I noticed a bunch of sparking in my dewalt quite the light show then after I turned it off it wouldnt start again. Cleaned it with the air hose then gave it a jump start finally got it to work but still has some sparking. Anyone know what the issue could be?
How old are the brushes? The motor’s brushes eventually wear out and need to be replaced.
They’re the blocks of mostly carbon that slide along the commutator to connect the electricity to the rotor. There’s always some sparking in motors like these (which is one reason vacuum cleaner manuals tell you not to vacuum up flammable liquids), but worn out brushes can certainly change how much.
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Fairly new only got this January or so
Unplug the router and remove the brushes one at a time. The brushes get a rounded end to match the motor. If they are too square there is only a small patch of contact and you get a lot of sparking. If they are round in shape then blow out the motor through the brush hole. The carbon is conductive and a buildup will also cause sparks. Even when the brushes are perfect in shape they will spark. That is the nature of the brush style motor. If you see a lot of the newer battery operated tools they advertise that they are brushless. The brushless is more efficient because there is no physical drag on the motor and the arching is not present and the contamination from the spent brush is not present.
Just add to your maintenance routine to blow out the motor periodically to keep the sparking at a minimum.
Be sure to inspect the brushes, sometimes they are cracked and they will arch around the cracks. The brushes are replaceable and are not too expensive.
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Your brushes are dead. That happened to me lately. They will die anywhere from 50-200 hours of usage depending on speed.
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