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I did find the on/off switch a little awkward to operate. overal satisfied with product. It handles the 1/2" bits very well as long as you don't overload the amount of cutting area.
I could "adjust" the position of the line cord at the strain relief and it would start or stop. I just put lock-tite on the screw and tightened it to the point of shutdown and backed off half a turn. The operation at first was fine, but developed intermittent start after a little use.
Thorough examination of the controller printed circuit assembly and resoldering several leads and components did not reveal any cause or resolve the problem. At least now the router is useful. At this point, root cause of the problem is unknown.
I bought the PC 690L RVS kit with two bases. After lots at troubleshooting and multiple reassembly of the end cap where the wires are, I discovered that the router operated fine until I tightened one of the end cap mounting screws to the end point of its travel. Anyone else have similar problem.
It appeared that the line cord was the culprit. A line cord failure is extremely rare and indeed I could find no problem with the cord itself.
I never did see the reason for buying a big honking 3 1/2 HP router for a router table. This design works great for me and still does a great job without burning the wood. Porter Cable is still the undisputed king of routers. You cannot take off that much wood in a single pass so why all the extra power. I use oak and maple a lot, so it really works well for me.I put this into a Bench Dog Router Table Bench Dog 40-201 ProTop Pheonolic Top and ProFence 32 Combo This router really delivers. I choose it because its the perfect size for a router table.
Have decided instead of throwing half my wood away I'm going to throw my router away instead and not have to worry about it anymore. Made for quick, easy accurate setup. Finally gave up on it. If used as a plunge router or used on top of the table freehand with smaller bits maybe it'll keep from moving. I can no longer crank down and damage the router housing but the router still vibrates itself out of the base. This is the second one Iv'e owned now.
Having to crank down on the base tightening mechanism led to the (aluminum) router housing becoming gouged up. Bottom line though, if it moves while routing it's all in vein. First one came with a thumbscrew for tightening the base to the router. The height adjustment setup was nice at first glance. Under the table it moves, and there's nothing I've found to stop it. I would have to crank down on this with a wrench to keep the router from vibrating out of the base while I was routing with it (undertable mount).
Seen P&C changed the base design so I got another one.
It worked okay, and I know Porter Cable is the standard when it comes to routers, but I was very unimpressed. The 890 series (and my Freud router) has a screw to adjust the height which works MUCH better.
For a simple hand held router, I am sure this is a very good choice. Also, since the base and the motor are both aluminum, they don't glide smoothly.
Okay, I haven't used this router much. This is very awkward in a table, and I never got the bit at exactly the right height.
For table mounting, this thing leaves a lot to be desired. My router table had issues, so I borrowed a friend's, which had this router mounted in it.
To adjust the height, you twist the body and clamp it down when you get the height you want.
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