My bosch router just quit

[yaksplat]

Well, not right now, but earlier today.  I was just finishing up an order for a custom panel and with about 2" left to trim on a piece of plexi, I stopped the router to clear off some chips and then it wouldn't turn back on.  I tried different outlets and nothing would make it work. 

Time to take it apart and get out the volt meter. 

After a bit of testing, I found that the power switch had gone bad.  There's not much room in the router to take things apart, but I managed to remove the switch and then i was 100% sure that the switch was bad with infinite resistance in both positions.  I decided to pop open the switch, hey, it was already broken, what damage could i do?

Turned out the inside of the switch had a lot of dust in it, and when the switch made contact a minor arc would burn some of the dust.  There was enough carbon and residue on the contact point that kept the switch from working.  After cleaning it up, the switch worked again.  A quick assembly and the router was working again.

Plexi finished after another 30 seconds.  That's how 30 seconds worth of work can take an hour.

Hope this helps someone else out if you find yourself in a similar situation.

[capsule]

I had the same issue with my driller... 3 times! But the third time was its last... I couldn't repair the switch and decided to buy a new one. After all, it was almost 10 years old :-)
Old one was a Ryobi, now I've got a Bosch.

[drventure]

I've had the same thing happen to two AC units. There's a relay in the compressor (that's usually in the middle of the coil that's located outside your house). Apparently, ants are attracted to the electrical arc that forms when the relay points contact, so they crawl up in there and get fried when the points connect.

Over time, if enough of them get in there, the carbon will kill the relay and no more AC. It's an easy fix, but still.

[yaksplat]

Apparently, ants are attracted to the electrical arc that forms when the relay points contact, so they crawl up in there and get fried when the points connect.

That's interesting, but not uncommon i guess.

There was a tech bulletin released for the honda odyssey stating that the frequency of the knock sensor has a tendency to attract rodents which will chew the wires.  The result was to wrap the wire in capsaicin tape.