Another Kapex Bites the dust. Again.

[overanalyze]

What readings do you get at the wall outlet that the saw is plugged into when the saw is under load?

I don't know. I have never tested that. I can on Monday and see what it reads.

 

[kevinculle]

Nominal voltage in my area runs 120-125V.

 

[Cheese]

Hey Naildrivingman,
Voltages on the east side of the Mississippi run 119-121.

 

[Holmz]

My area has high voltage...consistently reads 125+/- ....actually wonder if that is part of the problem??...

No! not usually.

Too low of voltage generally translates to more current, and current gets converted to heat.
Hence brown-outs are generally a bigger issue.

If the mechanism was some arcing between windings then more voltage is not better. But a 230v motor would have move more voltage than a 110v.

The best people to investigate the issue is Festool, but I am not sure where they are at with it.

 

[Cheese]

The best people to investigate the issue is Festool, but I am not sure where they are at with it.

Im not sure Festool knows where they’re at with it. I was told several years ago by a Festool
rep that corporate was well aware of the problem, even whincing when the subject matter came up in conversation, however they didn’t have a solution. That does not bode well for this issue.

 

[Holmz]

Some people claim that the US power grid, and world power grid in general, is the most complex system invented by man.
I saw this on some documentary, and the argument seemed compelling.
It is definitely beyond caveman level of understanding, but the documentary was easy enough to follow and started with N. Tesla, Westinghouse, and Edison.

The fact that most other tools seem to work being attached to the power grid, would imply that the power grid is not broken.

When someone suggests looking at the power grid, and knowing that the power grid is complex, seems like a roundabout message.

 

[Cheese]

The fact that most other tools seem to work being attached to the power grid, would imply that the power grid is not broken.

When someone suggests looking at the power grid, and knowing that the power grid is complex, seems like a roundabout message.

Amen Holmes...

Fact is, miter saws have been produced for the last 30+ years. They’ve been used to cut everything from concrete to steel.  Some people have waited for them to come up to speed before cutting while others have not. Some people have cut treated lumber while others have cut trim. They all just work, and their lifetime as measured in the construction industry is usually measured in years not months.

It’s just a saw people...for the life of me I can’t get my head around why fixing the Kapex issues is such a non-sequitur. Support the base of people that helped you gain name recognition in the first place. Without your base, you’d still be Protool.

 

[Naildrivingman]

Hey Naildrivingman,
Voltages on the east side of the Mississippi run 119-121.

Ok

 

[JNComplete]

It's time everyone demands instant action by festool on  these motors.  There's no denying it, the kapex motors have a good percentage of them being made poorly.  These last few posts have more than irratated me, and I don't even own a kapex, simply because of these issues. I tried a cut with a kapex and the motor is a weakling.  It's no wonder these things burn up.  It should be noted kapex saws are suitable only to cut balsa wood at a slow rate of cut.  What a joke this has all become.  Smh. Festool ruined their brand with this saw. It isn't happening, it happened. And I'm a guy always promoting how awesome festool tools are, but not the kapex.

I totally agree here. Mine has Just been returned, my local lumber yard dealt with it for me. Was fed up with festool, I was hoping they would wave the standard purchase the box and shipping label deal. No such luck. Haven’t gone to pick it up yet. My makita LS1018 cost me $375 on Amazon and it’s great. Lightweight- good DC and cuts Quality rivals Kaoex. My kapex has now been to their repair location three times - twice for the armature. and this time the warranty is expired. But they know it’s not a random or rare problem here. To say I’m upset is to sugar coat it. I’ll be paying over $300 to get it back and I will also be responsible for the shipping charges. I’m ready to form a group of people here and some attorneys and go for a class action lawsuit. Blatant neglect of addressing a known problem with a product and continuing to sell the same tool to the public is just cause.  [mad]

 

[Greg M]

Well I’ve sold the Kapex. Sad to see it go but not worth chancing the cost of having to fix. Now it’s time to find a replacement.

 

[Steven Owen]

Well I’ve sold the Kapex. Sad to see it go but not worth chancing the cost of having to fix. Now it’s time to find a replacement.

Everyone should write Mafell to see if they’ll make a high end competitor to the Kapex.  There’s a growing market for high end miter saws in wood working.  It would be nice to a high quality Kapex competitor.  The nearest thing you have is a DW 780, Bosch and Makita.  That’s a pretty huge gap.

 

[Svar]

Everyone should write Mafell to see if they’ll make a high end competitor to the Kapex. 

I'm sure it will be as effective as writing to Festool to see if they'll fix that Kapex motor. Eureca! Let's not write, let's start a thread about it on a Festool forum... Oh, wait...
[big grin]

 

[serge0n]

The nearest thing you have is a DW 780, Bosch and Makita.  That’s a pretty huge gap.

