I have had my xcarve for 11 months and burnt up two DWP611 compact routers. These routers are $100.00 on Amazon which is 10% of what I paid for the entire machine. I need some answers why these routers keep burning up so quick? Or is this normal for dewalt routers? Can someone Recommend a different router that will have a longer life expectancy? Because these routers are getting pricey, Thank you in advance.
What do you mean by burning them up? Magic smoke? I’ve been running the same router since 2015, and I’ve replaced the brushes twice.
You might just need to install new brushes.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=dewalt+611+brushes
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Still new to the xcarve world, I’ve never installed new brushes on these compact routers, can you provide me with more info? Who would I get new brushes from? (Company, websites) thank you Rich
Mine came with extra brushes. Google how to replace brushes on youtube. I use mine for 6 plus hours 5 days a week never a problem. What’s your problems.
I just learned that it’s more than likely the brushes as my problem, I just you tubed it and it sounds like my problem. Thank you for your input and help.
Here are a couple of videos on changing the brushes. To purchase the brushes look for the link in the description.
Sounds like you now have a couple extra routers in stock.
Thank youfor your help on this issue, when I get some free time I will replace them and let you know the results, Thank you for your help.
You should be running the router no faster than speed setting 1, if you’re running them faster then you’ll shorten their life by a lot.
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I also had to replace mine, so what I’ve learned is to not turn it on so quick. Wait till the last minute before it’s ready to engrave or cut and then turn it on. Stay with your machine too. Why leave it alone and then come back and it’s been running all night?
Or, get one of these and it will come on and off automatically.
Most definitely the brushes. Takes just a few minutes to replace and they are inexpensive. If you order a pair for each router just go ahead and order several extra pairs. No extra in shipping since they are very light and you will be ready to go in the future.
Is that true for hardwood? I do some MDF but a lot of different hardwoods and I often gradually step up the cutting speeds to shorten carve time, would that negatively effect the carve at a router speed of 1 ?
I have always heard that the X-Carve doesn’t move fast enough to use any router speed higher than 1.
In most cases that is correct, but its not an absolute truth.
Smaller diameter bits may need higher RPM.
If you have success with say 1/8" bit at 16k RPM and 30IPM feed rate, the same bit have the same tool loading at 45IPM if the RPM is 24k. At one point the lack of rigidity comes back into play though.
But, for most, speed setting 1 is plenty 
It seems like it’s been quite a while since I’ve encountered an absolute truth in anything 
Mr. Luster,
I do not know all your issues. However, I have exactly the same set up as you have described. I have had mine for about 2/5 years or thereabouts. I have never replaced the DeWalt router. I do a lot of work with mine. I may not do the type of work you are doing, Two things I might recommend to you. One if you are taking to big a cut or cutting too deep on your passes, this will cause a problem. The second item may be your rate of speed or travel may too fast or too slow, Overheating is hard on most routers. I do not know what kind of bits you are using, but I am pretty fussy about mine. Some of the cheaper ones cause problems as they do not cut well and this creates issues too. I hope this may be of some help to you. However, if you have been working with a CNC Machine for any length of time, you already know all of this information. I can tell you here is an issue that I try to avoid always with any electrical tools. (overheating) Good Luck There are many more experienced people in the field than I. They are almost always willing to help. You may try a spindle set up instead of a router or a water cooling system.
The x-carve may not move fast enough for most higher speed spindles, but I haven’t had any troubles running mine as high as the 3 setting. The downfall to running it at the higher speeds I have found is that the material may burn a little or the material may have a fray to the edges. I mostly work with MDF as well, like BrianFleig mentioned. With the MDF I find that the number 2 setting works GREAT, along with only using slightly higher cut settings. There are differences when you use the higher speeds but we’ll never know unless we test them. I also refer to a Feeds and Speeds chart I found on Shapeoko’s forum.