My 12 inch Dewalt Miter saw is acting up. Sometimes,
the brake doesn't engage right away, and sometimes, it
doesn't start when I pull the trigger. (I have to move
the blade up and down a few times before it will engage.)
Is this a simple fix, or should I be worried?

Thanks,

S.

"samson" wrote:

Is this a simple fix, or should I be worried?


The very fact you feel the need to ask the question, leads me to
believe you know the answer.

Put saw in your vehicle and head for the DeWalt service station.


--
Lew Hodgett
Box 2302
Whittier, CA, 90610-2302
E-Mail:

On Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:36:12 -0500, samson wrote:

My 12 inch Dewalt Miter saw is acting up. Sometimes,
the brake doesn't engage right away, and sometimes, it
doesn't start when I pull the trigger. (I have to move
the blade up and down a few times before it will engage.)
Is this a simple fix, or should I be worried?

Try changing the brushes.
I'm not sure which model you have but the brushes should be easy to
get at and it's normally pretty obvious where the covers are.

Mike O.

samson wrote:
My 12 inch Dewalt Miter saw is acting up. Sometimes,
the brake doesn't engage right away, and sometimes, it
doesn't start when I pull the trigger. (I have to move
the blade up and down a few times before it will engage.)
Is this a simple fix, or should I be worried?

Thanks,

S.

The first thing I'd try is blowing out the switch with an air compressor.

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

In article HGngk.87$DS3.39@trnddc01, says...
samson wrote:
My 12 inch Dewalt Miter saw is acting up. Sometimes,
the brake doesn't engage right away, and sometimes, it
doesn't start when I pull the trigger. (I have to move
the blade up and down a few times before it will engage.)
Is this a simple fix, or should I be worried?

Thanks,

S.

The first thing I'd try is blowing out the switch with an air compressor.


Yeah, I did that. I haven't changed the brushes, but the saw
is only a couple of years old. Also, I don't know if the brushes
would be the reason the brake doesn't engage right away.

Thanks to the other poster too for their info.

S.

samson wrote:
In article HGngk.87$DS3.39@trnddc01, says...
samson wrote:
My 12 inch Dewalt Miter saw is acting up. Sometimes,
the brake doesn't engage right away, and sometimes, it
doesn't start when I pull the trigger. (I have to move
the blade up and down a few times before it will engage.)
Is this a simple fix, or should I be worried?

Thanks,

S.
The first thing I'd try is blowing out the switch with an air compressor.


Yeah, I did that. I haven't changed the brushes, but the saw
is only a couple of years old. Also, I don't know if the brushes
would be the reason the brake doesn't engage right away.

Thanks to the other poster too for their info.

S.

I had a problem that my blade would not stop also. Turned out the
attachment screw was very loose. The blade was spinning on the end of
the shaft. Tightening the screw fixed that problem.

Dave N

On Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:36:12 -0500, samson wrote:

My 12 inch Dewalt Miter saw is acting up. Sometimes,
the brake doesn't engage right away, and sometimes, it
doesn't start when I pull the trigger. (I have to move
the blade up and down a few times before it will engage.)
Is this a simple fix, or should I be worried?

Thanks,

S.

It needs servicing from an authorized Dewalt dealer. I suspect a bad
switch. You might want to troubleshoot yourself, look for an exploded
view diagram and keep careful track of parts.

Since both issues point towards the switch, instead of spending a lot of
time diagnosing, pay $14 for a new switch and put it in. It took me all of
5 minutes on a job site.

Steve P.
www.stellarbuilders.net

"samson" wrote in message
...
My 12 inch Dewalt Miter saw is acting up. Sometimes,
the brake doesn't engage right away, and sometimes, it
doesn't start when I pull the trigger. (I have to move
the blade up and down a few times before it will engage.)
Is this a simple fix, or should I be worried?

Thanks,

S.

In article ,
says...
Since both issues point towards the switch, instead of spending a lot of
time diagnosing, pay $14 for a new switch and put it in. It took me all of
5 minutes on a job site.

Steve P.
www.stellarbuilders.net

That's not a bad idea. I will give that a shot.

Thanks,

S.

Sounds to me like either the brushes are worn out or the commutator or
armature has a problem. The brake depends on having good contact between the
brushes and commutator. A worn commutator would also cause the starting
issue since you have to turn the blade sometimes in order to get it to start
up.

Check the brushes first, then look down inside the brushholder with a
flashlight. All of the copper segments should look identical (uniform black
tracking is normal). Also, the gaps between the copper segments should be
identical in width. If one of the gaps looks a little wider and rough at the
edges, then you need a new armature.

Doug
"samson" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...
Since both issues point towards the switch, instead of spending a lot of
time diagnosing, pay $14 for a new switch and put it in. It took me all
of
5 minutes on a job site.

Steve P.
www.stellarbuilders.net

That's not a bad idea. I will give that a shot.

Thanks,

S.

In article jUcik.43$c52.14@trnddc03, says...
Sounds to me like either the brushes are worn out or the commutator or
armature has a problem. The brake depends on having good contact between the
brushes and commutator. A worn commutator would also cause the starting
issue since you have to turn the blade sometimes in order to get it to start
up.

Check the brushes first, then look down inside the brushholder with a
flashlight. All of the copper segments should look identical (uniform black
tracking is normal). Also, the gaps between the copper segments should be
identical in width. If one of the gaps looks a little wider and rough at the
edges, then you need a new armature.

Doug

Much appreciated. Doug. I will check it out.

S.