TO REPAIR OR REPLACE

CLENENT1000 | Posted in John White on September 21, 2007 06:31am

I HAVE A 15 YEAR OLD DELTA JIG SAW ON STAND. IT HAS WORKED VERY GOOD FOR ALL THESE YEARS. THE OTHER DAY I TURNED IT ON AND THE ONLY SPEED WAS HIGH. THE VARIABLE SPEED KNOB MADE NO CHANGE. THIS SAW COST ABOUT $450. SHOULD I THINK ABOUT HAVING IT REPAIRED OR JUST REPLACE IT. THANKS. CLEMENT

Replies

JohnWW | Sep 21, 2007 11:04pm | #1
Clement,

Can you give me the model number on the saw?

Thanks, John White

CLENENT1000 | Sep 22, 2007 03:18am | #2
ON FURTHER SEARCHING, I FIND THAT THIS IS A DELTA 18 IN. SCROLL SAW. THE MODEL NUMBER IS A 40-601. THE SERIAL NUMBER IS 86K 46003. THANKS JOHN FOR YOUR INTEREST IN HELPING ME OUT. THERE IS A DATE PRINTED ON THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL OF 1/10/85.

JohnWW | Sep 24, 2007 10:12pm | #3
Your saw has an electronic speed control. Being the motor runs, the fault is almost certainly with the control unit. I did a little research and found that failures of the speed control of this saw do occur occasionally.

The control unit is only sold as a complete unit. I didn't check on the price and availability but you can do that on line.

Looking at a parts sheet for the saw, I noticed that it has a small speed sensor that is a separate part. The sensor mounts under the table, near the bottom blade clamp presumably, and is attached to the circuit board by a short wire. If the sensor failed or came loose, so that it wasn't detecting the movement of the blade drive, it could also create the problem you are having. So it might be a good plan to check the position of the sensor, and possibly replace it with a new part, before replacing the entire circuit board at, presumably, a much greater cost.

One other possibility is that the control that is turned by the speed knob is worn out. While not available as a separate part from Delta it is most likely a fairly standard electronic component called a potentiometer, commonly referred to as a "pot", and it could be replaced by an electronics repair shop (if you can find one).

Hope this helps, John White

CLENENT1000 | Sep 25, 2007 12:37am | #4
THANKS A LOT JOHN, I WILLCHECK THE SPEED SENSOR FIRST, AND GO ON FROM THERE. I APRECIATE THE INFO. CLEMENT

ON CHECKING THE PRICE OF A NEW SENSOR OF ABOUT $100, I DECIDED TO SEE IF I COULD GET THE MOTOR TO OPERATE THROUGH A ROUTER SPEED CONTROLL UNIT. IT WORKS PRETTY GOOD. NOT AS SMOTHE AS THE DELTA, BUT I DO HAVE CONTROL OF THE SPEED. THANKS FOR THE HELP AND INFO.

CLEMENT

Edited 9/28/2007 1:24 pm ET by CLENENT1000