On Fri, 24 Jul 2020 20:54:46 +0100, Another John wrote:

I just poked the switches that I found, and eventually decided that
*maybe* the main ON switch (the big orange one in the handle) had lost
its alignment with the tiny electrical switch that it bumps, when you
squeeze the handle to start cutting. But hardly likely, I figured. But
anyway ...

Not that uncommon. Trouble is often the cause of a misalignment is
due to some small bit plastic guide that has bust and is impossible
to repair. It'll work for a while then get out of alignment again and
stop. If you're out of luck it means a disassembly to realign, with
luck it's s just a fiddle of the part.

I half-put it back together again (without the blade assembly, and not
entirely screwed up), and squeezed the handle: for the first time in 3
years, it burst into life. What's more, once I'd put it all together
properly, it *still* works.

Always a bounus!

The biggest win here is not so much that it works again, but that I now
know how to take one of these apart, and with confidence.

And you can now fix the one that you bought three years ago when the
one you just fixed stopped working.

--
Cheers
Dave.