Thread: Shutter cover on Triton TRA-001 switch

The shutter over the switch should move over regardless of the position of the router as long as the switch is in the 'off' position. But you can't get the router to full 'depression' - with the collet nut protruding from the base - unless the shutter is closed over the switch.

Several posters have found that the router won't go 'all the way' due to a build up of sawdust - usually from MDF - inside the hollow column. Remove the tiny locking screw, plastic cap & spring. Blow out with compressed air, reassemble & have another go.

I had to be the odd one out - I found a tiny burr on one of the plastic caps on the steel pin that engages the main shaft & stops it turning - it was enough to stop the pin retracting as I plunged the router. Eventually I figured out how to remove the offending parts & cleaned them up - no trouble since.

If neither of those work for you, do a search in the Triton section of the forums for instructions on how to pull the TRA-001 apart - and get it back together with no leftover bits ! It will probably be compacted MDF dust that won't blow/fall out.

Originally Posted by bsrlee

inside the hollow column. Remove the tiny locking screw, plastic cap & spring. Blow out with compressed air, reassemble & have another go.

G'day bsrlee, as it's mounted in a table the cap has long been removed when I first had the build up of MDF. Which leaves me with a shutter that's giving me agro.

Hi Waldo,

I have had the same problem with my TRA-001 in the table which turned out to be the switch shutter was not opening enough to be able to turn the router on.

In my case it was a build up of sawdust inside the body of the router stopping the switch shutter from opening all the way. I seem to remeber having a devil of a time trying to open the body around the switch to clean it out and I was surprised how much stuff was in there.

I hope this gives you somewhere to look.

Cheers,
Geoff

Originally Posted by Waldo

The shutter on the switch won't close over and I can't get the router to switch to on.

Let's start with a picture:



Is this where your switch cover is now? If it is, then the only two reasons I can think of for it locking in that position are that the spindle lock is engaged - but it would need to be fully plunged (fully raised in a table) to do that - or there is a physical blockage preventing the clear cover slide from going to the left (as seen in the above picture).

This "blockage" could be either a build-up of crap (please excuse technical term), but that's most unlikely, IME. More likely, the switch has come apart.

This picture shows FIVE black cross-head screws that hold the switch assembly cover in place - don't forget the one by the cable port!



You won't be able to remove the cover assembly far, due to the attached cable length, but at least you'll be able to see if it's OK before you detach the switch cables (if you need to). The parts diagram isn't very helpful:



I took mine apart for you and photographed the switch (with my dear Jean's help), showing what it SHOULD look like, firstly with the cover closed:



and now with it fully open:



Anything different from these pics should give you the cause. If it's a broken part, then I have a spare cover assembly somewhere on an old cannabilised machine.

You can also see clearly now how the power lock-out mechanism works.

In the first picture of the switch, the cover is closed and the square section part of the clear plastic part is to the left - allowing the plunge post to fully plunge so that it finishes up alongside it, stopped by the horizontal part of the yellow housing. When plunged fully, you can now work out how the cover is prevented from being opened, by the plunge post obstructing the square section of the cover slide.

In picture two, the switch cover is fully open, allowing the switch to be on. In this position, the plunge post is prevented from fully plunging by the square section, to prevent the spindle lock from engaging (can you imagine what would happen if it did!).

FYI, the orange spindle between the switch and the slider section is where the spring for the depth stop bar locates - nothing to do with the switch at all.

I hope that these pictures and description are of some use, both to you in your current position and for others to better understand how the mechanism works.

I'll be most interested to hear of your outcome, please.

Ray

G'day Ray,

Thanks for the effort of your reply. My switch cover is open and won't budge. But with your pics, I hopefully will be able to pull things apart and see if there's something going on inside.

Thanks too to gimjam, at least it has happened to someone else.

I'll pull the router out later today and have a go at things and post back as to what was the result.

Well, it turned out to be an easy fix.

I undid the 5 screws from the cover as per Ray's suggestion, but I couldn't get the cover off. Damn thing must be snapped on somewhere, anyway I got a screwdriver to pry it off...

And then I noticed the shutter had closed over

I must be a scary bloke, I know I'm not oil painting, but I think my router got scared of me. Or, something was caught somewhere and somehow what I was up to did something.

That's a kind of mixed blessing, Waldo. Great that it didn't take much fixing, not so good that you didn't find a cause, in case it happens again.

If you look at my lower two pics again, you'll see that the cover fits via a small channel, all around the perimeter, so it will be a fairly tight fit. Wiggling while pulling outwards should be all you need.

The channel is designed to make the housing as dust-proof as possible, although we know from gimjam's post that it's not absolutely perfect. Probably a blow out with an airline and some "dry" lube, such as PTFE spray, will be a cure in the future. HTH

Ray