Parkside band sander switch

[GT-Woodman]

So I have a Parkside band sander - it’s given me many years of good service but the switch has gone defunct.
I’ve looked and looked and can’t source a replacement. Has anyone got an idea where I could find one?

The switch is a sealed unit so I can’t service it.
This raises a further discussion of why do manufacturers do this, put unserviceable parts into devices?

I have simply bypassed the switch but that’s not ideal.

 

[Old.bodger]

I have just had to replace a switch on a small lathe. The unit looks to have the same footprint as your. Mine had a built in nvr. Worth a look. Google / ebay DKLD DZ04.

 

[bourbon]

Frustrates us at Lichfield repair cafe as well, ultrasonic welding means we can't get into stuff which would otherwise be a simple fix. It's changing, but there is a lot of older stuff that cannot be repaired without major surgery

 

[Terry - Somerset]

I know this is probably not a popular view, but Parkside (amongst many others) sell cheap tools. To do so they need to manufacture them cheaply. If saving a few pence on a sealed unit switch keeps the costs down through volume purchase and easy assembly, that is what they will do.

I do not expect them to carry an overhead associated with providing spares.

I don't have an elitist view where Festool is the best and right (but very expensive) choice. I buy cheap tools for some DIY jobs knowing they will receive light (not trade) use and if they last more than a few years I regard it as good fortune. When/if it breaks and it is outside warranty I go and buy a new one.

I too dislike scrapping tools that for want of a small part means dumping the whole tool. Finding a way to fix it can be satisfying - the thought that I have "beaten" the system. Usually I waste time and money attempting a fix and failing, or fixing only to find other components are nearing the end of their useful life anyway.

 

[GT-Woodman]

Just an update to this

I dremeled the side off the switch and drilled out the plastic welded spots holding the side on. Spotted the problem straight away.

The switch interior was full of compacted wood dust preventing the contacts meeting. I think this dust slowly built up over time causing the intermittent failure and eventual breakdown.

If I’d used an airline to blast the dust out before ruining it it may have saved it. But hindsight’s a harsh teacher sometimes.

Oh and trying to reassemble the thing is impossible from the one side that I removed. (Especially now a spring disappeared into the some far flung corner of my shop)

 

[Tris]

This is far to late for the matter in hand, but one thing that's got me into all sorts of parts is the scalpel blade holder on a cheap Aldi pyrography tool. Leaves a clean cut that can be glued back together

 

[GT-Woodman]

This is far to late for the matter in hand, but one thing that's got me into all sorts of parts is the scalpel blade holder on a cheap Aldi pyrography tool. Leaves a clean cut that can be glued back together

That was my intention to glue it together again - I used a Dremel diamond cut off wheel to cut down sides. But these crafty designers spot welded the sides to the internals just a nightmare to take apart

 

[Yojevol]

Just an update to this

I dremeled the side off the switch and drilled out the plastic welded spots holding the side on. Spotted the problem straight away.

The switch interior was full of compacted wood dust preventing the contacts meeting. I think this dust slowly built up over time causing the intermittent failure and eventual breakdown.

If I’d used an airline to blast the dust out before ruining it it may have saved it. But hindsight’s a harsh teacher sometimes.

Oh and trying to reassemble the thing is impossible from the one side that I removed. (Especially now a spring disappeared into the some far flung corner of my shop)

I had the exact same problem on my CNC router. Same experience down to the spring flying out. I bought a simple toggle switch to replace it but it was too big to go into the confined space on the router motor.
Yesterday I rearranged the wiring to the motor and mounted the switch on the machine cabinet.
Would a similar solution be possible on your sander?
Brian

 

[GT-Woodman]

I had the exact same problem on my CNC router. Same experience down to the spring flying out. I bought a simple toggle switch to replace it but it was too big to go into the confined space on the router motor.
Yesterday I rearranged the wiring to the motor and mounted the switch on the machine cabinet.
Would a similar solution be possible on your sander?
Could be but I’m happy to use the mains socket switch and bypass the unit switch

 

[BillHoughton]

How necessary is that exact switch design? The factory switch on my long-since discontinued Makita jobsite saw failed, and I wound up putting a simple toggle switch in an electrical box. It's not ideal - not as easy to turn off in a crisis - but crisis level events are less likely on a band sander.

 

[Spectric]

This raises a further discussion of why do manufacturers do this, put unserviceable parts into devices

This has been the normal approach for at least the last twenty years, we live in a world of just replacing parts and no longer one where we actually repair or overhaul the part. There are many examples from cars to washing machines where what looks like a simple cheap job becomes expensive because you need the complete assembly. We no longer fit seal kits to the master or slave cylinders on our cars, just a complete part so a more expensive job. We once changed bearings in many components but now they are made unserviceable, often to increase production speed and reduce cost. One of the first many of us older folk will recall was when Fords decided to do away with the circlips that retained the hardy spicer joints on the propshaft in favour of a peened assembly.

As others have said just fit a simple switch that is rated for mains voltage and away you go.

 

[GT-Woodman]

I had the exact same problem on my CNC router. Same experience down to the spring flying out. I bought a simple toggle switch to replace it but it was too big to go into the confined space on the router motor.
Yesterday I rearranged the wiring to the motor and mounted the switch on the machine cabinet.
Would a similar solution be possible on your sander?
Brian

When I get around to it - I’ll put a simple on off rocker switch in there but as usual procrastination took over. Tomorrow is another day