Help re-wiring a SawZall Trigger Switch

[rrausch]

OK... I feel like an idiot, but this is what happened. My old SawZall was really needing a new trigger switch, it was so bad it would run full tilt whenever it was plugged in--whether or not you had your finger on the trigger! So I finally got around to buying a new switch, and installed it (I could swear) exactly like the old one. Well, I guess I didn't because as soon as I plugged it in and hit the trigger the wall-outlet made a bad sound, and then went dead. So I tried it in another wall outlet. Same thing.



The old switch had 5 wires going into it. 2 were identified as "Load", 2 as "Line" and the 5th wire had a spade terminal. As I removed the wires off of the old switch, I taped them & marked the tape (Line, Load etc) and when I connected the new switch up I was careful to put the Line & Load wires into the little holes in the new switch which were marked Line & Load.



But here is where it got confusing to me. In the old switch the Lines were on one end of the switch and the Loads were on the other end. On the new switch they are alternated--each end of the switch has 1 Line & 1 Load.



Can anybody help me out here? Or direct me to an on-line source for directions.

What did I do wrong?



I need to cut some steel.

 

[B.G. Smith]

You are going to have to figure out which two wires are the hot (line) wires and which two are the load (going to the saw) wires. You now have both load wire across one set of contacts and the line wires across the other set, when you hit the switch, bingo, dead short circuit. The line wires are usually one black and one white???? The fifth wire is probably the ground, usually green. bg

 

[lil red cummins]

to expand on what b. g. smith said - which is correct.



find the two wires coming from the power cord. either black and white or blue and brown. those two wire should go in the "line" holes. it doesn't really matter which color goes in which line. it is an AC device.



then take the two wires that go to the motor and place them in the "load" holes. again polarity is not critical.



make sure the green ground with the spade terminal is attached directly to the motor or somewhere that is in metal contact with the motor frame.



that should take care of it



it is possible if you have a variable speed switch, that you may have damaged it already with the short circuit. it may not function correctly and may need to be replaced.



good luck - think safety!



jim

 

[daveshoe]

I did one

I feel your pain. It was a drill and variable speed . I was glad I got a genuine Milwuakee replacement part, because it gave very specific instructions on the new wiring proceedure. Maybe you coul;d E-mail Milwaukee if you lost your instructions. Even with these instructions ,it took two [old] guys to read, keep track of wires,and wire the dang thing. We removed one wire at a time from the old switch and put it in the new one-- about like changing plug wires on a car

 

[rrausch]

Thanks! Well there were multiple problems. The Lumber Co. sold me just a switch, with no instructions. It may not even been the right switch, but it didn't help that I had it wired wrong!



OK... so I went and bought the right switch, and this one was a little different than the first one--it had other little electronic gizmos I had to install along with the switch. But it came with instructions and a wiring diagram! Took me about an hour to figure it out and get it right, but it works great now! Thanks guys!

 

[nickleinonen]

i had an old sears branded sawsall and it had the switch go bad... now, being the cheap one i am, i just replaced that variable switch with an on/off toggle switch... i only really ever use that [full speed] anyways - and the low/high speed switch still worked so it was ok