Sad day for the small triton router.

[dalejw]

There have been a few posts about the triton routers sounding like the speed isn't constant when they are running with no load. Mine has been fine since I bought it in march but noticed this rapid speeding up and slowing down the other day when it was mounted in the table.

I didn't think much of it but half way through routing a trench into a piece of jarrah it all went pear shaped.

Sparks and a noise like I was trying to arc weld the jarrah to the router bit :D . I turned it off and took it to the service centre in Osborne Park WA (Applec electrical) and it was stripped down while I waited.

Turns out the brushes were quite chipped and a large section of the armature was burnt out. Now patiently waiting for it to be repaired...

The moral of the story is that if it sounds like your router is "hunting" at full speed it may be a drama with the armature and worth having checked out before things go really wrong like in my case.

[ozwinner]

And yet Ive had a Makita for 12 years with no problems, I also have the Triton mounted in the Triton router bench so Im not biased.

Just goes to show you that you get what you pay for.

Al :)

[Stuart]

Never heard of it before, so at least it is good to know what the symtoms are before experiencing them, and knowing what it may mean.

Chalk that up to the ongoing build of knowledge and experience about Triton routers

[Bushmiller]

The same "hunting" happened with my old Hitachi M12V. Damaged armature was not worth replacing. New armature plus bearings etc was going close to $200.

Bought the larger triton instead and later a GMC 2HP for hand use and to save dragging the Triton off the table.

Regards
Paul

[Phil Mailloux]

And yet Ive had a Makita for 12 years with no problems, I also have the Triton mounted in the Triton router bench so Im not biased.

Just goes to show you that you get what you pay for.

Al :)

Isn't the small triton router like $250??? If I spent that much on it I'd expect it to last longer than 6 months. As far as I remember this thing came out around X-mas time no?

[lesmeyer]

This is NOT ( I repeat - NOT) what I wanted to hear after only 1 month ago successfully exchanging a faulty GMC for the MOF001 (pay in difference).:eek:
Regards
Les

[woody62]

There have been a few posts about the triton routers sounding like the speed isn't constant when they are running with no load. Mine has been fine since I bought it in march but noticed this rapid speeding up and slowing down the other day when it was mounted in the table.

I didn't think much of it but half way through routing a trench into a piece of jarrah it all went pear shaped.

Sparks and a noise like I was trying to arc weld the jarrah to the router bit :D . I turned it off and took it to the service centre in Osborne Park WA (Applec electrical) and it was stripped down while I waited.

Turns out the brushes were quite chipped and a large section of the armature was burnt out. Now patiently waiting for it to be repaired...

The moral of the story is that if it sounds like your router is "hunting" at full speed it may be a drama with the armature and worth having checked out before things go really wrong like in my case.
if you would like to send a PM I will have the matter looked at for you. This is definately not normal and would like to have your machine checked by our engineers.

[dalejw]

Not just the armature apparently. More bits needed... more waiting.....

AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lesmeyer]

Not just the armature apparently. More bits needed... more waiting.....

AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dale,
I reckon that from what you are saying, that the router should not be repaired, but should be replaced.
Regards
Les

[echnidna]

sounds like the armatures in that model might have dodgy commutators

[dalejw]

Dale,
I reckon that from what you are saying, that the router should not be repaired, but should be replaced.
Regards
Les

Yeah. It's not good whatever is happening. We'll see... In the mean time I've got 40m of half finished skirting waiting to finish a renovation for a customer who is getting progressively more off with me. Sigh... so close to finishing job... so close to getting paid...

[dalejw]

Well the new router arrived today via courier.

Thanks very much woody62 for giving me another avenue to go down. If it hadn't been for that I'm sure I'd still be waiting.

