Official Luthiers Forum!

I have an older 33 yr old chiu ting 8in jointer , the switch when pressed on stays on and the off switch will not work. Tried cleaning out dust and lubing the springs, but same problem,and switch just stays on. Grizzly has one for $94, Any other places that they an be bought for less . Or is it repairable? and if so what can be done ?? thanks in advance.

Hi Ernie,
If you can live with a switch which will not automatically turn off when the power goes out you can replace it with a double pole switch for about $10. The double pole switch will break both legs of the circuit, which is what you want for 220V split phase like we have in the U.S. It won't automatically turn off the machine if you have a power outage like a Magnetic switch will, but in a home workshop that is not as great of a safety concern as it would be in a multi-workman commercial shop. You only need to know the machine was running before the power went out and switch it off to keep it from coming back on when the power returns. And you will probably be the one using it.

IMO, if you want a magnetic starter, that's probably about as inexpensive as you'll find unless you want to spend some time combing Ebay to save $50 & hope it works.

The other option (to do it properly) is a manual motor starter which will still set you back $40-$50

But YMMV.

Kevin Looker

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

grizzly will have a replacment
ebay
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R ... tic+switch

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

The Powertec non-magnetic 110/220 paddle switches mixed in with the eBay magnetic switches John linked to are available through Home Depot (and are cheaper) and may actually be a safer switch for home shops.

the magnetic are a lot safer as they will open the circuit like a circuit breaker but however you want to replace that old switch with something comparable. Can you post a picture and we can help

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Thanks John . I fixed it, by spraying pot cleaner from radio shack on the contact points and thoro ughly blowing out any residual dust, so not sure what the problem was . Since the switch is old . When it does finally die . I will replace it with a switch from grizz. Not sure if the 2 button switch from HD would fit my recess on the switch panel of the jointer.. We had a 3 hr power failure a few weeks ago when I was flattening lumber on the jointer. and walked away , didnot realize power was off so yes the magnetic cutoff is a good safety feature.