# ANYONE KNOW HOW TO FIX AN ARCHING ARMATURE ON MY SKILSAW? GREATLY APPRECIATED!



## agarden7 (Feb 4, 2007)

Hi, my skilsaw has been sparking a great deal and am having trouble fixing this problem. If anyone can loan any help on how to fix it, that would be great! thanks again.....-max


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## wahoowad (Feb 4, 2007)

arcs to what?

you see sparks down inside the cooling vents? I think that is normal.


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## agarden7 (Feb 5, 2007)

its sparking alot by the brushes and the armature..... it burns the brushes way too quickly....


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## wahoowad (Feb 5, 2007)

Just use it and worry about it when it breaks, if it beaks.


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## par38lamp (Feb 8, 2007)

My gut feeling is that the gaps between your commutator bars are contaminated. My unprofessional suggestion (if I had a saw doing the same thing) would be to inspect the gaps between the bars for "gunk".

Get some electrical parts cleaner (aerosol can) that says is safe for plastics, and clean it. This would be with the saw disassembled, if possible. Most any electric supply house will carry the cleaner; Parts Express has it, so does MCM electronics. Grainger carries it. I would imagine some auto parts stores would carry it.

Good luck.


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## glenng (Feb 13, 2007)

Is this a Skillsaw circular saw? Sometimes your better off buying a new saw. I see them on sale often for $29.95 at True Value hardware stores. 

GG


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## Corey (Feb 13, 2007)

par38lamp said:
			
		

> My gut feeling is that the gaps between your commutator bars are contaminated. My unprofessional suggestion (if I had a saw doing the same thing) would be to inspect the gaps between the bars for "gunk".
> 
> Get some electrical parts cleaner (aerosol can) that says is safe for plastics, and clean it. This would be with the saw disassembled, if possible. Most any electric supply house will carry the cleaner; Parts Express has it, so does MCM electronics. Grainger carries it. I would imagine some auto parts stores would carry it.
> 
> Good luck.



Good advice.  You may also look at the brush holders and make sure the brushes slide easily in and out and that the brush springs and or holders themselves aren't broken.  Also look to make sure the brushes still have some 'meat' left and that they aren't worn down to nubs, broken or cracked.  Other things to look for are that the com doesn't have insulators sticking out from between the copper bars and that the copper bars themselves are smooth and uniform.  Lastly look at the copper bars themselves.  They should be all about the same color and uniformly worn.  If you have one bar (or a pattern of bars...ie every other one, etc) that is much lighter or darker you may have burned or shorted windings in the motor.

From my experience, one time I had a lot of arcing in a skilsaw, one brush holder had melted.  Another time, IIRC, I simply wore through the brushes and the copper conductor at the end was arcing directly to the brushes.

Good Luck
Corey


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## ozarkjeep (Feb 14, 2007)

very likely worth fixing, brushes can be found online for a few $$$

the bearings ( that are likely to go out in a cheaper well used saw) can usually be matched up for a few $$ as well.

if your brushes are just dirty, use some automotive brake cleaner to clean the brushes and commutator.

if its a newer plastic cheaper saw, you might want to evaluate the cost effectiveness of a repair.

if its a good older saw, its likely worth repairing.


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