McDonalds' lawsuit...and tool safety.

[Trent©]

How many of you unplug your power tools when yer done usin' them? I'm talkin' about the tools we use on a regular basis...table saw, orbital sander, etc.

I don't. I don't have any young kids around anymore...and no young kids can get into my work area. So I always keep things plugged in...'cause I might use them again soon...especially if I'm on a large project.

A few months ago, I was doin' some sanding with my orbital sander. I had just turned it off...at the switch...and had gone to my other workbench to check on some of the work I had taken over there.

A few minutes later, I heard a weird noise coming from over my right shoulder. I turned...and saw my sander dancing all over the workbench! I went over quickly and grabbed it...and turned it off again.

What had happened...

The switch has a dust protector boot over it. I think the switch had actually not seated to the off position...it must've teetered in the middle position...then finally flopped over to the on position again.

I wrote to the manufacturer...they immediately called me...sent me a replacement...and asked me to send the bad one to them for inspection. They paid for all the shipping, of course...and they sent me an upgraded sander for my trouble.

But early in the conversation...when they thought my call might actually be to get some money out of them...I was told that tools should always be unplugged when done using them.

I wasn't done using the tool, of course. But, even so...I have never unplugged a power tool when done. I always keep them plugged in...sitting on the workbench. But my work area has never been accessible to anyone but me and other adults.

I honestly never gave any thought to the fact that a tool turned off could spontaneously restart. I wonder what might have happened if that sander had been jumpin' around by itself for a few hours...while I was out doing errands.

Just a heads-up...and some food for thought...after reading all the stuff about the woman with the hot coffee.

Wishing you and yours a happy Thanksgiving season...

Trent

[Mike in Mystic]

I'm not worried about leaving things plugged in or not, but thanks for a really good idea for getting upgrades to handheld power tools hehe

Mike

[Rob Stokes]

I've had the same thing happen. Won't say the brand name, but it was yellow.. I still have (and use) the sander but I make sure it's actually off and I also flip it on it's back when I put it on the bench.

Rob

[Sweet Sawdust]

[Andy Dingley]

If it hasn't got either two switches, or a proper contactor, then it _always_ gets unplugged if it's not being used for more than 10 minutes. at the end of the day (or before coffee breaks) I check the workshop.

Friend of mine leaves everything plugged in and hot, and it drives me mad - especially the angle grinder on the junk-piled workbench. I've seen that start up unexpectedly a couple of times, when things move the pile.

-- Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods

[Ron Magen]

And some idiots put LOADED rifles, etc. away in their cases or cabinets. There's no accounting for BAD HABITS or complacency developed over the years.

I'd rather be accused of being paranoid, anal, or an 'old worry wart', thank you very much, as I still have ALL my appendages and ALL my firearms.

Regards, Ron Magen Backyard Boatshop

[Edwin Pawlowski]

The chances of a tool starting up are really, really slim, but it can happen. I do unplug when changing blades and bits. Otherwise, all my tools are plugged and ready to go.

I've seen recommendations to unplug all appliances and TV;s when leaving the house for an extended time also. Never did.

I do wear seatbelts also. Ed [e-mail]

[Rossco in Oshawa]

Give this site a good look...

may find your particular tool in the recall list ecause it sounds familiar...

[Rossco in Oshawa]

Oh crap! Now I remember.

It was the Ryobi detail sander that I had given to me that was recalled with the same switch problem.

[Trent©]

Here's some good reading, Joat...

not as cut and dried as you suggest.

Wishing you and yours a happy Thanksgiving season...

Trent

[Andy Dingley]

Sawblade on what ? I trust my sawbench not to start unexpectedly, for it has a real starter and isolator, but I _know_ that a slight slip when handling the router is likely to catch the switch and turn it on

- I've had it happen plenty of times (no big deal, I always unplug it first).

I'd regard router bit changing as one of the most likely situations for this sort of "unexpected start" injury.

-- Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods

[John Manders]

But my work area has never been

My wife was helping me tidy up after some work in the house when she picked up my circular saw by the handle, hitting the switch as she did so. The thing started giving her quite a fright and a lesson. My workshop is off limits to children, pets and women.

