finding a new switch for my jigsaw/sabresaw

[franklin pug]

My jigsaw crapped out on me the other day. I took it apart and I beleive the switch is to blame for my half compelted project in the garage. The jigsaw is old, I inherited it from my grandpa. Its a black and decker 7530-04 (if that means anything to anybody).

I am having a hell of a time lcoating a 4A 125V AC slide switch. Does anyone know of a place online where i can get one? Or does someone know how I can rewire this thing to a different type of switch? The white wire bypasses the switch, and a red and a black run from the switch to the saw (I believe red is high speed and black is low speed)

thanks

[JimDon]

Hi there,
I've got a B&D Model 7545 jigsaw which is probably just a model or so newer than yours. All metal body, built around 1960 or so. Couple of ideas for you -- I went to B&D/DeWalt service center in Milwaukee one day with mine to find a new chuck since the allen screws had stripped out. They looked at me like I was nuts to want to repair that thing but it's a heck of a good runner with a really strong motor and never gets too hot even under heavy use. So I fixed the chuck myself (JB WELDS). As to the switch, check a large electrical supply house, if you're in or near a big city. Also, check a tool repair outfit, they may have comparable switches that will fit or could be modified to fit. If all else fails, check EBay for a sale of an existing model and harvest the switch off of it. Or check rummage or garage sales. Another option might be to just go to the local hardware store and buy a similar slide switch and see if it can be mounted. If you have a two or three speed switch, you might have to settle for a single speed replacement switch if you can't find anything else. What about a two pole toggle switch and enlarge the hole on the top of the handle with a Dremel to make it fit? I don't know anything else, I'm kind of runnin' out of ideas here. Let me know if any of that hits ya. Some of the tool repair places keep inventories of really old stuff lying around or they may have an original in a box on a back shelf. I've seen those guys perform some real miracles sometimes on oddball and old stuff like that. If you do get it up and running again (hopefully), don't neglect the gear box on that. It should have the old grease in the gearbox removed and cleaned out (mineral spirits will work, don't ever use gasoline), and then repack it with a power tool gear grease. White Lithium grease in the spray cans works well too and isn't too messy. Does a nice job of coating all the gears and reciprocating mechanism. Hope this helps somewhat. Sorry couldn't be of more assistance.
Jim Don

[franklin pug]

Well i tried a few stores for that switch (princess auto, canadian tire, HD, TLC, Source/Radio Shack) but nobody stocks anything other than a 2 way toggle in the proper amperage.

So i decided to tackle it myself and took the switch apart to see if it could be repaired - there is a hole worn out in the switch, so its useless.

I wired the power cord to the saw directly and took out the switch. Now it runs only on "high" speed and there is no switch (could be dangerous). If I can't locate a switch that i can jimmy, maybe I'll just wire a switch directly into the power cord.

Ideas?

[Bob D.]

Look at the switch closely. There should be some part numbers and maybe a name somewhere. Jot all that stuff down and start googling or try some of the online tool part suppliers like www.toolpartsdirect.com (http://www.toolpartsdirect.com) or www.toolfix.com (http://www.toolfix.com) , there are others of course.

I had the safety switch (with the removable key) crap out on me about 13 months after I bought my Craftsman belt/disc sander. The only part number on the switch was HY18 and the voltage and current rating. Armed with that info I found a replacement switch from Grizzly for less than $5. Sears parts wanted something like $25 IIRC. When the Griz switch arrived it WAS THE EXACT SAME SWITCH. Same markings, same everything. Must have come from the same supplier in China. Fit like a glove and back in business w/o having to jury rig anything which when it comes to controlling power to a tool is not a wise thing to do.

Try here:
http://www.toolpartsdirect.com/cgi-bin/modelsearch.cgi?brand=blackdecker&model=jigsaw

or here:
Electromechanical:Switches:Slide (http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CatalogSearchResultView?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&searchType=k&searchValue=slide switch&categoryId=354060)


Is the switch DP (Double Pole) or SP?

Does it look similar to this?
http://rsk.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pRS1C-2160397w345.jpg

Try Newark Electronics, Rat Shack, MCI Electronics, or Digikey to name a few. The photo above is from Radio Shack. It's a SPST #275-401 I'm betting you have a DPDT. Something with a higher amp rating is OK as long as the physical size will fit you tool. Installing a 3A or less switch in place of your original 4A is a no-no.

