Dead band saw

Re: Dead band saw

Barry Irby

The switch on my Performax sander got to kind of fiddly. I bought a replacement. Having a spare in hand, I opened the original switch. It was packed full of sawdust. I did not have enough fingers and toes to reassemble the switch, so I put in the replacement.

What I'm saying is try blowing dust out of the switch.

Do you have enough electrical ability to check to see if the switch is actually working?

I could be the capacitor. Try turning the switch ON and spinning the upper wheel in the correct direction. If the motor spins up, its the capacitor.

replace the switch

Jack Guzman from Maine

Sounds like a bad switch. They do wear out.

Re: Dead band saw

John K Jordan

I would start by testing the power from the wall to the motor. That will tell you if it is the circuit, the receptacle, the plug, or the switch. If not experienced to do this safely, perhaps you know someone who can.

Starter Capacitor

Thomas Skaggs, Foothills of Mount Level

You might check the motor's start capacitor. Not uncommon for them to fail. T.

Re: Dead band saw

Larry Clinton At Frankfort, (Central) Indiana

90+% chance it is the switch. Surely you have a friend that could check it and/or replace it if it is bad.

Other items that may have failed would be the motor start capacitor, but with your earlier switch issue it is much more likely it died!

capacitor

John K Jordan

A typical "tell" for a dead capacitor is a hum from the motor when switched on, and as someone mentioned, the ability to start the motor with a push. When the capacitor on my 18" bandsaw quit until I got a replacement cap I started it for weeks by pushing down on the blade with a a piece of wood.

When it had the same problem, I started a Jet mini lathe in a class with a twist of the handwheel. It would run either forwards or backwards depending on the direction of the twist.

Another common symptom of a failed capacitor is an unmistakable unpleasant smell.

JKJ

Easy to test the switch

Dick Coers

Unplug the machine, open up the switch box on the machine, do what you have to do to gain access to both terminals with a multimeter. Check the continuity of the terminals with the switch in both positions. That will tell you if the circuit is open and closed with the action of the switch

Re: capacitor

A.J. Hamler

Nope, no motor hum. And turning the machine on and giving the wheels a spin does nothing.

From what you and others have said, sounds like the switch.

Thanks!

A.J.

Thanks!

A.J. Hamler

Based on what you've all suggested, it does sound like it's the switch -- especially considering the issue I had with it a couple weeks ago.

I don't know nothin' about capacitors, but switching the machine on and spinning the wheels doesn't "kick-start" it, so it's sounding more and more like the switch.

I don't own a multimeter, so I can't check the switch. Fortunately, Jet has exact replacements of the original switch in stock and they're not that expensive, so since replacing a switch is something I can actually do on my own without electrocuting myself (probably), I'm going to try that first.

Thanks!

A.J.

Re: Dead band saw

A.J. Hamler

Since there's no motor hum when switched on as John mentioned, I'm guessing it's the switch. I tried the spinning thing with no luck.

A.J.

Re: Dead band saw

Joe W, Detroit

If it is not the switch, check the overload on the motor. A lot of times it is a little red button on the motor housing that needs to be reset. I the motor got bound up, it may have overheated and tripped the overload.

Re: Dead band saw

A.J. Hamler

A little red reset button was the first thing I looked for, but couldn't find one. Nothing about it in the manual, either. Besides, the power-down was almost instant -- I hadn't used the saw all day, and the shutdown happened about a second or two after hitting the on switch, so no time for overheating.

A reset button sure would've been nice, though.

A.J.

reset button

John K Jordan

>>>A reset button sure would've been nice, though.

A friend brought a small air compressor to me - dead. I was 10 minutes into disassembling and debugging it with no clear clues when I discovered a well-hidden reset button on the lower side of a junction box attached to the motor. Well!

JKJ

Re: Easy to test the switch

Bill Howatt

You can also, after unplugging of course, remove the wires from the switch and connect each pair if more than 2 together as if the switch were closed using an appropriate method.

Plug in the saw and it should run if the switch was the problem. You can also run it this way until the new switch arrives unless it is a safety hazard to rely on pulling the plug to turn it off.

Bill

Wow -- Easy peasy

A.J. Hamler

Got my replacement switch in from Jet today.

Pulled out the existing switch, removed four screws, attached the leads to the new switch, and remounted it.

Bingo, bango -- band saw works like new!

Hey, does this mean I'm an electrician now?

A.J.

Re: Wow -- Easy peasy

John K Jordan

>>>Hey, does this mean I'm an electrician now?

Yes, print yourself some credentials to hang on the wall.

This is a great opportunity to take the old switch apart and see if you can see why it failed and maybe even fix it. If so, it could be a spare.

JKJ