Hello, I just picked up a Porter Cable A3 Take-About Belt Sander. I bought it without plugging it in, owner said that it ran , but made a lot of noise. I blew out a small pile of dried/caked sawdust & spider webs. The oil reservoir was dry as a bone, I re-filled to the proper level. I tried to turn the drive wheel with a socket wrench, but I am getting quite a bit of resistance. My question is, do I dare power this up? I don't want to do any more damage to the gears. Drive chain and gears are filthy, but appear to be okay. Haven't had a look at the main worm gear yet. Thanks, Lou

I would guess that the resistence you feel is just the gearing ratio between the drive roller and the motor.

You might wander over to Old Woodworking Machinery (http://www.owwm.org/viewforum.php?f=1) with your question.  There are several folks there with Porter-Cable expertise.

Fire her up!!!

I think fire is his greatest fear

This sander led a hard life, there must be an entire roll of electrical tape wrapped around what is left of the cord!!!!~ As soon as I get the cord swapped out , I will give it a go!!!!! Regards, Lou

Quote from: Northwoods on September 17, 2017, 02:27:56 PM
I think fire is his greatest fear

Or maybe smoke.  It's hard to get the older Porter-Cable factory smoke, now that they're owned by a big conglomerate.