[wbrooks]

I know Ontario is a big place but if you are near Markham try Sayal electronics (Victoria park and Gordon baker) http://www.sayal.com/
or electrosonic on north side of Gordon baker west of Victoria park
http://www.e-sonic.com/acc/home.aspx
There is an Active electronics beside electrosonic too
http://www.active-tech.ca/b2c/redirect.cfm?pn=2

Bring the switch with you

[franklin pug]

thanks for the help guys - im heading over to an appliance store today who said they amy have something suitable.

the switch looks very similiar to the ones you posted Bob, but has three selections - off - low - hi . Not sure of it makes the swith a SP or DP. Right now i wired it with no switch just so i could get my project finished.

When i get back from the appliance store i will look in depthat the links provided if i cant find an appropriate switch.

wbrooks - thanks for the info. I have been looking for 2 days for electronic supply stores in the durham region!

[Bob D.]

Glad to be of help. Hopefully, you'll find what you need and get your saw back to 100%.

Hey, this is the sparky's section of the Forum, where are they and I wonder how come none of them jumped in with some help? :confused:

[franklin pug]

well the junk shops had nothing suitable, so off to the inernet i go. Here are some pics of the switch, apparantly its pretty old, as the resistor is on the outside of the switch (green thing).

350

351

352

[Bob D.]

Hard to teel from the pics but that does not look like any resistor from the 60s that I ever saw. Maybe it is an has a protective sleeve over it made of heat shrink.

Does your digital camera have a macro mode? That would help get a clear photo if you are at the correct distance. Use ZOOM to fill the frame as much as possible, but in most cases for macro mode the depth of field is very shallow so you have to be just right with the focus +/- an inch to get decent results. Focus should take precedence.

Any makings on the 'resistor'? Color bands or a value and power rating in watts?

[franklin pug]

Maybe its not a resistor - i took a better photo using your macro mode tip. the green thing (which i thought was a resistor) has the "3S3" stamped on it.353

[Bob D.]

Much better photo. I can zoom in on that and fill my monitor screen with the switch. I can read the switch rating stamped in the side too.

One thing which looks strange is there are no solder tabs, there looks to be some type of receptacle for a plug connector on the bottom of the switch, is this correct? Did you just unplug the wire harness from the switch when you removed it?

[wbrooks]

The green thing is an industrial rectifier (AKA Diode)
A common equivalent is ECG 5804, 400V peak reverse volts 3 Amp
(looked it up in my ECG manual)
You may be able to replace that with a double pole double through center off switch. How did the switch work? Up high, center off, down low?
You may also be able to replace just the top half of the switch because it is usually the delicate sliders that burn up. Just pry the tabs out gently and be careful when you pull the top off so you know the configuration of the sliders that will fall out if not very careful.

[franklin pug]

Here is a photo of the bottom of the switch. The slider went from bottom to top - off - low - hi. There are no soldering tabs, just push in the wire.

Upon taking the switch apart, i noticed there are three brass tabs (one for each mode i would imagine) that the slider moves over. The center one is completely disintigrated. I have attached photos as well of this.

354

355

any ideas?

[Bob D.]

I too was thinking diode when I saw that polarity band in the sharper photo, but I didn't turn up anything when I did a search on the 3S3 part number as a diode.

All this must be way over the heads of the sparky's as no one has chimed yet. :rolleyes: :D

[franklin pug]

Black and Decker called me today - apparantly my jigsaw was discontinued in 1972. The green thing is a diode the guy said, but there is no replacement switch available through B&D, modern or ancient.

Bummer.

[wbrooks]

You have the old switch, figure out what wires are connected in the various switch settings (including the diode), Go to any of the suppliers listed above (even Radio Shack - Source now) should have a switch like Bob posted. You likely wont find a 3 position switch with off at the top but you should easily find a double pole double throw with a center off. Wire it up so that with the switch up the wires are connected via the new switch that made the saw run on high with the old switch. With the new switch down wire it up so that the wires that were connected on the old switch in low speed are now connected via the new switch. So now you have switch up = high speed, switch middle = off, switch down = low speed. If you wire the double pole switch across both switches you are in effect using the two switches in parallel and doubling the rated amp capacity. If the above is not clear I can make a house call, Pickering is on the way home most nights, beer on you

[wbrooks]

Are there only two wires that go to the switch?

