cxs faulty for a 2nd time!

[Dan1210]

has anyone else had problems with their cxs? mines back in for repair for the 2nd time seems the motors are the issue, i dont push it hard only used for cabinet installs

 

[pettyconstruction]

That sucks,I just ordered one yesterday.
Hopefully you get it back correct.
Chuck

 

[Dan1210]

its a great drill dont get me wrong! i use it all the time, i wouldnt be without it now, its just a shame its off for repair again, took over a week last time.

 

[PeterK]

I have 2 of them and only use one. It has seen extensive usage since I purchased it when the CXS first came out. I have had absolutely no problems. Hope they get it sorted out for you

 

[panelchat]

mine is great and i abuse the motor sometimes, with no problems yet...
however the chuck locking has never worked well- when i release the trigger, the chuck does always not hold in place where it has stopped rotating.
more often than not you have to spin the drill body, a random amount (between 1/4 turn and two whole turns) before it locks.
this feature works perfectly on older, cheaper drills i've owned.
and i use it often as a way to follow a screw in by hand by rotating the drill body, after the clutch has released. handy with pocket holes, sheet materials with inconsistent cores.

anyone know if this is a defect or just poor design??

 

[waynelang2001]

My cxs started smoking from the motor the other day and i was only drilling a 5mm hole. The smoking has stopped now but i sometimes get a burning smell even if i just run it with no force. I think i will be upgrading to a c12 or c15 in the near future. The cxs just doesnt do it for me even though i only use it for cabinet making work.

 

[Dan1210]

Yeh mine started smoking then shortly after it stopped working, this time the trigger works intermittently and sometimes not at all, i use the tool everyday but rarely drive anything over 2" with it, i love the drill but it has let me down a couple of times now, might try the c12 myself!

 

[festoolviking]

I had a similar issue with a intermittent trigger on my C12 about a year ago. Got it serviced by Festool for free 4 years after I got it. Great service but it seems like they haven't solved the problem with the electronics on a newer machine like the CXS. Apparently it was a well known issue with the C12.

Festoolviking

 

[builderbob]

I own two, one for the road & the other for the shop. The road drills see use basically daily...all day on cabinet installs. This was a release day model...haven't had any problems yet...knock on wood! 

Best of luck with your situation!

Bob

 

[GhostFist]

I use mine daily and it was a release model. lately is seems it doesn't have the same power to it but its hard to tell. Still love it

 

[Rick Christopherson]

...only used for cabinet installs
... rarely drive anything over 2" with it,

This is a light duty drill, but you are using it as though it was just a more compact C12. It's not, and it wasn't intended to be. The CXS does not have the MMC motor or MMC electronics. For the type of work you are doing, you need to pony up and buy the full size drill. Otherwise, you're just going to keep smoking the motor.

 

[jmbfestool]

...only used for cabinet installs
... rarely drive anything over 2" with it,

This is a light duty drill, but you are using it as though it was just a more compact C12. It's not, and it wasn't intended to be. The CXS does not have the MMC motor or MMC electronics. For the type of work you are doing, you need to pony up and buy the full size drill. Otherwise, you're just going to keep smoking the motor.

I don't own cxs so can't comment but I can comment on this.

I agree the cxs is a light duty drill its also a much cheaper drill compared to other festool drills.

But! I believe kitchen fitting isn't very heavy duty work for a drill not one bit.  So if the cxs can't stand up to be used on very light work (kitchen fitting) then that's no good.  Average screw size for kitchen fitting is 20-30mm so I take it you can only screw 20mm or less screws with it.

So from what your saying is the cxs is actually a DIY drill not for proffesionals.

 

[Rick Christopherson]

Average screw size for kitchen fitting is 20-30mm so I take it you can only screw 20mm or less screws with it.

20 to 30 mm? I know you guys do things different over there, but are your cabinets made from cardboard or something? What part of cabinet fitting could possibly use screws that short? I use screws that short to secure drawer fronts to drawer boxes. Not for securing cabinets to walls. Even securing carcase-to-carcase, that is too short. I can't even think of an application where a 20 mm screw would be used during installation.