John

[Jerry McCaffrey]

Trent© wrote in :

From days when kds were little, all outlets in shop are switched with switches at 7ft height.Now that the kids are in their 20's they can reach them ...damn! Tools stay plugged in but all switches off when you leave the shop. Tools get unplugged for blade or bit changes.

Jerry

[Scott Wilson]

Andy,

I there have been cases reported here in the rec about magnetic switches on table saws turning on when struck by an object. Struck on the side of the box that is- not the start button. Doesn't seem very likely, but if you had a board or a long clamp nearby slip at the wrong moment and strike the switch your saw could come alive...

Scott

[George E. Cawthon]

Sure it is. When a person does something stupid, they shouldn't blame it on someone else. The only reason we have such suits is because of faults in the legal system. Sleazy lawyers exploits those faults to make money instead of trying to get the faults corrected. Most of these suits are so obviously faulty that any reasonable person would call them fraud. Until someone has an upclose look at the system they may be entirely unaware of how much injustice is done. If it partly due to the adversarial system we have, and it is, then changes should be made. However, our legal system doesn't see capable of monitoring itself.

I don't know about you, but I like my coffee hot and I expect it to be hot. If it is not hot enough to burn you, then it isn't worth drinking. I've read what happened and it is not the fault of McDonald's.

[Trent©]

Thanks for the link, Rossco.

The company is there...and one of the sanders. Its not the model I had...and the one I had was a recent manufacture.

It looks like they're still havin' problems...and on more than one model evidently.

Wishing you and yours a happy Thanksgiving season...

Trent

[Trent©]

The problem is...DEFINE hot.

At least 13 people disagree with you. lol

But...and here's the reason I posted this query...answer this question for me...

If I had left the house...instead of going to the other workbench...and the sander had started and ultimately burned down the house...

Would that have been MY fault? After all, if I had unplugged the sander, the fire could not have happened from the sander.

This is the first time this has ever happened to me. And, to be quite honest, I had NO idea that a tool could restart after you switch it off. Should I have known that I should unplug the tool when not in use? Again...that's why I asked the question...because it looks like many of us don't unplug them when done for the day.

Should the McDonald's lady have known that HOT at one restaurant is not the same temperature at another restaurant? Should all the others that got burned before her have known also?

McDonald's paid off many people before her. In essence, by doing so, they admitted they were in the wrong. It was just the DEGREE of wrong doing that they disagreed on with her. So...she took them to court...to find out what the proper amount should be! lol

Wishing you and yours a happy Thanksgiving season...

Trent

[George E. Cawthon]

I'm not sure who's fault it was. If the switch is at fault, it is the fault of the manufacture. If you just half-assed turned the switch off, then one could say it was your fault, but if you really tried to turn it off, the switch is faulty which makes it the fault of the tool manufacturer. You can reasonably assume that the switch will work and it is unreasonable to assume that you must also unplug the tool. You can reasonably expect the tool to stay off once you turn the switch to off. This is not like the McDonald lady.

Yes. It is HOT coffee. Is it reasonable to assume that coffee spilled on you will not burn? No it is not. How stupid must a 70 year old be to not have figured out that spilling hot liquid on you burns you. Anyone that stupid should not be driving a car. Consumers are constantly warned to not move the temp on water heaters above 125 F because water above that temperature will burn you. But coffee at 125 F is considered tepid, not hot.

McDonald's erred in paying off. They knew they were right and the suit was wrong, but they went with the cheapest alternative. The alleged offender often pays off, because they get hurt less than by going to court and having an ignorant, uneducated and immoral jury be swayed by scuzzy lawyers and judges putting final to such activities. There are a lot of problem and faults in the legal system but most fault belong to the court officers including the lawyers and the judges. Consider the silicone implant case. There is no scientific evidence that silicone implants caused the problems attributed to silicone. But lawyers swayed juries to say that silicone implants did cause those problems. The problem is that the courts are no place to decide scientific knowledge because the courts don't use the scientific method, but rely on entirely different rules. Hell, the major participants usually know little about science. Courts often decide fact that in contrast to prove scientific knowledge.

[p_j]

You shouldn't complain about the sander then.

Why is it that your "sense of right and wrong" does not include accurately relating the issues involved?

[CW]

If you can't see the difference, you've got a problem.