> I use a Maxant Uncapping Plane...
> ...I am on the third heating element...
> I use a foot control to avoid overheating...
> By the time I am half way down the second side the blade has
> cooled enough that I am pulling the cappings rather than cutting them.

I don't own one, but I'd get out a volt meter and check the voltage at
the foot switch, the uncapper cord (both ends) and the connection to
the thermostat (if any) and heating element.

Clearly the heating element gets voltage, and sufficient voltage at
first, but then the connection gets broken somehow, and the element cools.

Heating element failure is most often a "catastrophic failure" -
they fail, and never heat up again.  This happens, but only after
a number of repeats of the problem you describe.  Armchair Detective
analysis indicates:

a) If your plane has a thermostat, it is perhaps set too low.
   The element heats up fine, but the thermal load of the comb
   requires more heat, and the thermostat is set too low to
   supply "enough" heat, and the element goes cold "whenever used".

b) Failing after movement down the comb implies that the uncapping
   plane power cord would be moving/twisting as the plane moves, so
   this might be a flaky power cord.

c) I've seen foot pedals and switches exhibit all sorts of weird
   behavior, as the forces applied by the weight of a foot can
   do some serious damage.  Don't rule out a "flaky" switch, or
   one that is makes a partial connection, heats up from current
   flow, and breaks the contact just like a "thermal circuit breaker".

d) The heating element itself could be expanding and contacting "too
   often" with the foot-switch approach, and either making the electrical
   connection screw/nut loose through expansion/contraction cycles.
   Star washers are your friend here.

How could any of the above cause premature failure of the heating
element itself?  Well, elements are made of metal of a certain thickness,
and each will survive only a finite number of "heat up/cool off" cycles
before the metal breaks.  All of this on/off cycling might be the
basic cause of the premature heating element failures.

        jim (Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.)

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