 

[Timtool]

I have had mine for a year and a half now and use it daily professionally in combo with a T15, i don't think you are supposed to be able to burn it. It has a built in safety that cuts it out when you strain it. When that happens then you know your pushing it too hard. But even though mine does light driving work most of the time with the clutch set to rattle at torque setting 2-6, i occasionally drive 5x90 screws through beech with it which is borderline, but it doesn't complain.

Can you tell us more about what model battery it has, the newer more powerful one? Mine is the first 2.2(?) model.

 

[Dan1210]

seriously if the drill cant handle 30mm-50mm screws driven daily then whats the point? even festool market it towards kitchen fitting which is 60% of my work, i recently fitted out some pub toilets where i had to construct panels from 3x2 planed infilled with neatmatch and also clad the walls, for this i use my panasonic 14.4v impact/drills as the cxs certainly isnt up to these tasks. I use the cxs mainly for assembly work, hanging doors and light carpentry duties. i may sell it after repair and try the c12, how much is the c12 stateside?

 

[Dan1210]

Average screw size for kitchen fitting is 20-30mm so I take it you can only screw 20mm or less screws with it.

20 to 30 mm? I know you guys do things different over there, but are your cabinets made from cardboard or something? What part of cabinet fitting could possibly use screws that short? I use screws that short to secure drawer fronts to drawer boxes. Not for securing cabinets to walls. Even securing carcase-to-carcase, that is too short. I can't even think of an application where a 20 mm screw would be used during installation.

in the uk our cabinets are mostly made from melamine covered chipboard, the carcase material is generally 18mm thick, therefore jmb is correct in that we use a 30mm screw to join cabinets together, 16mm to fix hinges to doors and 50-70mm to hang wall units and fix base units, 30mm is used for most tasks as not to penetrate into the adjoining carcase.

 

[Dan1210]

I have had mine for a year and a half now and use it daily professionally in combo with a T15, i don't think you are supposed to be able to burn it. It has a built in safety that cuts it out when you strain it. When that happens then you know your pushing it too hard. But even though mine does light driving work most of the time with the clutch set to rattle at torque setting 2-6, i occasionally drive 5x90 screws through beech with it which is borderline, but it doesn't complain.

Can you tell us more about what model battery it has, the newer more powerful one? Mine is the first 2.2(?) model.

5x90 [eek] at torque setting 2-6? wow! mine would struggle to drive that, in fact with the torque setting that low it wouldnt even with an adequate pilot hole, i will check the battery specs i did buy it as soon as it was released.

 

[Timtool]

5x90 [eek] at torque setting 2-6? wow! mine would struggle to drive that, in fact with the torque setting that low it wouldnt even with an adequate pilot hole, i will check the battery specs i did buy it as soon as it was released.

I said i mostly drive with it on that that torque setting, but with 5x90 screws (with a 60mm pilot hole) i have to switch the torque off. When the battery is full it won't complain, but when it's near empty it will stop halfway.

From what you are saying i suspect there is something wrong with your CXS, the electronics should prevent you from damaging it. It's not a light duty wimp, it has more guts than the Bosch 10.8 volts i had before.
The only thing that you could do to seriously limit it's longevity is to often drive screws in the second speed, i hope you haven't?

 

[Brice Burrell]

......From what you are saying i suspect there is something wrong with your CXS, the electronics should prevent you from damaging it. It's not a light duty wimp, it has more guts than the Bosch 10.8 volts i had before.
The only thing that you could do to seriously limit it's longevity is to often drive screws in the second speed, i hope you haven't?

The CXS doesn't have built-in electronics to protect the motor like the other Festool drills.  What you're likely experiencing is battery's built-in protection so it doesn't over-discharge.

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

I have had my cxs since before they came out here. I have done nothing but abuse that drill.
Never had a problem. It now has a light coating of west system epoxy on it for some reason.