My Sawzall, Sawz nothing!

[CalG]

It takes a certain amount of understanding to use any tool.

Perhaps it's the saw motor, perhaps it was the blade selected.

But from your description, the armature is toast and the unit not economically repairable.

Would you have any need for an 8 inch sidewinder Skill saw with the same attributes ;-) ??

 

[sd455dan]

X2, If buying new happens, get the Milwaukee super sawzall and you'll never regret it.

Since it was a Milwaukee super sawsall he already bought Milwaukees top of the line, makes sense to at least find out what the repair will cost... before buying the same model at full price again.
Then again new does come with a full warranty

 

[Deere Dude]

Since it was a Milwaukee super sawsall he already bought Milwaukees top of the line, makes sense to at least find out what the repair will cost... before buying the same model at full price again.
Then again new does come with a full warranty

That shows you that even a great tool can break. Hard to tell the history of it because of where it was bought, but it looked nice on the outside.

 

[sandybeach]

Many, many, many products say "Made in USA." That's weasel-wording for "Chinese Junk Parts assembled in USA," or "made completely in India with label slapped on in USA." If anybody in the USA touches it before it leaves the USA warehouse, it magically becomes "Made in USA."

That fraud doesn't mean the quality isn't there. Almost everything that we buy in the USA - good, bad, ugly - is made overseas. Some of us try to buy stuff truly made here, as a matter of principal. But .....

I'm not accusing any one manufacturer, or indicting the industry, but if the shoe fits they really ought to just come out and admit it.

 

[Mac102004]

We've had a heavy duty Milwaukee sawmill for a long time and it's been very reliable. Don't know how old it is, but it came in a steel case lol. I also have a 18V LXT Makita Recip saw that works very well also, and blade changes are much easier (tool-less) compared to the old Milwaukee. From what I've heard, the Milwaukee quality has gone down a lot since they were bought out.

 

[Richard]

The rest of the story.

There is an authoirzed service center about 60 minutes from me. A friend of mine (who lives there) was in town....so he dropped it off for me.

I went yesterday morning to pick it up.

Without knowing the exact names of the parts, you have the (rotating) armature inside the center of the motor. Surrounding that, you have the windings. You can see the brown color of the windings in the picture above.

It was the winding that went bad. I don't know exactly what happened nor how. Spent $65 for a new winding set and have the saw back in my hands.

The funny thing is.... I brought it home, put it into its box (without taking the zip-tie off the power cord). At the rate I use this darn thing, it might sit for 18 months before I actually plug it in to find out if it works!!

Oh well... it's one of those things that if/when you need it, you want it ready.

 

[yomax4]

Probably last forever now. You may have had goofy windings from the start. I have a Super Sawzall from the 90's, A Bosch, Milwaukee 18V and a Makita 18V. All have been p' pounded for their entire life and all are working like new. Could be pure luck but I use them all.

 

[crazyal]

First off let me say I have lots of Milwaukee tools but awhile ago they were bought out by a Chinese company. Now that doesn't mean the new stuff is junk but the company that owns them also owns companies like Ryobi and Homelite. I have two Homelite chain saws, one of them was a nice little limbing saw until the sprocket on the clutch went. I decided to get a new bar while I was at the shop. The new bar looked like cheap Chinese stuff you might find at a discount tool store and the clutch was fine though. It kind of turned me off to the brand. My Milwaukee porta-band band saw has worked just fine but the rubber on the cord and the rubber on the wheels both dry rotted after about a year. It was made after they were bought out, so is my corded drywall screw gun. I'm not sure if the number of parts made in China has gone up or if they are of the same quality but I still continue to buy Milwaukee stuff.