Welcome to the forum, Mike.

There could be a number of reasons for the router to just stop.

A learned person should be along shortly to help.

 

You may want to check Your power supply going to the router! I usually find that if I lose power to My tools that something I plugged into (power cord, Circuit Breaker) is generally is the problem. You don't mention the age of the router, but other possibilities are' dirt in switch, the brushes, damaged power cord on router. If You have done a lot of routing with the router in an upright position, dirt can stand in pockets in the tool, and when set upside down in the table, vibration can loosen dust and dirt. Just some things to check!

 

If it just stopped with no noise or smell then it sounds like the switch. Getting at the switch to test it could be an issue.

 

Good morning Mike,

do check the breaker first by actually seeing something work on the same circuit, not just the switch position. 2 a bad switch can do this but it is rare. 3 a more common cause is if you heard a random click-click from a bad ball bearing and this locked the armature - check by unplugging and turn shaft by hand. If it does not turn then use the lifetime warranty or you can blow it out with air and try to turn again. Do not open it up unless you find you have to buy a new one as by this point who cares.

good luck
Baker

 

There is NO lifetime warranty on Craftsman power tools! Hand tools yes, power tools no! Switch problems are not that rare. Bearings would have likely been noisy long before totally locking up, and even if they did it would likely trip the circuit breaker.

Could be a switch, broken wire in power cord or inside router. May be brushes or brush spring. Also the speed control /soft start module could be at fault! Could also be thermal overload failed(that's rare).

Oh, and that model also has a shaft lock interlock switch that could be the culprit as well.

 

Here is a wiring diagram if that will help...

 

Obtain an inexpensive digital or analog multimeter. Read the instructions and familiarize yourself with meter and schematic/pictorial drawing. With tool off/unplugged test for continuity at various points in circuit. More dificult to test soft start circuity.

 

Welcome aboard. I had a Craftsman stop, reason was a solder joint came undone. Took years to come undone, but the wire was a bit short and finally did. I haven't resoldered it yet because I have several other old Craftsman router I use. :laugh:

Also have at least one other that the lock on the trigger switch broke. Works fine if you hold the trigger, but won't lock on. The solution for that one was used a zip tie, holding the trigger on. Still stops once in awhile, but just turn the zip tie a bit, and it come back to life.