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Makita battery chainsaw won’t light up

John F Dean

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posted 4 months ago

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I have a 36v Makita chainsaw that won’t light up or start. I have recharged and traded out the batteries….still no results. I am heading outside after I post this to clean off the contact points.

Any other ideas?

I want to be 15 again …so I can ruin my life differently.

Les Frijo

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posted 4 months ago

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I'm not familiar with these but Makita stuff is usually quite tough. Maybe being a chainsaw it is subject to oils and resins flying around and could be the cause. Hopefully cleaning the contacts works. My only other idea is a few good Fonzis to see if something is loose inside and then maybe cleaning everything you can with an electrical component safe spray.

Check that the safety guard/brake is not engaged.

FFS

thomas rubino

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At my house, once they stop lighting up, and the batteries are known to be good, it's dead.
Of course, you can double- or triple-check all the usual stuff, but you already did that before writing.
I hope the repair cost is reasonable, but my experience has been ... that it is cheaper to buy a new one.

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John F Dean

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Hi Thomas,

I just cleaned the contact points really well … no success, seeing that I have 2 Greenworks …I will let this one RIP. I was hoping for a hidden breaker I didn’t know about.

I want to be 15 again …so I can ruin my life differently.

Christopher Weeks

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Someone would find that motor useful if nothing else. Everything is parts!

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John F Dean

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Hi Les,

I played with the chain break. It is not just that the chain won’t move … no lights, indicators, come on at all. It doesn’t recognize that the batteries are in it.

I want to be 15 again …so I can ruin my life differently.

Hugo Morvan

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posted 4 months ago

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Did you take the security brake off. That thing on top you push close with your wrist?
I've seen people go ape-shit trying to start it and then it was just that simple security.

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Rico Loma

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posted 4 months ago

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My battery chainsaw is not a quality buy like Makita, but I had similar situation once. I tried everything I could, yet no joy.
but one last guess worked. Brought it inside and parked it near the woodstove and over a few days it was warmed slowly.....then started working again. Still working today. I reckon I had inadvertently allowed moisture to seep in over time, now I keep all saws in the driest spot possible to avoid that pratfall

May the battery spirits bring you luck , friend

John F Dean

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Hi Rico,

Great point! The saw has been under shelter but in unheated areas. I will give it a try.

Oh yeah, that quality buy was “free”. I had a part time job where I traveled a great deal. The pay was poor, but the travel points I accumulated ended up being in the millions. They furnished this homestead.

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R Scott

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Does it have the safety “on” button? That membrane switch gets wet easy from condensation. It seems to be the weak link in all the newer Makita. I think it is usually a relatively inexpensive part to replace.

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John F Dean

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I have had it in the house for a while. It lights up, but it doesn’t run. Yes, I checked the chain break.

I want to be 15 again …so I can ruin my life differently.

Les Frijo

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John F Dean wrote:I have had it in the house for a while. It lights up, but it doesn’t run. Yes, I checked the chain break.

Interesting! That would suggest the condensation theory. Maybe more time inside will lead to more functionality. Sounds like a design flaw to me. Maybe worth trying to contact someone at Makita and see what they say.

FFS

John F Dean

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Hills,
If a day or so in the house has gotten some results, I figure I will keep on drying it out through the weekend.

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John Weiland

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Les Frijo wrote:

John F Dean wrote:I have had it in the house for a while. It lights up, but it doesn’t run. Yes, I checked the chain break.

Interesting! That would suggest the condensation theory. Maybe more time inside will lead to more functionality. Sounds like a design flaw to me. Maybe worth trying to contact someone at Makita and see what they say.

John, I'm going to assume that you have pulled on the chain to rotate the chain and the cog wheel around a few times?.... I ask because I have two more legacy corded Makita tools, a drill and an angled buffing tool, that also sit for months, sometimes years, without use in an unheated garage with humid summers and frigid winters. This past summer I need the angle tool and it would not run when I activated the trigger. After several rounds of adjusting the speed control and rotating the head by hand, it finally started running and ran fine after that. But I'm wondering now as others have stated about the condensation possibility. Just a thought...

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Mart Hale

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If it is under warranty appears that the controller board can go out...

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