A short while back I posted about a Canadian Tire mastercraft tool that I had, that was not working.
A lot of good advice allowed me to test the switch...and I was able to find out that one half of it had died...
As it was a DPST switch, they had inexplicably switched the neutral as well...and since only one side of the switch worked, I had to either get a new DPST switch, or figure something out.
After calling the number on the tool, and reaching a computer that directed me to a place that said they no longer service or supply for Mastercraft tools (and their phone system wouldn't direct me elsewhere), I went into the store.
She tried extremely hard to get a switch for me - but she was given the run around too - directed to four different places, and no one would order one for her...and she's calling with the Canadian tire numbers....
So it's either buy a new tool, or fix this one somehow. Canadian Tire has a policy of massively inflating their tool prices so they can run a half-off sale and still make a huge profit...in the last year, their brad nailer went from 40-50 dollars on sale to 120+ on sale...so the awful disc sander would cost way more than it was worth.
So I decided to pigtail the neutral, and use the side of the switch that worked...worked ONCE, and then the switch died again...both sides kaput.
Took it apart again, and found the button for taking the switch apart...found it completely filled with dust (a so-called dust-free switch). Decided to blow the dust out, and found that the switch operates by pushing a metal lever into a contact...AND that that could never possibly work with all the dust in the switch. The lever was just set in place, so I removed the one I no longer needed (as I pigtailed the neutrals), and didn't want a live side that wasn't hooked up to anything....
I just wanted to relay how thankful I am for the advice on how to read the multimeter
Andrew
A lot of good advice allowed me to test the switch...and I was able to find out that one half of it had died...
As it was a DPST switch, they had inexplicably switched the neutral as well...and since only one side of the switch worked, I had to either get a new DPST switch, or figure something out.
After calling the number on the tool, and reaching a computer that directed me to a place that said they no longer service or supply for Mastercraft tools (and their phone system wouldn't direct me elsewhere), I went into the store.
She tried extremely hard to get a switch for me - but she was given the run around too - directed to four different places, and no one would order one for her...and she's calling with the Canadian tire numbers....
So it's either buy a new tool, or fix this one somehow. Canadian Tire has a policy of massively inflating their tool prices so they can run a half-off sale and still make a huge profit...in the last year, their brad nailer went from 40-50 dollars on sale to 120+ on sale...so the awful disc sander would cost way more than it was worth.
So I decided to pigtail the neutral, and use the side of the switch that worked...worked ONCE, and then the switch died again...both sides kaput.
Took it apart again, and found the button for taking the switch apart...found it completely filled with dust (a so-called dust-free switch). Decided to blow the dust out, and found that the switch operates by pushing a metal lever into a contact...AND that that could never possibly work with all the dust in the switch. The lever was just set in place, so I removed the one I no longer needed (as I pigtailed the neutrals), and didn't want a live side that wasn't hooked up to anything....
I just wanted to relay how thankful I am for the advice on how to read the multimeter
Andrew