Total time without router.... 3 weeks. Total phonecalls...... 10

Perhaps it's just the fact that my tools are the way I earn my income but 3 weeks and that much hassling seems a bit excessive. With the exception of woody62 responding to my PM, no one contacted me even when I initially took it in for service and was told they'd have it back to me in 2 days. When it first broke down I rang GMC and explained the situation they said the only avenue I could go down was taking it in for service. To be honest if I'd taken it in, they'd told me it was going to be 2 days and I'd got a call back the next day to say it was going to be longer and I could have made other arrangements to hire one or borrow one I wouldn't be quite so off. This ringing every couple of days and waiting for phonecalls back that never came really is crap.

It's just a shame that sometimes the only way to get decent service is to jump up and down, scream and yell so that people just want to shut you up :eek:

[wormdrive]

The motor on my 6 mth old festool did the hunting for speed thing, and yes it was the armature

[Flowboy]

Hi Wormdrive,

Which Festool was it. The 1400, 1010 or the 2000? Just out of interest.
Also, how long to get it back?

Regards,

Rob

[Flowboy]

Hi Dale,

Without wanting to sound like "See? Ya get what ya pay for". The three weeks without the router, added expense of paying to call them for info, the stress of being unable to finish a job, thus annoying the customer and not getting paid is IMHO a bluddy nightmare. Anything you saved by buying the "small" Triton, which I would read as GMC in a yellow suit, at somewhere around $200, has been totally chewed up by GMC's incompetence. It's only a contact through this forum that helped you to get it back in 3 weeks! Maybe you should cut your losses, sell the GMC and buy a Maktec or Makita (6 of one...), or a Hitachi. All have solid reputations.
Only wanted to make a suggestion.

Regards

Rob

[dalejw]

Hi Dale,

Without wanting to sound like "See? Ya get what ya pay for". The three weeks without the router, added expense of paying to call them for info, the stress of being unable to finish a job, thus annoying the customer and not getting paid is IMHO a bluddy nightmare. Anything you saved by buying the "small" Triton, which I would read as GMC in a yellow suit, at somewhere around $200, has been totally chewed up by GMC's incompetence. It's only a contact through this forum that helped you to get it back in 3 weeks! Maybe you should cut your losses, sell the GMC and buy a Maktec or Makita (6 of one...), or a Hitachi. All have solid reputations.
Only wanted to make a suggestion.

Regards

Rob

I completely understand where you're coming from but this certainly wasn't bought as a cheap alternative. It cost $288 and was bought for it's features rather than to save a quid. The large router has a solid reputation and I was expecting the same from this. $288 doesn't make it a cheap alternative to the hitachi, bosch or Makita. It puts it in the same range.

I was borrowing a hitachi while I was building my tool kit and when it came time to buy my own router I did the research. The large router has a solid reputation and I was expecting the same from this. I looked at the big router but needed the versatility of a good hand held router. Changing bits with the hitachi in the table (and also out of the table) was a monumental pain in the ####. The dust extraction on the hitachi was also non existent. These were all boxes that the Triton ticked. I wouldn't have any other router in it's place. In operation, it's an absolute gem!

I'm not really off that it broke down. These things happen, we've got someone here with a festool router that died after 6 months with the same fault. What annoys me is the moment it died I rang customer service and explained the situation (ie used as part of a business) and gave everyone involved the opportunity of doing the right thing to get me running again and it still turned into a ####fight.

[Flowboy]

Hi Dale,

Take your point and hope it works well in future. I have been for a long time and more so now an advocate for accountability of suppliers. It's not good enough that you get left in the lurch like that. I recently bought 2 Festool 2000OFs. When I got them home the two kits were totally different. (one even had no spanner!!) On its first use, after installing an 8mm collet straight from its packet, it ate two Leigh Dovetail bits @$50-60 each. When it went for repair under warranty, it was gone for 9 days and I received a bill for stuffing up the collet install (straight out the pack and screw it in??). When I rang the company I spoke to both the National sales manager and the QC Manager. They sent me a spanner!!. Just not good enough when you've just handed them $2K plus.

Good luck in the future and always remind suppliers of their obligation to you who pays their salaries.

Regards

Rob