Delta drill press, has this happened to you?

I have a 12" Delta drill press that is about five years old.

A few months ago the switch stopped working. It would turn on but not off.

I called Delta to report the problem and the lady gave me such a hard time it pissed me off. Then to add insult to injury, I had to spend my $$$ to replace the switch.

The comment that got me was something like this, "That is the switch we use on all of our tools, they never fail, you must have done something to it."

This defect could really injure someone and that is why I called Delta rather than just order the part I needed.

Have any of you had a similar problem with Delta Tools?

I had exactly the same problem with exactly the same drill. It got worse over time until one day it went up in smoke, probably due to too much current trying to squeeze through a crappy contact. I think the troubles might stem from the locking mechanism on the switch. I had the thing for years before I ever noticed that you can pull outward on the switch to lock it. Now I just have a plain old rocker switch from the local electronics store.

Steve Zicree

5 years out of a Delta product? Heck you should have sent her a gift. What happens is the contacts get worn and cause a gap, with a gap, you have an arc. with an arc you get a weld. Its just normal wear and nothing you or Delta had to do with it. There are better quality switches on the market, you just don't see them on any Delta products from somewhere like HD or Lowes.

Sounds like this should be a recall issue. I think to say "It's just Delta." in a world where you can sue McDonald's for spilling hot coffee on yourself is kind of silly. Yes their tools cost less but this could be a safety issue. Imagine if that was your hand caught up in a fly-cutter. Mine is a Sears unit but now you got me wondering. You probably got an attitude because she doesn't like her job anymore and you were the ten thousandth person that called with that problem. Thanks for the heads up.