Tool with ON-OFF switch that died? Try this before throwing it out!

[Wicks]

So I was using my power sander the other day and noticed that it stopped working.

Moving the ON-OFF switch did nothing.

Banging on the tool did nothing (haha).

Was about to just toss it in the garbage when I thought "Hmm I bet its something simple".

Electrical failures like this are typically always something simple and can be fixed relatively easily.

DISCLAIMER - If you take this advice ALWAYS unplug the device from power before opening!

So I popped open the top of the sander and looked around.

Was full of dust as I would image to I blew that out, didn't help.

Then I saw a micro switch........Hmmmm.

Put the DMM on it and sure enough...nothing through the switch.

So I popped the switch out of the sander and used a drill to bore out the rivet that holds it together.

See those copper colored contacts?

Lets take a closer look:

BINGO!

See all those arching marks and corrosion.

Took a small flat-head screwdriver and scraped off the arching.

And we're back in business.

Screwed it all back to together and it worked like a charm. Just like new.

Saved me yet another trip to Home Depot and another $70 for a new one.

This failure mode would be common to any device that uses AC power and just a simple break/no break switch.

Whenever you abruptly disconnect AC power, there will be arching which will corrode the electrical contacts sooner or later.

[avs20]

The exact same thing happened to my table saw. I took it apart, cleaned out the sawdust, etc and it works like a champ.

[Wicks]

The exact same thing happened to my table saw. I took it apart, cleaned out the sawdust, etc and it works like a champ.

Its almost like the tool makers design their products to do this on purpose, to get you to buy more tools.....

[3vil]

I've seen similar carbon deposits on electric window switches. Little 1000 grit sandpaper and some dielectric grease and we got current again.

[Triticum Agricolam]

The exact same thing happened to my table saw. I took it apart, cleaned out the sawdust, etc and it works like a champ.

Its almost like the tool makers design their products to do this on purpose, to get you to buy more tools.....

That's crazy talk! They would never do that!

Its been my experience that when a power tool quits working at least 95% of the time its the switch or the cord.

One of my favorite YouTube channels is AvE, this guy takes tools apart and talks about why they suck, interesting stuff: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChWv6Pn_zP0rI6lgGt3MyfA

[ShadeTreeMechanic]

I have days like this where I can't get anything done because I spend half the day fixing my junk before I can use it. lol

Good Fix!

[SnowDrifter]

Hah you're as bad as me. Except on mine the switch welded closed and was stuck on

[ShadeTreeMechanic]

I worked at a place one time where the switch went out on a floor scrubber..... Someone wired it direct and needless to say, you had to know what you were doing when you plugged it in. Then one day the wrong person went to use it and it started breakdancing until someone pulled the plug! lol

[Wicks]

Hah you're as bad as me. Except on mine the switch welded closed and was stuck on

I worked at a place one time where the switch went out on a floor scrubber..... Someone wired it direct and needless to say, you had to know what you were doing when you plugged it in. Then one day the wrong person went to use it and it started breakdancing until someone pulled the plug! lol

LOL...I was going to say, "better stuck on then off" but I guess that depends on the device huh...