POWERTEC 110/230V Dual Voltage On/Off Switch, 3HP Single Phase Safety Power Switch for Table Saw, Router Table, Drill Press, Bench Saw, Bandsaw, Sander, Grinder & Other Electrical Equipments (71008)

Bought this for an air compressor. Quality seems to be pretty good. The front bezel and buttons are plastic but the body of the switch and the actuators are Bakelite. The switch has a pretty nice positive snap action which should help the contacts last. The terminal screws are a little small but I had no trouble getting 12 AWG stranded wire under the clamp plates, which tightened down nicely. The provided screws which hold the bezel (and also hold the switch into position) are metric and need to be replaced with 6-32 screws to fit a standard US handibox. Pan head screws and little washers worked best here. I used a 4X4 electrical box along with a switch collar plate to mount. I have only been using this switch for a few weeks but it has been solid and works well so far.

I used this switch to run my router attached to my table saw. It is a 120/240V switch and I was not sure if I would use it in a 240V application. It is a heavy duty switch and I wanted this as my router is older and can draw quite a few amps when stressed. This switch is well built for heavy applications. That said, you will need to use an extra deep electrical box to accommodate the switch. The switch is deep and will reach almost the back of a standard box. It is also wide enough that there is little room on the sides of the switch to accommodate the cables. This was my issue. I used a 12/2 supply to the switch and a 12/2 cable to the load. 12/2 wire is heavy and hard to work with in a cramped box. As stated, he reason I used this heavy wire was the extra amps that my router pulls under load. The amount of room this switch takes up leaves very little room on the sides for the cables. I managed to cram everything into the standard box but I would not recommend it. The switch itself works well and seem substantial but get the extra deep box and save yourself some frustration. Hope this helps.

The lack of instructions had me trip the breaker several times. I had to actually disassemble the switch to figure out how to wire it. I am not an electrician, but I am pretty familiar with circuits. What I forgot going into this was this is a double pole, single throw (DPST) switch. Most switches (your bedroom light switch, for example) are single pole, single throw, involving only one leg of the two wire circuit. Why this is important is that there are four connection points instead of the usual two, and that is where I went wrong. I assumed (which we should never do) that the circuits would run from right to left. I assumed that because there were tiny little words imprinted on either side, LOAD and LINE. So I connected the incoming (from the plug) to LINE and the wires to the junction box where I was going to plug in my router and dust collector to LOAD. The microsecond that I tried the switch, my breaker tripped. I assumed the LOAD (my 2hp router and 5hp shop vac) were too much for the circuit so I reset the breaker, unplugged the vac, and tried again. Instant trip. I unplugged the router and plugged in an LED test light. Virtually no load. Hit the switch, instant trip of the breaker again. Now I assumed the switch had a defect so I proceeded to take it apart. Happily, it was held together with four screws, and came apart readily. Immediately, I saw the problem. The switch actuated a double-poled rocker that connected two sets of contact points. Unfortunately, I had wired the switch across the points so rather than continuing the current when I actuated the switch, I was actually bringing the two sets of wires into contact with each other, creating an instant short. Putting the switch back together was a fiddly mess because of four ball bearings on which the rockers rode, and which were apparently enjoying their new-found freedom and did not want to return to the rockerswitch drudgery. Anyway, I got it put back together, and it works wonderfully. The little schematic drawing packaged with the switch did not illuminate the correct installation procedure, the way that a tersely worded note "Connect the hot and common of the incoming circuit to the bottom of the switch and the outgoing corresponding wires to the top of the switch" would have.

I bought an old router table with a broken switch. After measuring the hole, this was the one that should have fit. And it popped in perfectly. It’s sturdier that the style that was on it (I have the same on an old band saw) and it’s harder to accidentally turn on. I’m happy.

I built a router table into my table saw, I needed (wanted) a easy to shut off power switch for the router (so I don't have to reach below the table).This switch fit the bill, in fact if you research, most router table manufactures sell this same switch at a significant premium with their branding and a mounting plate.In summary: this switch is easy to use, especially easy to "turn off", easy to mount, high quality, all at a very reasonable priceFor ease of installation, the wiring diagram is included on the side of the switch.These were so inexpensive, I bought extras. Since that time the switch on my 25YO shopvac failed. It was an easy job to use one of these. Actually much easier to turn the shop vac on and off now.

How did a large screwdriver get inside my bandsaw that I hadn’t used in a VERY long time? Good question. I don’t know. But I can say that when the blade wheel catches one, it can be thrown with quite some force! Enough force to destroy the on/off switch - which has been discontinued for years.I had to grind down one of the male contacts with a rotary tool for my 2-wire application (the switch is made for 4 wires). I also had to open up the hole in the saw’s aluminum housing, as the original switch was 6mm shorter and 2mm narrower. 20V oscillating tool? Nope, it was an excellent noise maker, but not such a good hole maker in this application. Old fashioned rotary tool with a cut-off wheel? Done in 2 minutes. Then file the edges, install the snap-fit, and pre-drill for fasteners… In 15 minutes, the saw was running as good as ever, with a larger safer switch, which also appears to be sealed against dust for better longevity.