What about the 12" Milwaukee with digital angle finder? It doesn't get a lot of press, but I heard it's an excellent saw and rivals Kapex in the dust collection department.

 

[Holmz]

Well I’ve sold the Kapex. Sad to see it go but not worth chancing the cost of having to fix. Now it’s time to find a replacement.

Everyone should write Mafell to see if they’ll make a high end competitor to the Kapex.  There’s a growing market for high end miter saws in wood working.  It would be nice to a high quality Kapex competitor.  The nearest thing you have is a DW 780, Bosch and Makita.  That’s a pretty huge gap.

Or use prayer.
Why would Mafell want to hear you or me opine on what they should do?

If it is that great of an idea then start a company to compete.
Even easisr would a retrofit kit to change motors on the Kapex.
There are many opportunities for you.

 

[peter halle]

Nobody knows here for a fact (including myself) that Festool doesn't have something in the pipeline.  Same thing for Mafell.  It takes years to develop a tool so in my estimation only time will tell.

Peter

 

[semenza]

Or use prayer.
Why would Mafell want to hear you or me opine on what they should do?

If it is that great of an idea then start a company to compete.
Even easisr would a retrofit kit to change motors on the Kapex.
There are many opportunities for you.

Why wouldn't they? 

Pretty sure not everyone with a great idea started a company. Pretty sure sometimes those ideas were taken up by others or by companies.

Seth

 

[Steven Owen]

Or use prayer.
Why would Mafell want to hear you or me opine on what they should do?

If it is that great of an idea then start a company to compete.
Even easisr would a retrofit kit to change motors on the Kapex.
There are many opportunities for you.

Why wouldn't they? 

Pretty sure not everyone with a great idea started a company. Pretty sure sometimes those ideas were taken up by others or by companies.

Seth

Seth,

In a lot of ways it’s hard to understand Festool’s response to the issues to the Kapex.  They customer willing to drop $2000 on a miter saw, isn’t going to hesitate to spend $2500 on the vacuum clamp, $2000 grand on the Domino, $1000 on a Track Saw, $4500 on the Edge Bander, $1300 on the OF 2200; ect...

There’s more than just a miter saw at stake.  The customer with a really sour taste in mouth over a bad Kapex experience might be spending thousands of dollars with a competitor that would have otherwise been spent on a Festool product.

 

[semenza]

Or use prayer.
Why would Mafell want to hear you or me opine on what they should do?

If it is that great of an idea then start a company to compete.
Even easisr would a retrofit kit to change motors on the Kapex.
There are many opportunities for you.

Why wouldn't they? 

Pretty sure not everyone with a great idea started a company. Pretty sure sometimes those ideas were taken up by others or by companies.

Seth

Seth,

In a lot of ways it’s hard to understand Festool’s response to the issues to the Kapex.  They customer willing to drop $2000 on a miter saw, isn’t going to hesitate to spend $2500 on the vacuum clamp, $2000 grand on the Domino, $1000 on a Track Saw, $4500 on the Edge Bander, $1300 on the OF 2200; ect...

There’s more than just a miter saw at stake.  The customer with a really sour taste in mouth over a bad Kapex experience might be spending thousands of dollars with a competitor that would have otherwise been spent on a Festool product.

Ummm, yeah, OK but not sure what that has to do with what I said in reply to what Holmz said?

Seth

 

[Kev]

WOW ... this thread started in July and the KAPEX bashing is still going ... and I bet that 90% of the people commenting have never owned a KAPEX!

Regardless of the number of KAPEX failures ... over 150 additional posts on the topic on one single failure and 22,000 reads is bonkers.

It's one thing when a person that's had a genuine problem complains, but everyone else hopping on the bandwagon and bagging the product doesn't help anyone.

From the very nature of this thread and the downward spiral of so many other threads I'm now convinced that the KAPEX is fine apart from a number of statistically acceptable failures and the amplified noise on the FOG is the real problem.

I have a KAPEX and mine is going strong! [wink]

 

[Naildrivingman]

I know two other Kapex owners.  The other two have returned their saws for motor service and mine is currently being repaired.  I'm not sure that this is statistically acceptable as in this part of the world, the Kapex is a pretty rare bird. There are not a lot of owners compared to other areas.  I accept that mistakes in R&D and manufacturing happen. Once mine is returned, I will hope that the problem is resolved and it is anomalous. I will have about 1 year's worth of warrantee left. If the saw fails again (multiple failures of the same saw have been reported here on FOG) and it is beyond warrantee protection, I don't know what I will do, but suffice to say I will not be happy.