My motor seems to be dying on my pencil sharpener. I have had this less than a year. It will sharpen about 3 pencils before it dies. What can I do?
1448889
I had the same problem. What I did was unscrew the motor from the base and and use compressed air to clean the motor. Sometimes a piece of lead would get stuck inside the motor mechanism.
1448890
I would suggest contacting the Westcott company, they may exchange it for a new one, that's what most companies do. I honestly only use mine at home, so we do not sharpen many pencils. Sorry, hopefully this helps!
1448891
I bought 4 of these for my school. 2 broke pretty much immediately. Amazon replaced them. Now, less than six months later, three broke and I have one left in the box. I replaced them with Staples vertical heavy duty one with a staple warranty. So far it is working. Best thing about the Staples sharpener is that the stop when pencil is sharpened which reduces the chance of ruining the sharpener.
1448892
Not sure but mine worked really well at first but now it seems to be slowing down as well.
1486206
I have had 2 of these. I had purchased one for me and one for a gift. The first one the motor burned up pretty quickly blending frozen fruit in a smoothie so I decided not to gift the other one. I still blend frozen fruit, but I use small pieces, as much liquid as possible, and stop 2 or 3 times to let it rest when the motor seems to be struggling. If you cut the veggies small, use liquid to reduce strain on the motor and are willing to let the motor rest midway, you might be able to baby it into working for a while. I won't buy another one.
1727765
Mine doesn't ether. The problem seems to be the cutter. As long as I can remember, all pencil sharpeners have two internal cutters. Even when I was in elementary school, they had two cutters. This piece of crap only has one. If you can, return it!
720050
I really love that sharpener. Sorry the rod is broken. If you return it the company would probably replace the unit. I've seen ceramic rods for sale but don't know if there would be one that size or if you could get it into the sharpener. Good luck.
2273769
At the beginning it worked wonderful, but after a 2 month the blade became dull. Now it take to long to sharpen pencils and I've only had it for about 4 months. I don't let my students sharpen colored pencil, They have their own sharpener for that.
2174763
I would contact the company...that is what I did when mine stopped working. Just google X-acto and go to "ask questions" on their website for ways to contact them. I had a great response with the customer service. I believe I called them first and talked to a person right away. Then I emailed my receipt to them to verify when I bought the sharpener. They were probably the easiest company that I have dealt with in a long time!
2138129
Send it back. Had one that did the same thing , it was a burned out motor . Sounds like you still hxve a warranty.
151778
I had very similar one and used like 20 years. I assume something stuck in/round blade which happens sometimes. I assume center core of pencil remains inside the blade. I recommend to clean. As long as your students use appropriately, it should last years.
10153
I ordered mine in early October and have been using it daily with 100+ high school students per day (granted not every single one sharpens a pencil every single day, but you get the idea...). The motor has definitely slowed down, which I think is due to the blades getting dull over time, but it still does work well, even if not as well as the first day. I think (and really hope) that it still has a long life left...at least another couple months in this environment.
321393
maybe overworked it and burned the motor out. i did that with my big cuisinart blender today. i thought it was more powerful that it was and i burned that motor out. could be what happened to your little blender. i had to resort to a manual shredder than using this in small batches to finish making the laundry detergent. it's not a good day when your blender dies. means, you dont have a blender and you have to get another blender. same with your processor. honestly, i have a grown a strong dislike for this ridiculous little thing. the base keeps chipping and cracking. if you lived in little rock, ar i would give you mine. maybe overworked it and burned the motor out. i did that with my big cuisinart blender today. i thought it was more powerful that it was and i burned that motor out. could be what happened to your little blender. i had to resort to a manual shredder than using this in small batches to finish making the laundry detergent. it's not a good day when your blender dies. means, you dont have a blender and you have to get another blender. same with your processor. honestly, i have a grown a strong dislike for this ridiculous little thing. the base keeps chipping and cracking. if you lived in little... » Read More maybe overworked it and burned the motor out. i did that with my big cuisinart blender today. i thought it was more powerful that it was and i burned that motor out. could be what happened to your little blender. i had to resort to a manual shredder than using this in small batches to finish making the laundry detergent. it's not a good day when your blender dies. means, you dont have a blender and you have to get another blender. same with your processor. honestly, i have a grown a strong dislike for this ridiculous little thing. the base keeps chipping and cracking. if you lived in little rock, ar i would give you mine. « Show Less
362802
I bought it specifically for faber-castell pastel pencils... I've sharpened 60 to a fine point with minimal waste, and zero breaking. The motor is slower than the average sharpener which is perfect... the secret is to press down firmly but only for a moment, and let the sharpener do the work, holding the pencil still. Perfect results every time. I get the same results with General's and Wolff's carbon pencils, as well as General's Primo pencils. Hoping that is helpful.
2111577
I have used mine for quite a long time. Is the motor working - have you charged it? If the motor is working, do you have the brush firmly connected to the motorized unit - if it's not clicked in firmly, it won't work.
2266673
My electric pencil sharpener has been excellent. I have used it lots and emptied it often with no problem. Have no idea what your problem could be. Are you sure you replaced the container firmly?
1434971
It might be. My motor still works. The orginal motor burnt out because the canister was full of leaves. You might want to check that everything is put back and working correctly. The motor might be working too hard.
1060510
when there is no more drag on the blade you are sharpening.the groves that are cut into the rod get worn to the point they become smooth.im not sure if you can " sharpen the sharpener " or notit would be best if you would call one of the blade manufacturers and find out for sure .otherwise its time to replace it
1461291
I got one a year ago and it's still going strong. Recently a friend's first one had a dead motor. He returned it and got a replacement; it could not be trimmed to hover. I think quality control has slipped.
1211409
There is an art to sharpening colored pencils with a hand sharpener. It's very easy to break the tip. As manual sharpeners go, this is one of the better ones. But like all of them, it dulls pretty quickly. It's worth the few bucks I paid for it and I would buy it again. Hope this answers your question.