My Sawzall, Sawz nothing!

[rhunt]

Look for a Milwaukee repair facility in your area and drop it off there for repair. They are very good about repair of their tools. If you still have the manual that came with the saw, it has them listed. If not, try the internet.

 

[sd455dan]

Creamers suggestion could fix it - and that could be all that is needed, but

My guess is that at least one set of windings is shorted, the commutator contacts for each winding are at 180 degrees to each other.

A resistance test of each set of contacts will probably reveal at least one pair with a much lower resistance- Thus the blueing of the armature windings, and the sparks that fly every time that pair of commutator contacts line up with the carbon brushes and a large in rush of current flows.
If you send it in and a new armature is installed it may well be as good as new. jmo

 

[LD1]

I agree, step one should be contacting Milwaukee. The tool may still be under warranty. And if not, they dont charge much to fix. That saw almost looks bran new.

 

[TractorGuy]

For tools I use infrequently, I'd just as soon get them from Harbor Freight. If the break, I didn't pay much for them to start with. In this case, $30 for that at HF,

I tried this approach with 4-1/2" grinders. My 25+ year old Craftsman blew up much like the OPs sawsall. Bought a $10 coupon grinder from HF that had no torque and blew up about the 4th time I used it. Upscaled to the $30 grinder with the same results. Found a 9 amp Dewalt on sale it Tractor Supply for about $70 and never looked back.

Those electric tools from HF aren't worth the aggravation in my opinion.

I have a bunch of 19.2 cordless tools from Sears including a reciprocal saw that have been great. Even better since I switch to the Lithium batteries. The newer version of the same tools seem to be not as good though. Duplicated my home tools for work and the drill is sub par but has worked okay.

 

[sd455dan]

I tried this approach with 4-1/2" grinders. My 25+ year old Craftsman blew up much like the OPs sawsall. Bought a $10 coupon grinder from HF that had no torque and blew up about the 4th time I used it. Upscaled to the $30 grinder with the same results. Found a 9 amp Dewalt on sale it Tractor Supply for about $70 and never looked back.

Those electric tools from HF aren't worth the aggravation in my opinion.

I have a bunch of 19.2 cordless tools from Sears including a reciprocal saw that have been great. Even better since I switch to the Lithium batteries. The newer version of the same tools seem to be not as good though. Duplicated my home tools for work and the drill is sub par but has worked okay.

My recent experience on the HF grinders has been similar...

The cords are so cheap that after a couple uses (literally) the insulation is ripped and exposing the 120 vac wiring.
Low torque and easily overheated, HF is cheeping out on the grinders- had a couple bought in the 1980s from them that lasted until recently .
The new ones they are selling are not worth the bargain price.




Agree with sending in the Milwaukee sawsall for repair.

 

[dragoneggs]

My recent experience on the HF grinders has been similar... The cords are so cheap that after a couple uses (literally) the insulation is ripped and exposing the 120 vac wiring. Low torque and easily overheated, HF is cheeping out on the grinders- had a couple bought in the 1980s from them that lasted until recently . The new ones they are selling are not worth the bargain price. Agree with sending in the Milwaukee sawsall for repair.

I have had good success with my fleet of JF grinders. First thing on purchase I take them apart and pack with grease. Granted mine are used occasional not daily. I don't lean on them too hard either. I tend to baby my tools a bit as a general rule.

 

[sd455dan]

I have had good success with my fleet of JF grinders. First thing on purchase I take them apart and pack with grease. Granted mine are used occasional not daily. I don't lean on them too hard either. I tend to baby my tools a bit as a general rule.

It just seems the newest batch of the lower line HF have slipped a notch,
The cord covering material is flexible- but tore almost immediately and using even moderate grinding pressure caused the internals to get the case almost to hot to hold also began to smell hot in an unacceptably short amount of time.
Bought the HD paddle switched grinder and it is working ok so far.
I will buy the HD HF grinders- or find good used name brands from now on.

 

[bcp]

If you buy a 4 amp grinder, then work it hard enough to draw 6 amps. don't expect it to last long. And don't be surprised your replacement 9 amp grinder is better.



Bruce

 

[dragoneggs]

If you buy a 4 amp grinder, then work it hard enough to draw 6 amps. don't expect it to last long. And don't be surprised your replacement 9 amp grinder is better.



Bruce

Is the case with any electric motor... draw more than it is rated for and you will burn it up.

 

[EddieWalker]

How long did it take you to cut two 2x4's? I do 90 percent of all my sawzall cutting with an 18 volt Makita cordless sawzall without any issues. I also have an older Milwakee plug in sawzall similar to yours that I use when I know I'm doing a ton of cutting, or if I don't feel like walking to me truck to get my cordless. I keep the Milwakee in my shop.

The reason I ask how long you where cutting is that if you had a dull blade, you could be there for quite awhile and overheat the motor. Especially in summer. I buy new blades all the time and with a basic demo blade, would expect to cut through a 2x4 in ten to 15 seconds.