-tear part, it can be ordered separately. If in doubt if it will fit the MOF96, you could also order the whole knob 22 (part number 249118-00) plus the copper insert 23 (part number 868524-00).

Provided that these parts are indeed the cause of the friction.

[TermiMonster]

Good on you, gerhard. I might even get off my **s and give mine a going over.
You are a great contributor to the forums.
TM