TP1300 not holding a setting

[charliee]

My Ridgid 13" planer is a little over a year old and has had only moderate use in that time. This last week, I started a new project that required running some hard maple through it. The planer now refuses to stay set at a certain height. I set the height, lock the cutter head, run a board through and after about 12 inches of board length the cutter head has moved up enough to not be contacting the wood any longer. I can watch the height adjustment crank spin as the wood is pulled through the planer. Any thoughts from you experts on what would cause this and more importantly, how to correct it ?

Charlie

[JSchnarre]

Charlie,

A couple things you can do to keep the cutterhead from backing off. One: check your lock adjustment. Make sure you are getting a good solid lock. If you're not, you can adjust the lock by removing the crank wheel, then locking the head and pulling the lock lever out and backing it off (to the left) a notch or two then tightening the lock further. Two: If the lock is good and tight, then you need to clean the posts. Crank the head up all the way and wipe all four posts off, then crank it down and wipe the posts off again. This should keep the cutterhead from moving.

Jake

[charliee]

Jake,

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll give both those suggestions a try and keep my fingers crossed.

Charlie