Thread: Makita 3600BR switch

Job for an electrician or power tool repairer for your own safety.

Thanks for your thoughts Pete but that doesn't answer the question.

Tools

So the original switch was double pole and the replacement is single pole. No idea why Makita would do that. Anyway, you would need to join the neutral wires together and connect the active wires to the switch.

If you DIY, be sure to properly insulate the join in the neutral wires.

Is it actually a genuine Makita part? The quotation marks make it ambiguous.

I had a look at my 3600BR. I went out to the shed with the full intention of pulling it apart to have a look but it looked like a real PITA so I googled it instead. Hook the brown wire from the lead to the switch. Connect one of the motor wires to the other side of the switch. Join the blue wire from the lead to the other motor wire. Make sure the join is well insulated (plenty of tape or heat shrink) Should be good to go.

Thanks for your help gents.

The part was sold as being genuine and as far as I am aware it is genuine. I don;t know why Makita would have changed it and when it arrived my first thought was that I had either mis-read what router the switch was for or the seller had sent me the wrong item. It was certainly listed as for the 3600BR so I googled further and found it listed on many sites as being the correct part. It also suits other tools as well such as 4" grinders before they had dead man switches so perhaps they just decided to use this as a substitute for the original switch. The body of the new switch is also considerably smaller than the original, but the bit that is actually seen is exactly the same,

Pack.jpgSwiych.jpg

The original is a DPST so there are 2 pairs of terminals switched together. I don't have the router here with me but there were 2 red wires which from memory were both from the stator, one switched with a blue wire and the other switched with a brown wire. I didn't take any notice of where they came from as I wasn't expecting the replacement switch to be different but presumably they are direct from the lead. I will buzz them out on the weekend but what you have both said about joining one pair and switching the active side seems to make sense.

I'll report back on how it goes. Thanks for your help.

Tools

Originally Posted by Tools

Thanks for your thoughts Pete but that doesn't answer the question.

Tools

I had a limited electrical ticket (now expired) from my trade so I understand what is needed but consider telling someone that needed to ask that question as irresponsible.

He’s not asking how to add a sub-main to his garage. It’s a switch for gawd’s sake. Ask yourself this- would your grandfather have called an electrician to repair one of his power tools?

Not sure about grandad but there are several Australian standards about repairs to appliances and power tools. They are in place for a good reason. You see silly things happen on table saws etc. As I said you can see them, electricity has no favourites and cannot be seen, felt yes and usually with significant consequences.
I could go on but I think my intent is fairly clear.

It was all pretty obvious when I opened the router up again today. Two wires from the motor and the active/neutral from the lead so as suggested I switched the active with one of the motor wires and joined the other motor wire to the neutral using a female spade connector and heat shrink. Now working again like it should so thanks to those that offered advice.

Tools