Table saw noise / bogging down

[Monte Milanuk]

So... my table saw - Rigid 4512 - has been making some increasingly odd/disturbing noises, and is now bogging down randomly - sometimes even when it's not even cutting anything.

At first it was just kind of an odd rattle on shutdown - a little like what you might hear if the blade nut wasn't *completely* tight. I was getting more and more into hand tools at the time, so used the TS very infrequently, and it became one of those things where I'd use the saw, hear the noise, and think "I really should look into that" and then it'd be months before I ever used the saw again for a quick one-off home improvement project, completely forget about the noise until I shut the saw off again and thought "I really should look into that". Go ahead, cast stones, those of you who've *never* done anything like that

Now... now it's doing something that's starting to really concern me. The saw will intermittently bog down and hang @ what 'sounds like' about 75% speed. Sometimes it's while in the middle of the cut (mostly 3/4" - or less - stock), sometimes it's right as the blade enters the cut, sometimes it's *after* the cut and there isn't anything anywhere near the blade. Sometimes it's before the cut, immediately after powering on. *Usually* powering the saw off and letting it spin down 'fixes' the problem, at least temporarily / long enough to finish the cut... but my track saw is getting more use than usual for some projects I wouldn't normally consider it for.

I have a 'feeling' that it's either a loose belt or a bearing going south. Not entirely where to start, other than unplugging it and taking all the panels off the cabinet and seeing if anything is glaringly obvious. Any further suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Cameron Wood]

Check for loose motor pulley.

[Erik Loza]

OP, what grind blade and how many board-feet do you have on it?

[Monte Milanuk]

Ridge Carbide 10" x 40T combo TS2000 thin kerf. Board feet unknown (who tracks that in a hobby shop?), but not that many.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I agree that it sounds like a loose pulley. On my Unisaw the key on the motor shaft was missing, and it would do something like what you describe. It was an easy fix.

[Mark Wedel]

Not sure about that particular saw, but I had an old delta that used a toothed belt, but the teeth were basically worn out, so while poking at the pulleys, you might want to inspect the belt.

[Derek Kessler]

Loose or worn-out belts can indeed cause the symptoms you're describing. Ensure the belt is properly tensioned. If it's too loose, it might slip or cause the motor to bog down.

[Bill Dufour]

Remove belt and spin motor and arbor by hand listen and feeling for noise. Wiggle both. feeling for any motion. run motor and see if it makes noise or not.
Bill D

[Lee Schierer]

Remove belt and spin motor and arbor by hand listen and feeling for noise. Wiggle both. feeling for any motion. run motor and see if it makes noise or not.
Bill D

This is what I would start with. I would also inspect the blade for missing or damaged teeth. Look for loose fasteners on the motor mount and saw structure in general. It could be just a small piece of cut off material or a tool than has become lodged where it rubs against something that is moving during operation.

I once had a small scale (ruler to some folks) that fell down in the space between the fence rail and the table that would vibrate and then stop, then start, etc while using the saw.

[Brian Tymchak]

As others have mentioned, it could be a loose pulley so definitely check that.

I have the TS 3650 and had somewhat similar behavior 3-4 years ago, mostly the blade not coming up to full speed with the blade height set low. Do you get the same behavior with the blade set higher, say 2"?

I judged my problem as a stretched belt. Visual inspection of the belt showed little wear. Assuming the motor mount on your model is similar to mine, the motor mount rides on a pair of rods and you can adjust that mount a little bit which will effect the tension of the belt. It's possible that with use over time the mount has moved on those rods a little bit. You want to make sure the motor is completely suspended on the belt to fully tension the belt.

In my case I think time and use stretched the belt with the motor ending up being suspended a bit by it's bracket with the blade set low. I was also getting a bit of a bang on startup. I'm pretty sure it was the motor bracket bottoming out on the mount when the motor bounced on startup. New belt and a little fiddle with the motor mount fixed my problem.

[Monte Milanuk]

Didn't get a chance to tear into things until tonight.

As I got the cover off the back of the saw, I was thinking "Man, I really hope it's a belt / pulley... but dang those parts are *really* close together..."

Just grabbing and tugging in various spots, nothing really *felt* loose. Turned it on, ran for a few seconds and the noise started up. Turned it off, but couldn't see anything before it wound down. Raised it up, angled it over, nothing different.

Removed the blade, and as I was doing so, I noticed a sheet metal sounding rattle as I turned the shaft. Crap. I've heard that before - long ago and far away, in a different life/job. Never anything good, and it was never a belt or pulley. Sounded more like the fan rattling around the shroud on the far end of the motor. Maybe I'll get lucky; sometimes the mounting screw/bolt comes loose...

Nope, not so lucky. Fan completely sheared off its mount, looks like its been bouncing around getting wallered out (technical term). The mounting collar doesn't want to budge - and it's in a not-fun spot to get at :/

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[Cameron Wood]

Good job figuring it out. Maybe it will run well enough without the fan.

[Monte Milanuk]

Depending on how stubborn that end bolt winds up being, and how much trouble I have sourcing a replacement part... that might be on the table as an option. Pretty sure the fan hasn't been doing much of anything useful for a while now, and I don't use the saw very heavily at all. Not an ideal situation, nor a long term solution, but in the interim...

[Zachary Hoyt]

Everything is temporary, as the fellow said...

[Richard Coers]

Every problem can be solved by throwing money at it.