Chop Saw Blues

[Anonymous Poster]

Fred, check the wire gauge size in your shop circuit, if it is 14/2 it might be a little light. I have a Dewalt chop saw and run it on 12/2 w/20amp. It has never tripped the breaker on startup or otherwise. I did have trouble once when I helped a buddy out on a welding project, the shed we were working from had 14/2 w/15 amp circuit, it was tripping on startup and I think we must have reset that sucker 20 times that day. It got to the point where he would just stand at the panel while I cut. I was a little dissapointed with the power of the Dewalt saw when I got it since I moved up from one of those $99 chinese jobbies from Harbor freight, there really didn't seem to be that much more power, maybe I was expecting a little much. One thing I did learn was the value of good cut-off wheels, those cheap import ones sometimes glaze up when cutting thick stock and just stop cutting to the point that I would have to throw in a piece of flat bar on edge and dig into it hard so it would give it some fresh cutting edge to work with and switch back to the heavy piece.

 

[DocHeb]

You didn't mention model numbers for your saws. I've used a Dewalt DW705 for woodworking over the past four years without problems on a 15 amp circuit. You said you were cutting metal studs. My owners manual said to not cut ferrous metals with my saw. Do you have a woodworking model that you are using for metal? I could see where the metal dust would short out the brushes/motor in a non-sealed, non-TEFC woodworking model.

The basic Dewalt 12" woodworking model is DW872

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Take it to a DeWalt repair shop and tell them the problem. They will either fix it or replace it as DeWalt is one of the top companies for customer satisfaction. I have quite a few DeWalt tools and have had minor problems with a couple of them, took them to be repaired at no charge and never had any problems again.

 

[gerard]

When you say Chop saw I assume you mean a METAL chopsaw since you're cutting metal studs?? If you have a wood chop saw and are using a metal blade and cutting metal you'll kill the saw. The metal filings get into places and can short things out. Metal chop saws are all sealed to prevent that. I have a wood (sears contractor) and a metal chop saw (milwaukee), both run on 15 amp circuits with no problem.

 

[cp1969]

Milwaukee would have replaced the on-off switch, which sounds like less of a problem than you are experiencing with the DeWalt.

Just my opinion, but I would not consider DeWalt (other than the old radial-arm saws) to be a 'premium' line of tools. To me, Milwaukee, Ryobi, Makita, and Porter-Cable all look like they're better built, and I once read an article on Black and Decker in Forbes magazine in which the CEO was gloating over the fact that the DeWalt line of power hand tools was just a marketing ploy; the tools were in fact little, if any, better than the Black and Decker line but commanded higher prices due to the yellow color scheme and the money put into advertising. My own experience with DeWalt tools is at work, where three of the four 12V cordless drills I bought are out of commission and one of the two 1/2" corded drills is also down.

Btw, Porter Cable looks to be going downhill as they have started to supply the Home Depot type market. These big buyers dictate to the tool supplier what the tool will cost, resulting in a downward spiral of quality along with price.

 

[Phred]

Ed,
I have the exact same unit.
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_detail.asp?productID=160>http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_detail.asp?productID=160</A>

I also checked the voltage; 123.8 V. So that's not the problem.

Stephen;
I have this on a dedictaed breaker, nothing else on it.
I have changed the breaker in and out from 20A to 30A.
But the wire is 10 gauge in EMT connected up to a commercial grade 30A GFI outlet.
A 10 gauge extension cord (25ft) then connects it to the saw. So the circuit up to the saw is
good for 30A continous with very little voltage drop.

Chris;
This saw is designed for metal. It uses an abrasive blade that slowly wears away as you cut metal. Its great for EMT, metal stock, pipe, metal stud, etc... You can cut through a metal stud in a ~10 seconds. Sure beats the hack saw.

If you have never used one of these make sure you use a face shield, gloves, and long sleeves. These things throw hot sparks all over the place. A lot like a grinder only much larger.

Charles; Well I called Milwaukee and they said that I had to take it back to a particular center that would have been quite a drive.Probably two seperate trips to drop off and returm. My time is worth more than that so I returned it.
I have heard similar talk about dewalt. But I have a set of the 18V cordless tools. These things have been abused and work great without any problems. I even dropped the cordless drill of a ladder on to concrete and it still keeps running. I think this chop saw is just defective and its my bad luck to get two turkeys in a row.

Robert: Your right. I will call dewalt and see how hard it will be to get this thing repaired or returned.


Thanks for all the input guys.

Fred

 

[Robert_in_NY]

This link if it works will take you to dewalts service center search. There are a lot of them so you should have one somewhere close.
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.dewalt.com/us/service/center_finder.asp>http://www.dewalt.com/us/service/center_finder.asp</A>