Hello,
I’ve had my X-Carve up and running since Jan. 2016. I typically do small one off projects with it here and there so it has had relatively low use.
In the last year I have noticed the router speed behaving progressively more erratically with the end mill speeding up and slowing down randomly at times even though the speed setting is always set to 1. Earlier this month (Dec. 2019), the router completely stopped spinning during a carve. Luckily I heard it slowing down and stopped the carve before the end mill stopped spinning completely.
I replaced the Dewalt 611’s brushes with a new set and it fired right up and started carving again. However, when comparing the length of the “spent” brushes and the new ones, I see the spent brushes are at approximately 60 to 70% of new (reference pictures below), which makes me think they should have more life left. Total run time on these brushes was 30 hours 8 minutes.
I’ve done a couple more small projects with the new brushes and, although it runs, I have noticed the erratic rotating speed up/down to continue, but to a lesser degree than before.
So my questions are:
- Is 30 hours 8 min total brush life normal?
- Could 4 years of low usage have degraded the life of my 611 or brushes?
- What could be causing the erratic spindle speed up/down?
Any comments or advice is greatly appreciated.
Carlos (Chachin…)
Pictures; Spent Brushes on Left Side:
