Festool chop saw burnout.

[Tigercubrider]

Question-

a chop saw at work apparently “sort of sparked and blew up” - I will find out the model number tomorrow.

it was running off a festool vacuum and at the time was cutting 2x2.

there’s a smell of burning (not wood) and I guess either the brushes or the motor have gone? I can take a look tomorrow.

any ideas? It’s about 5 years old and not used 52 weeks a year 5 days a week

ta

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

It’s about 5 years old and not used 52 weeks a year 5 days a week

Which suggests it has done a lot of work, so you have had your monies worth out of it. Possible it was choked up with sawdust, lacked ventilation, so it over-heated and burnt out.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Any money that it'll be a Kapex KS120 or a KS88. There have been some well reported issues with full size Kapex saws going phut like this (see the FOG or Festool Owners Group) - some people never have problems and then there's the occasional saw which has "issues". Festool won't admit to any problem with these saws, but are generally quite good at fixing them... One thing I will say is that like a lot of Festool kit they are somewhat intollerant of flaky power supplies - so when mine gets used on site it's always on it's own transformer (5 or 6kVA), it only ever runs on a single extension cable (4.0mm) and Gawd help anyone who plugs an angle grinder into my transformer because the first time I find it I'll unplug it, the second time I'll chop the plug off and throw it away.

Despite all the (over?) reported problems I actually don't think that many Festools fail. 110 volt saws, which are more likely to be on ropey power supplies (e.g. low voltage, etc) than 230 volt saws in nay case, seem to be more prone to failure, but I think the issue is as much down to people being more likely to complain about a £1000+ mitre saw going phut than they would about a £500 one doing the same

So, get hold of Festool and see if you can send it back FoC, especially as it hasn't been caned. If it isn't a Festool, bin it - mitre saws have moved on in 5 years...

And despite that nagging little worry at the back of my head if mine did die I'd probably get it repaired on the grounds that it is still the most consistently accurate and easy to use mitre saw on the market

 

[Wayners]

If you can get motor apart lash with contact cleaner and check brushes.

Maybe insect go in and mashed it up or just dirty. Good clean may fix

 

[mrrusty]

it was running off a festool vacuum

And another one! The problem as I see it is that festool 110v vacuums (and I bet this is 110v) are fitted with 16A 110v plugs and plugged in to 16A supplies. Do the maths with a 1kW or so vacuum and see how much is left to run the attached tool! The answer is not enough.

UK is the ONLY country that uses a 55-0-55v supply for construction site equipment. Have a look at the festool operating instructions for the GB 110v specification and you'll find the maximum power take off load for the auxilliary socket is only rated at 500 - 700W or so which isn't enough to power a kapex. To have a decent rated power take-off socket a vax would need to be on a 32A 110v plug and supply. But they're not...

e.g. page 16 https://festoolcdn.azureedge.net/pr...ment/debd5bfd-300b-11ec-811f-005056b31774.pdf

 

[opps]

Question-

a chop saw at work apparently “sort of sparked and blew up” - I will find out the model number tomorrow.

it was running off a festool vacuum and at the time was cutting 2x2.

there’s a smell of burning (not wood) and I guess either the brushes or the motor have gone? I can take a look tomorrow.

any ideas? It’s about 5 years old and not used 52 weeks a year 5 days a week

ta

The "sparking" is a bit odd. I have previously owned products that sparked because the carbon brushes wore out. Every Festool product that I own has plastic sprung loaded inserts in the commutator brushes. When the carbon brushes wear down the spring pushes the plastic insert forward to stop the current. TBH, if I am on site and need to use the tool, I pull the spring out and know that I have a 2(?) week grace period to carry on working until the new brushes turn up.

Please do continue to update the thread. I don't own a Kapex, I would love to but cannot justify the cost.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I don't own a Kapex, I would love to but cannot justify the cost.

I own one and still couldn't justify the cost!

 

[TimboTwo]

I own one and still couldn't justify the cost!

Ditto. But I wouldn't be without KS120. Or any of my other Festool gear.

By the way, where do you get Festool blades sharpened?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Leitz in Manchester, actually they are next door to Screwfix in Middleton, or they were last time I dropped stuff off maybe 2 years ago (pandemic!). I believe they send stuff to their Leeds depot for sharpening, though. I figured as they make the blades on the first place they are probably the best people to sharpen them