My one-handed recip saw is suffering from the only real flaw I've ever had with them...... the housing is worn where the battery locks into place. I want to just change out the housing since the units are no longer made and does things no other cordless recip can do (like work inside a narrow wall with ease). Before I order the housing and front & read covers, I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how to remove the blade release set-up so I can remove the front housing to get to the screws under it. It appears they press the sleeve over the end of the shaft after the rest of the saw is completely put together but getting it off is driving me nuts. It appears I can just whack it off with the grinder and order the pieces and press a new sleeve back on. Anyone tried to repair this unit or have any advice or tips on how it's done? I hate to scrap it since they're now discontinued when it appears it can be repaired rather inexpensively. Thanks in advance for ANY help!!
I haven't worked on this exact model before, but the blade clamp mechanism is very similar to others out there. By the way, I've attached the parts breakdown and parts list to this email for your reference.
First you have to remove the #18 Retaining Ring, which will allow you to remove the #17 Front Cam. Once the Cam is removed you would then remove the #14 Lock Pin.
Once the Lock Pin is removed it should be pretty simple and straightforward to remove the rest of the components. Just make sure you keep them in order so you know how to re-install them when you install the new handle assembly.
If this doesn't help you at all (forgive me if it doesn't!) then you can certainly contact Ridgid tech support directly at 1-800-474-3443.
This morning, I went to the garage about ...oh...say 1AM and that saw was haunting me and there it was on the bench. I sat down and took another look with a magnifying glass at that darn retaining ring and low and behold I wiped off a tiny fleck of residual dust/grease and there was the answer - I could see the end of that paper thin rascal! Felt like a fool for not finding it earlier BUT I WON in the end!!!! Thanks for the reply because you're the first person I've spoken to that ever took one apart apparently! I'm a happy camper now!!
Thanks for the reply because you're the first person I've spoken to that ever took one apart apparently! I'm a happy camper now!! 