craftsman 14 inch bandsaw 119.224010 starts very very slow, and general opinion

I have the exact same saw and it is doing exactly the same thing. I would bet the problem is the start capacitor but I have been to lazy too fix it. Mine has gotten bad enough that it won't start at all if the motor is loaded even a little. What I do is remove all tension on the drive belt with the little crank handle and then power it up. It spins up almost instantly with zero load. Then I slowly tighten the drive belt to engage the blade. Once it is up to speed, it has as much power as it ever did. Just a couple of weeks ago, I used it to resaw some 8 inch wide red maple.

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Originally Posted by Art Mann

I have the exact same saw and it is doing exactly the same thing. I would bet the problem is the start capacitor but I have been to lazy too fix it. Mine has gotten bad enough that it won't start at all if the motor is loaded even a little. What I do is remove all tension on the drive belt with the little crank handle and then power it up. It spins up almost instantly with zero load. Then I slowly tighten the drive belt to engage the blade. Once it is up to speed, it has as much power as it ever did. Just a couple of weeks ago, I used it to resaw some 8 inch wide red maple.

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mine still starts with the blade on just takes much longer (20 times as longs my jet if not longer) to spin up, seems the same with the blade on or off, I gave it a good spin with a screw driver just as I hit the start button and it seemed to spin it much quicker.

can anyone confirm that capacitor will work?

Yep. It's the same rating... should work fine. Physical fit would be the only possible issue.

I replaced the start capacitor, no change, exact same system's. The lower wheel spins freely, I can spin it with 1 finger and it will coast about 1 revolution after I let go, motor seems to spin right up if I remove the belt that turns lower wheel, what is the next step?

Have you checked for a loose pulley?

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Originally Posted by cody michael

I replaced the start capacitor, no change, exact same system's. The lower wheel spins freely, I can spin it with 1 finger and it will coast about 1 revolution after I let go, motor seems to spin right up if I remove the belt that turns lower wheel, what is the next step?

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It sounds to me like the belt is either not tensioned correctly or possibly it is the wrong sized belt. When I first had my band saw, it appeared to be under powered. It would come up to speed and bog down every time I tried making a cut. I finally tensioned the belt ad it will cut through almost anything now. If your saw has been sitting for a long while, it is likely the belt has dried out an/or taken a set. Take the belt off and take it to a power equipment belt dealer to buy a replacement. Automotive belts are a different cross-sectional design and not made to run on power equipment.

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Originally Posted by cody michael

I replaced the start capacitor, no change, exact same system's. The lower wheel spins freely, I can spin it with 1 finger and it will coast about 1 revolution after I let go, motor seems to spin right up if I remove the belt that turns lower wheel, what is the next step?

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The easy way to use your saw in its present condition is to just use the little belt tensioner crank to loosen the tension enough for the motor to spin up and then slowly crank the belt tensioner until the blade runs fine. You do not have to remove the belt from the pulleys in order to unload the motor. You don't even have to open up the doors. You can tell when the belt is loose by the feel of the crank. I have done this exact operation hundreds of times without incident. I have successfully used my saw for years in this same condition and the power of the motor at speed has not diminished any. I used to assist my motor coming up to speed by spinning the wheel with the motor engaged. I don't do it any more because it is more trouble and more dangerous than just using the little belt tensioner crank by itself.

A word of warning. If you keep letting the motor come up to speed very slowly, you are going to eventually burn up the windings and it won't spin up at all.

It now seems to be running better, after I turned it on and off a few times it seems decent, takes maybe 10 seconds to spin up.

But at speed it runs ok, I resawed some 5-6 boards and it cut through them.

I agree with Glenn, sounds like the capacitor. When they go bad the capacitor housing sometime bulges out on them. Bandsaws are hard on capacitors as it take more startup energy to get those big wheels turning, especially if they are cast iron

Mark, read post number 19.

I replaced the capacitor, it seemed to start up a little better, before it would take forever, I would almost give up, now it starts up in a few seconds, not instant like my jet but decent.

The belt seems fine, it doesn't slip on start up. I did a resawed cut on a 5-6 inch board and it cut ok. Didn't seem underpowered.

Is this slow startup just normal on this saw? Or does something else have an issue? Should I try switching to 220?

I can't find post 19, some times my phone is weird and doesn't display posts right and I'm away from my computer today.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4qB6n1cm04

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My guess is that he probably meant "read posts number 1-9" ;)

There is a solid horizontal bar above each post, at least on a real computer screen. On the left side of the bar is the date and time of the post and on the right side is the post number. That is what I was referring to. In post number 24, Mark suggested that Cody replace the start capacitor while in post number 19 he states that he had already done so. I think it is a good idea for anyone who posts to be sure he has read all of the previous posts first. Otherwise, he may sound kind of silly.