# Table Saw Motor Problem



## pmulry (Jul 13, 2007)

Hi guys. I've run into a problem with my table saw that I need some help troubleshooting. I've had the saw (a Craftsman 2-HP hybrid) for a little more than 2.5 years and haven't ever had this problem before. I had used the saw quite a bit yesterday and, frankly, a ton over the last 6 weeks with no problem at all. Toward the end of the day, I had 2 more cuts to make and when I went to turn the saw on, it went "buzzzzz" and the blade started turning slowly but wasn't picking up speed. On the rare occasion in the past when this would happen, I would turn off the saw and then turn off the other electrical devices on that same breaker circuit, and then it wouldn't be a problem; obviously the problem at that point was too many amps on a hot wire.

Last night, though, it was different. After doing the same thing as when I would otherwise run into this problem, I turned on the saw, and still no movement. I figured that it being late and me being tired, I'd let everything rest overnight and tackle the problem fresh this morning.

Unfortunately, the saw didn't fix itself overnight, so I know that hot wires aren't the problem. The blade isn't bound up on anything, as it spins freely by hand. The belt is in good condition and properly tight and there's no interference with anything in the path of the belt, arbor, or blade. The cabinet was very full, so I vacuumed that out first and tried again, still no luck. Without removing the saw motor from the cabinet, after unplugging the saw, I pulled off the side cover of the motor so that I could see the armature and it was very, very dusty (despite this having a TEFC motor). So I blew it off with compressed air (~50 psi) and vacuumed that too. Reassembled and replugged everything, same result: no spinning blade. When I turn it on, the motor makes a loud buzzing sound like it always does at the start, but then it doesn't start spinning like usual.

Any thoughts on this problem & the cure? Do I need to pull the motor out and disassemble to blow out the rest of the dust, then re-assemble and see if that fixes everything? Or am I looking at a new motor? Thanks in advance guys.


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## DanLyke (Feb 8, 2007)

Sounds like your motor's starter capacitor is blown. Find it and replace it. (Yeah, it's scary to dig in amongst the wires, but it's not bad).


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## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

*Check you centrifical start switch points first, before buying a capacitor, They get all carboned up from sawdust. 
You have to remove the end cover on the motor to do this.

If you buy a capacitor,it might not work until you clean the points first. *


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## mattsanf (Jul 20, 2007)

I had this same problem with a brand-new Dewalt hybrid saw a couple of years ago. It ran well for 3 days and then the problem you described cropped up. As Dan said, the saw's starter capacitor had gone bad (but try Dick's suggestion first!).

Luckily for me, it was still a warranty repair (they came to my house!)


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## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

Here's a motor primer for you.


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## MikeLingenfelter (Feb 19, 2007)

I had the same problem with my Craftsman's table saw. I took the motor in to be tested at a electric motor shop. They did a complete electrical and load test, and found nothing wrong with it. It hasn't had a problem since. It's very odd, and I'm just waiting for it give out in the middle of a project.


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## edp (Jul 23, 2007)

Don't overlook the power switch in situations like this. Some of the saws I've used including the two I have now, have a penchant for collecting sawdust inside the switch body. After they have collected enough, the contacts refuse to come together. I have even had the thermal overlaod switch on my cabinet saw fill up with dust and refuse to allow the motor to energize.

Ed


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## pmulry (Jul 13, 2007)

Hey guys, thanks for all the great tips! And especially Dick for the link to the .pdf on FWW's site. The diagram on that was worth well more than 1,000 words 

Here's the conclusion to the story. I just came in from the shop. I removed the outer cover, the external fan, the inner shroud, and then pulled out the spring-loaded centrifugal switch, which looked and operated pretty much as I would imagine that it did the day it left the factory. But, since I had it out I passed some sandpaper over the contacts although they didn't look like they needed it at all. Same thing on the other part of the switch. Made sure that all the screws were tight (they were), blew it all off with compressed air again, then re-assembled everything. Forgot to put the fan back in somehow until I had the outside all buttoned up-Doh! So I had to take that outer cover off again, fan on, cover back on. Decided to hit the motor with the meaty part of my fist a couple of times since that sometimes seemed to work on the old Mustang I drove in high school.

Closed the cabinet back up, cleared the top of tools, plugged the saw in and hit the green Start button. Eureka! Started just like the day it was brand new. I couldn't believe my eyes (or ears) because after I found everything shiny and new looking inside, I was convinced that I was going to have to remove the capacitors. Turned it off, let it slow to a stop, then started it up again just to see if the electrical gremlins were just playing games with me. I guess maybe leaving the side door of the saw cabinet open all day was enough temptation for them to leave my saw, because it started up again and cut just fine.

So, I'll be darned if I know what was really wrong. What I did shouldn't have had anything to do with fixing it, except maybe banging the motor with my hand if there was a short somewhere? But I guess so long as it's working, I'm not going to go looking that gift horse in the mouth.

Thanks again to everybody for jumping in to help me out on this one. I didn't know where to start and now it's working again, which means I'm working again. Cheers.


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## Radish (Apr 11, 2007)

Could be gremlins…


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## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

I'm glad you liked the PDF from FWW. I don't know if you have FWW online, but it's well worth having. They're running a special price right now, for $14.95/yr, Reg. $34.95.

*Happy Sawing!!*


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## woodspar (Mar 6, 2007)

I have a Craftsman from the 80s that has a separate box for the capacitor, switch, etc. I was having a problem like you described. I cleaned a ton of sawdust out of the switch box and it came back to life.

The other thing that I would bring up is that if you are running your saw on a particularly hot day when everyone on your street is running their air conditioning, you might find that your house isn't getting as much juice as it normally might. I find that the old saw sometimes has trouble starting on these hot days.

Also, How far away from the service panel (your fuse/circuit breaker box) is the outlet where you plug in your saw and how old is your house? I have fewer problems starting the old saw using the plug on the side of my garage that is closest to my service panel.

You may find that some combination of sawdust in the electrics of your saw, community power draw on a hot day, and distance from service panel conspire in a perfect storm of failure for your saw…


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