Kity 638 thickness planer - switch problem

[Fang]

Hi,
This is my first post on this forum and I generally trawl through forums looking for info without getting too involved but I am looking for some help if I can get it.

I have a Kity 638 thickness planer that, though it is quite old is in very good working condition. It has separate switches for thicknesser and surface planing modes, which I assume are controlled by internal switches that activate the appropriate switch for the configuration it is in and deactivate the the opposite switch, obviously for safety reasons.
When I last used it I used the surface planer and then converted it to thicknesser and used that. When I converted it back to surface planer the machine would not switch on. I've tried flipping it back to thicknesser and that works but still not in surface planing mode.

I assume that the issue lies with the on/off switch or the micro switches but before I start dismantling everything has anyone experienced issues like this or got any advice?
I'm not a mechanical fool but I'm certainly not an electronics expert so I'm not 100% sure of what I'm looking at and I don't want to damage anything.

Thanks

 

[Trevanion]

I’m not familiar with that particular machine but machines of this type tend to have a power lock-out of some kind on swap-over where it won’t fire up without something being in a particular place.

 

[Fang]

Thanks, I suspect that that is where the problem lies, I will have to open it up and look around.

 

[sunnybob]

Make sure it is fully disconnected from the power supply. Flicking the wall switch on a 13 amp socket DOES NOT isolate a machine safely. :shock:
Once you have the machine isolated, just unscrew panels and CAREFULLY and SLOWLY move them to see whats underneath. If youre going to remove any internals, take pictures, especially of wiring connectors. If theres more than 1 wire the same colour, tag each one as you remove it with a piece of masking tape folded securely over it and write a number on the tape. Write that number on a piece of paper describing where you just removed it from.
Then you will always get it back to where you started. 8)