mookschank Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 Hello, First time poster here, so go easy if my post is incorrect My brother bought me a brand new DC330 jigsaw for xmas. It's first task I put to it was to cut perspex with a metal blade so low speed work and what I would think would be simple work for the Dewalt with a variable speed trigger. Well after about 2 minutes, smoke started pouring out of the trigger area (from gap in the trigger lock). I rested the jigsaw as it was hot and smelt burnt. It started again ok after 10 minutes but again after some load it started smoking again and died for good. I tried 2 batteries (which are good as they work fine on my other cordless tools) and the jigsaw is confirmed as dead. Although I can get a replacement under warranty, it will cost me $50 to send it to my brother who will get a replacement form Lowes. By the time he ships it back I would be better buying a new one. No my question is, I can just order a replacement spare part and fit it myself ($40 posted all up). Before I do this, I want to confirm whether the trigger mechanism is the issue? Can I pull the trigger and do some tests with a multimeter to confirm? Any suggestions? Thanks for reading, Mook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjones Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 Why do you need to send it to your brother to exchange? You can exchange it at any lowes, or take it to your nearest service center. I would definitely recommend having it replaced or repaired. If you open the tool yourself, you will void all warranties. It definitely shouldn't have failed, and I would get it take care of. Call 1-800-4-DeWALT if you want to find the nearest place to exchange or return it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mookschank Posted December 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 Hi, thanks for the reply. My brother bought it for me in the USA whilst I was visiting. I live in Australia where the jigsaw now lives and I assume the warranty will not be a global one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatorb8881393434512 Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 It's worth a shot, take it to a place that sells Dewalt and ask to exchange it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooljoe Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 If you are out of luck, I was planing on taking mine apart for curious reasons sometime this month. I can post volt measurements coming from the output of the trigger to compare. Or take apart the trigger part and post pics...very easy to take apart with a few pins.....let me know. good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mookschank Posted December 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 If you are out of luck, I was planing on taking mine apart for curious reasons sometime this month. I can post volt measurements coming from the output of the trigger to compare. Or take apart the trigger part and post pics...very easy to take apart with a few pins.....let me know. good luck. Thanks Tooljoe. That would be quite useful. The trigger looks to be a homogenous part with spade connectors, easy to come off and replace. The voltage readings will give me an idea to test mine to see whether it is broken. Will give the local Dewalt a try but I am pretty sure they won't be interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooljoe Posted January 4, 2014 Report Share Posted January 4, 2014 I had some time today to take it apart....seven screws and done. So here if the triger info just in case or for other owners past the warranty that may find this useful... The resistance (ohms) is... negative lead on M1 positive lead on M2: trigger not pressed = 0.2 ohms trigger fully pressed = 13.76 kilo ohms positive lead on M1 negative lead on M2: I get a different reading... trigger fully pressed = 504 ohms This means you should get, on a fully charged battery, zero volts trigger not pressed and 19.something when trigger fully pressed. If you need for me to take the trigger apart, or anything else for me to check, let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mookschank Posted January 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 I had some time today to take it apart....seven screws and done. So here if the triger info just in case or for other owners past the warranty that may find this useful... The resistance (ohms) is... negative lead on M1 positive lead on M2: trigger not pressed = 0.2 ohms trigger fully pressed = 13.76 kilo ohms positive lead on M1 negative lead on M2: I get a different reading... trigger fully pressed = 504 ohms This means you should get, on a fully charged battery, zero volts trigger not pressed and 19.something when trigger fully pressed. If you need for me to take the trigger apart, or anything else for me to check, let me know. Hi Tooljoe, Thanks for the readings. I have not pulled my switch out yet as I will need to cut the stickers and void warranty. However, I measured the ohms from the battery terminal prongs (I believe the prongs just connect to the trigger anyways) - so no battery installed when testing. My readings are 35-36 Ohms on partial or fully pressed trigger and nothing on trigger unpressed. Its the same when I swap the plugs around. Do you think the way I have tested is comparable to yours? Thanks,Mook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooljoe Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 From the battery terminal prongs I get 13.72 kilo ohms on partial trigger press and 0.3 ohms on fully pressed.... based on that alone, seems like your trigger is faulty...but that's my guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mookschank Posted January 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2014 Great, thanks for the info. May just take the punt and get a replacement trigger at $35 delivered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.