Sawstop electrical problem...

[David Wambolt]

Don,

That's true. I guess I'm so used to dealing with issues from online purchases and such that I in many ways have detached myself from personalized service. I informed Sawstop via my letter that had I powered this unit up in the first month of ownership and found these problems, I would have returned it to my local distributor. The problem is that I purchased it about 10 weeks ago and over the past couple of weeks got it assembled and ready for use.

I guess TOP NOTCH wasn't the right word. Perhaps RESPONSIVE would be a better term to describe the support I received. I was stern in my letter to them in that I don't particularly like fixing these problems right out of the gate. The rails were one thing, but tearing into the saw itself is another. They also made the assumption I knew how to make the repair, which in my case I'm quite mechanically inclined, but many would not be so comfortable in this situation.

If I was to make a choice on a saw today, I'd buy the PM2000 without hesitation. The brake is a great safety feature, but some of my reasons for spending the extra money were diluted by the problems I experienced. I believe the way you are approaching your purchase is the right way.

[Don Bullock]

Thanks. I wish you the best with your saw now that it is working correctly. Hopefully it will meet all your expectations, except for the engagement of the brake due to an accident.

For me, the PM2000 isn't option. I want the SawStop for the fact that it is a great saw and because the safety features are like an insurance policy that I hope I never use. My wife fully agrees and has graciously concented to the expenditure. She's also aware of the great frustration I have trying to use my present saw. While my '70s era Craftsman was a good saw in its time, I need something better to do the type of work I want to do. Without the safety features I could not justify purchasing a table saw. With the information that you and others have provided, I can go into this purchase much better prepared than I would have been without the extra input.

BTW -- I can understand the delay in setting up the saw. I'm facing the same thing with my Steel City mortiser. I haven't finished the "mobile base" for it so it's still in the box. I've now had it a month. The earliest it will be on the base is the middle of next week.

[David Wambolt]

Good luck to you Don. I'll be happy with the Sawstop over the long run, I'm sure. I'm happy with it now - it's not the saws fault it had a few bad parts. I just have to get over this bump in the road. It runs so smooth, I don't think you'll be disappointed. It certainly sounds like a power house. I didn't run any wood through the blade though since I don't have my dust collection system up and running yet. Now I can get my Exaktor sliding table installed and call it good. I'll report back after making some cuts.

[Tim Donovan]

Hey Guys
Bent rails and a chipped extension rails sound like shipping damage to me, and NOT something to give SawStop grief about. The bad capacitator...they probably know they got a bad batch and are shipping out the fixes as fast as possible, as soon as they are notified. I really don't know what you are so crabby about. Yeah its $4K...but even if it was $10K SawStop cannot control shipping damage. Sheesh. This is coming from a guy who is awaiting delivery (Monday Whoo HOOO) on a new PM2000. If there is damage, I just hope WMH Corps CS is as good as you have recieved.

By the way, they probably just pull a few saws off the line for any given production week and test them. I really doubt they fire up every saw.

Regards
Tim

[John Lucas]

Hey Guys
Bent rails and a chipped extension rails sound like shipping damage to me, and NOT something to give SawStop grief about. The bad capacitator...they probably know they got a bad batch and are shipping out the fixes as fast as possible, as soon as they are notified. I really don't know what you are so crabby about. Yeah its $4K...but even if it was $10K SawStop cannot control shipping damage. Sheesh. This is coming from a guy who is awaiting delivery (Monday Whoo HOOO) on a new PM2000. If there is damage, I just hope WMH Corps CS is as good as you have recieved.

By the way, they probably just pull a few saws off the line for any given production week and test them. I really doubt they fire up every saw.

Regards
Tim

I don't know quite why you are defending SS. I didnt think Dave was too harsh or negative about SS. Shipping damages are always the responisbility of the manufacturer in my book. They packed and shipped it.
I do buy from a dealer for that reason. They setup and run the machine in my shop. If it doesnt work, they fix it. To say that SS isnt responsible for hte capacity utter non-sense. They are responsible for every part of the product. Maybe they got a bad batch of capacitors. It sounds like other SS owners had a similar problem. So SS was "top notch" for sending out the replacement so quickly. The capacitor should have been sent as soon as they had the problem reported and before Dave's delivery.
And what about product liability. Now that it is "working" what if Dave has an accident and the SS mechanism doesnt halt the blade. Did Dave void the warantee by making the capacitor change? It isnt a yes or no question. It would be solved in court and could go either way.

[Jim Dunn]

Wow John you get up early As a manufacturers rep. for an electrical motor system we see these thing all the time. Bad capacitors, heck some of the motors don't run right out of the box. We/they blame the motor manufacturers. They are about the largest best known name in the industry, but shipped a bunch of their manufacturering procedures south of the border.

I agree with John that the rails were questionably packed before shipping. I especially think his concerns about the warrantee is valid. I'd detail everything I did to the saw and SAVE the old parts, forever.

[Glen Blanchard]

I don't know quite why you are defending SS. I didnt think Dave was too harsh or negative about SS.

I have to agree with John here. I don't think Dave was bashing SS at all. I am a very happy SS owner, but would be...disgruntled shall we say...had I had the same experience as Dave. I think he has been patient and fair in his statements.

Dave - I suspect you will soon become delighted with your purchase. I think you need a bit of time for the initial bitterness of the situation to dissipate. I think a few crosscuts and a few rips from now and your unfortunate beginning with this saw will be ancient history. I wish you all the best with that beast.

[David Wambolt]

Thanks guys. Everyone is welcome to their opinion on the subject and quite honestly everyone would handle the situation in their own unique way. I believe I have been very flexible and understanding, but the frustration mounted while changing that capacitor. For a home shop guy, I own a decent amount of equipment. Some of top of the line, some of mid-level, and some is entry level. Until the Sawstop, I've never had a problem with any of them out of the gate. I would call the Sawstop my crown jewel of wood working equipment, because quite honestly I work with metal more than wood.

Tim mentioned WMH support and I can say from owning a Wilton machine, their support is very good. I had a rattle in a disc/belt sanding machine I purchased and they sent a tech out to repair the problem at my home, no questions asked. Also mentioned were the bent rails, but I can confidently say they were not damaged in shipping. It seemed to just be a bad rail that was malformed either before or after machining, prior to packaging. Take it for what it's worth, but there was no visable damage on the rail to indicate it was damaged in shipping.

With time I'm sure I'll be delighted with the purchase, but as of today it's just a bit of a sore spot with me. If anyone doubhts my feelings about Sawstop, I recently posted a thread about how happy I was with their customer service. I'm a fair person and I'm only sharing my experience. Take it for what it's worth and don't let it sway you either way. My only real concern is that us 5hp owners seem to have similar issues and I have to believe that the users of this forum represent a very small portion of Sawstop owners.