dewalt chopsaw warning

[Jeff Bartley]

This post goes out to all the other owners of newer dewalt chopsaws......I think mine is a 718....it's the 12" slider, 5 years old but very well cared for! The problem is the bearing adjacent the belt pulley on the motor shaft. The other week I noticed the saw was making a new noise and immediately thought of a bearing. After asking my local repair guy about it he reported that these saws have issues with this bearing. His thoughts were that the belt comes tensioned too high from the factory.
I'll pass along the warning he gave me: don't wait to fix it because if the bearing goes out completely you can't pull the race off and then must use a dremel or similar tool to cut the bearing off the shaft! Lucky for me my work for the next week doesn't require the chop saw and the repair shop keeps these bearings in stock! I love this saw and really can't complain.......it wouldn't be fair to compare it to something like the Kapex.....the Kapex is in another price category altogether....but I bet the Kapex has bearings that will last more than 5 years!
I'll report back after I tare it apart!

[Paul Incognito]

So this just affects the sliders? Thanks for passing this on, and I hope you get yours working soon.
Paul

[Nelson Howe]

I replaced the bearings on my 718 after I noticed the grinding sound and the little balls rolling around on the table. I suspect I had gone past the point you recommend. I ordered the part online and followed the online video for replacing the bearings. I'm not a gearhead, and I did have to buy the dremel tool and bearing puller from Harbor Freight, but I had kind of been looking for an excuse to get a dremel anyway, and the bearing puller was cheap. Changing out the bearing really wasn't a big deal, and it did notch up my sense of manliness and handiness an insignificant increment on the manliness and handiness (never to be viewed by the wife) scale. Saw works great now.

Nelson

[Jeff Bartley]

Glad you were able to repair yours Nelson! Paul, I don't know what the track record is for the non sliders but if they have a belt I'd suspect they're capable of the same fault. For me it was a noticeable new sound and the blade seemed to stop quicker. It immediately made me think of a bearing going out.