[franklin pug]

I looked at the source, but they had no slide switches. I also checked HD, TLC, and a few local shops. Nobody seems to stock slide switches. The switch was wired orginally as off - low - high (wires slots being Empty, Black wire, Red wire). The black wire was coming from the power source and wentering the switch in slot #2. The red wire was leading from the switch to the jigsaw motor (slot #3). Slot #1 was empty. There is also a white wire feeding from the power source and then pigtaling in the handle and running to the motor (no surprise).

The diode connects slot #1 and slot #3. Isn't thay weird? Logically i would think it would be #2 and #3, right?

[wbrooks]

Nope not weird, thats what I figured. The diode is 1960's variable speed.

When in high the switch shorts red to black. When in low the diode is inserted between the red and black effectively cutting the voltage supplied to the motor in half. What the diode is doing is blocking the top half of the A/C waveform.

[franklin pug]

finding this switch, even an on-off-on swith it the proper amprage is getting frustrating. This is due mostly to the fact that the canadian websites don't list the amperage rating on their switches. I'll have to wait until tomorrow and contact customer service via telephone.

What does Double Pole mean when purchasing a switch? What about Double Throw?

[wbrooks]

Good explanation with diagrams here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switch

You really only need a single pole double throw with an off position (usually center) 4 Amp switch.

If you can't find that a double pole double throw center off 2 Amp (or more) switch wired (by you) in parallel will give the equivalent of 4 Amp power rating.

You want me to have a look for a switch while I'm at work tomorrow, the places I mentioned are just down the road.

[wbrooks]

another option would be to forget the low speed and just use a 2 position switch (no off) use up for off and down for on or vise versa

[Bob D.]

Newark Electronics lists over 70 DPDT slideswitches (http://www.newark.com/NewarkWebCommerce/newark/en_US/endecaSearch/searchPage2.jsp;jsessionid=XLTIPGDPS4MXICXDUY0CFFY K2OTCIIV1?Ntt=switch+slide+dpdt&searchtype=keyword&Nty=1&N=0&Ntk=gensearch&showImages=true)
Give them a look see if you haven't already.

This one made by C&K looks like it could work for you.
Newark p/n: 08C7970 (http://www.newark.com/NewarkWebCommerce/newark/en_US/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp;jsessionid=XLTIPGDPS4MXICXDUY0CFFYK 2OTCIIV1?SKU=08C7970&N=0)

Manufacturer: C & K

Manufacturer Part No.: S602031SS03Q
Description: Switches, Slide Switch Function:DPDT; Contact Rating:6A

[franklin pug]

If i get a single pole double throw, will that give me an off position? The siwtch would click from low to high, but there would be no off position, correct?

If i use a double throw double pole, that would give me an off position in the center right?

Technically, what is the pole and throw combination of the switch i am replacing? (no - lo -hi)

Thanks for all your help Bob D. and wBrooks, this is becoming a great learning experience!

[wbrooks]

The switch you have would be a single pole, sort of double throw, but more like 3 position switch.

[franklin pug]

Well I think it is time I made the decision to get a new jigsaw. I was noodling around with it today and I think the chuck on this old beast is just about to go too. Its time to retire this old relic and get a new one I suppose.

I was thinking of the new 6A bosch model or perhapds the Freud thats on sale for 149.99 CDN @ HD. Suggestions?

[PLUMBER RICK]

well you got to give credit for all the help wbrooks and bob d. gave you. the pictures were good too.

eventually it's time for a new tool:D

looks like the right decision. :)

hate to see the extended cost in man hours for this posting:eek:

i have a few saber saws on the shelf for the same reason. dead:eek:

rick.

[franklin pug]

Yes i agree PR, bob d and wbrooks were excellent resources. Thanks guys!

[Bob D.]

Sorry that the old beast could not be brought back to life, but sometimes it is best to let them die. When you get your new saw (may I suggest the Bosch 1590EVSK (http://www.boschtools.com/about-bosch-tools/press-room/2004-archives/Bosch+1590EVSK+Top-handle+Jig+Saw+Press+Release.htm)) you will be sorry you didn't kill that old jigsaw off long ago :-)

Whatever make or model jigsaw you end up with, consider using Bosch blades, I don't think there is a better choice out there in jigsaw blades. If anyone knows of one speak up please.

[franklin pug]

i still have the saw, but i threw the switch out. Drop me that guys email and i'll send him some pics