# Has anyone else had this problem with blade brakes?



## Benjamin98 (Dec 5, 2017)

So… I'm not absolutely certain where to put this in the forums. But since my question is regarding something that nearly set my shop on fire… twice… Anyway I think it qualifies as a safety question.

This black friday I purchased the new hitachi jobsite table saw. Now just 12 days later with very light use. A paper tray, a picture frame and a couple little cuts for scrollsaw projects. And it's broken… the blade brake is shooting out a lot of sparks every time I turn the saw off. Right into a shop filled with wood.

Is this common with blade brakes? Is it probably going to happen again if I replace it with the same saw?

It's happened to me twice so far, once with a ryobi miter saw and now once with a hitachi table saw. I need to know if this is likely to happen again if I replace it with the same model, or if I should replace it with something else.

If I should get something else… well does anyone have a recommendation for a nice table saw around $300 that doesn't have a blade brake?


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

Contact the Hitachi service center.


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## Bill_Steele (Aug 29, 2013)

First off-I'm sorry that this is happening to you, but I'm interested in knowing the root cause of the problem. I've never heard of this type of fault before and I don't think any of my tools have a brake.

It's interesting that you have had this happen before with a different tool and now this new tool. I wonder if there is some sort of environment issue (e.g. excessive moisture) that might be contributing to this fault?

I would suggest not using the saw again until the fault is fixed.

Does Hitachi customer service provide any insight? Have you tried to take the mechanism apart to see what the root cause of the failure is?


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## Benjamin98 (Dec 5, 2017)

> First off-I m sorry that this is happening to you, but I m interested in knowing the root cause of the problem. I ve never heard of this type of fault before and I don t think any of my tools have a brake.
> 
> It s interesting that you have had this happen before with a different tool and now this new tool. I wonder if there is some sort of environment issue (e.g. excessive moisture) that might be contributing to this fault?
> 
> ...


Hitachi says pretty much nothing about the issue. They just said it was a defective, and to return it.

But a little bit ago I started to take a video, to have some documentation and to put with this forum post. I blew it off with a leaf blower before doing anything. Then… it just didn't spark.

I'm going to do a small project with it to see if it happens again. Just a couple small cuts… with a fire extinguisher a step away and far from all other sawdust.

Is it possible something just got lodged in there? Or maybe some sawdust got into the braking mechanism?

It is possible moisture was the cause, we've had a couple days of constant rain and cold. However last time, with the miter saw, it was a hot and dry summer day. And this time the moisture is a little worse, we've opened the garage a couple more times, And I had some MDF drying in there. (part of a desk someone tossed in a dumpster, stainless steel bottom with an MDF top)

In any case, I'm excited to go get another Christmas present done. So I'm going to head back into my shop. Hopefully I don't see sparks again, maybe it was just a fluke?


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## Sparks500 (Jun 30, 2017)

Sounds like something came loose inside it.

The good news is that Hitachi has great customer service, I bought a CMS from them years ago, and as soon as I got it noticed one the folding fences was not right in that it was warped beyond repair. Called them up, no questions asked, new one in a couple days.


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## Bill_Steele (Aug 29, 2013)

I did a little research and it looks like some people are experiencing excessive sparking issues that are resolved by changing the motor brushes. I did not find anything specifically about the Hitachi table saw-but I did find examples of compound miter saws. I know this has nothing to do with the blade brake. Is it possible that the sparks are coming from the motor? Perhaps you might try and replace the brushes if your saw has them.

I also looked up Hitachi table saws and it looks like some of their smaller contractor saws do have motor brushes. Here is a link to page for parts to a Hitachi table saw-the motor brushes-it even says "Parts that fix Excessive sparks from motor".

My link seems to end up at a slightly different page-but you can get to the brushes from the right side. Here's what I was referencing above:


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## wood2woodknot (Dec 30, 2012)

Don't mess with it yourself and destroy any warranties. If Hitachi already acknowledged your problem, get it back to them. And the repair should be warranted.


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