My Oster electric hair clipper died. It was time to fix it…
The thing has been my trusty friend for many years, allowing me to go far beyond the recommended 2-3 weeks between haircuts. A little neck trim, maybe the sideburns, no one would ever notice.
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assembled
And then one day, Mr. Oster just quit. His sliding blade stopped sliding. It had power — that unmistakable sound as it “snapped” on.
At first, I thought the slider switch was too corroded over to be making contact. Nope.
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switch
Then, I thought there was too much hair and grime between the transformer halves. Nope.
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transformer
It turned out this strange little anchor screw was merely too tight, such that the coil could no longer alternate back and forth with the AC line current.
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switch bypassed
Loosen it up, and eureka!
Project photo gallery:
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13 Comments
I am James’ barber. I’ve been doing it for 15 years. Maybe I should start making him pay me! How much do they charge you for a haircut? Those look just like the Oster clippers I use on him.
I think you should try to get a little spending money for those haircuts Jules! Good job Mr. Fix-it.
$15, Jules! That’s some splurge money right there!
$15 for a haircut? Wow. I only get charged $9!
Jules, do you take credit cards?
I’m a cash only girl. You should know that!
Recommendation worked like a charm thanks
Hello! I stumbled across this page googling “how to fix hair clippers”, and your advice is pretty good. It worked for one set of clippers (I THINK I loosened the spring you’re talking about correctly), but the second set is giving me problems.
As I loosen the spring holding the mobile blade, the blade begins moving more and the vibrations are louder. The only thing is, it doesn’t move enough to start cutting, and I’ve already loosened the spring to the point where it falls out of the clipper! It just seems like there’s “something” holding back the blade, but I’m not sure what it is. Any suggestions?
I’m very curious - do you know why this happens to a set of clippers after use? I don’t have any electrician-background so my understanding of this is very basic, correct me if I’m wrong: The motor is an electromagnet and oscillates the magnet to move the blade. If that’s the case, I don’t see any reason why the magnet would “wear itself down” after time. Why do we need to move the spring at all? I’m just interested to understand the process and would appreciate any explanation. =)
Allen, good to hear that one of your pairs of clippers is fixed now. As to why this is happening, I’m not completely sure. When my clippers froze up, I assumed it was that anchor screw had just worked itself tight over the years.
If you have a pair of clippers in which you’ve loosened this screw and it’s still not oscillating, then there’s something wrong with the transformer which provides the magnetic field. It’s possible that the coils are corroded. Look for rust or damage on the coil.
My clippers only work when turned in the right position (straight up and down usually). I checked for loose wires and the switch and they don't seem to be out of order. Also checked the big adjusting screw and it's the same story.
What can I do to fix them?
Dennis, When your pair doesn't work, do you hear any electric "buzz"? If so, then you know there's power but the coil is binding in that orientation. If there's no power at all in the orientation that causes it to not work, then I'd say you have a cable intermittence. Rob
Rob, There is no buzzing at all. They either come on or not. Usually when they are vertical.
I just checked them again. It's the cable.. Thanks for your help, I wouldn't have fixed them without you.
I Have 2 pair of andis master clippers and 2 different trimmers they will not cut I have oiled cleaned them but nothing seems to work?