festool kapex motor burnt up?

[duburban]

oh your saw blew up? you'd better call a master electrician to do a full blood work up of your power source!

 

[Dan1210]

I have been in touch with festool to see what is the best size of 110v  transformer for the Kapez they said the min is a 3.5 kva without the hoover with the hoover 4kva -5kva

DAZ

Holy cow! I use a vac all the time at 3.5kv all my tools are 110 although im thinking of selling up and going 240 havent been on site for a couple of years

 

[galwaydude18@gmail.com]

Ya i'v been told that a 5kva transformer is what everyone should use with the kapex

 

[wrightwoodwork]

Yes in theory. Truthfully you would only need if running constantly at full power with the dust collection going and are exceeding the transformers continous rating. The transformer will operate at 3kv fir about 10 mins then has to rest. Who has ever done a cross cut that takes over 10 minutes

 

[Bohdan]

Elect motors draw excess current on startup and, on a saw running off a limited power supply (transformer or long or undersized extension cord), if you start cutting before it is up to full speed it may never actually get up to full speed. This would extend the time that excess power is being drawn and if you do that repeatedly it would cause premature failure.

 

[Shini7]

Sorry to hear that Daz
This has got me worried, I have just bought a TS 55 and wonder if I have done the right thing. I have dewalt tools over 15 years old and they are still plunging away. Just put my old dewalt Rail saw on Ebay and thought I was better off with Festool  [sad] ho hum.
My old  DW 708 that I bought second hand (£100) three years ago is as reliable as the sun in the desert. I was thinking of upgrading it but I have my doubts now.
All the best
Ian

 

[Moparfan90]

hello everyone. have been looking into buying a kapex soon and this worries me. im in the USA and our outlets are rated in amps here. i used an online calc to convert kva to amps and at the recommended 4 - 5 kva for kapex + ct vac thats 33 - 41 amps. on the jobsite 15 amp outlets are common but anything more then 20 is very rare. am i understanding this correctly?

 

[Bohdan]

The 4-5 kva rating is required to supply the startup current only. Normal power outlets will allow a much larger than rated short surge to start the motor.

 

[wow]

hello everyone. have been looking into buying a kapex soon and this worries me. im in the USA and our outlets are rated in amps here. i used an online calc to convert kva to amps and at the recommended 4 - 5 kva for kapex + ct vac thats 33 - 41 amps. on the jobsite 15 amp outlets are common but anything more then 20 is very rare. am i understanding this correctly?

Not sure where you got your numbers?

For example, the CT26 specs say:

350-1200 watts, 2.9-10.0 amps.

And the Kapex says:

1600 Watts (13 Amps)

Therefore, the range is 15.9 - 23 amps.

Normally a breaker will not trip just because of a little extra current. I regularly run my Kapex and CT36 AC on a 20 amp circuit and have never had it trip. I have to confess that I haven't put a current meter on it though.

 

[Moparfan90]

ah okay. i understand now. thanks for the response. now to throw the kapex back on my soon to buy list.

 

[Samo]

Best Sliding Compound Miter Saw available IMHO.

Best warranty and repair service in the states.

Every manufacturer has issues but Festool USA stands behind their products.

Speaking from a guy who lives in the same state and has dealings with the major service centers for the big tool companies.

 

[Dalaslandry@gmail.com]

My motor was shot after only 6 months of light use.. Wasn't too impressed seeing I've never had a problem with any other miter saw.  This of course lost me a lot of money in down time seeing the dealer had to shop it out to god knows where and i got it back about 4 weeks later.. Because of such a long wait I had to buy a whole new set-up to continue working.  I bought a Makita

 

[rljatl]

My motor was shot after only 6 months of light use.. Wasn't too impressed seeing I've never had a problem with any other miter saw.  This of course lost me a lot of money in down time seeing the dealer had to shop it out to god knows where and i got it back about 4 weeks later.. Because of such a long wait I had to buy a whole new set-up to continue working.  I bought a Makita

If the dealer sent your  Kapex to anyone but Festool, you should change dealers.

 

[Dalaslandry@gmail.com]

I thought the same thing, and I'm most certain they did send it to festool. But after I got it back with the motor fixed, the base of the saw had a wobble in it . So again I had to send it back another 4 weeks later I finally got it back and setup... After closet inspection, the bevel and miter are both out of alignment. Smh... To think if it's going to be serviced by a festool trained technicians.. It would be put back together properly.. It gets sent out to service one part of the saw  and I get it back with another issue.. ...

 

[Doug S]

When I first got my Kapex the mitre scale and lasers were both way out, it took alot of tinkering till I was happy with them. After 18 months motor burnt out. I sent it direct to festool to be fixed under warrenty, had it back in 5 days which was great but again the mitre and lasers needed alot of adjustment. In festools defence I guess they could have been knocked out due to rough handling by the couriers. I think for repairs it's best to go direct to festool rather then through the dealer.

 

[woodwright]

it is to do with the transformer i was told you should use 5KVA plenty of power but who is going to carry that about.
i use 3.3KVA with no extension lead

DAZ

my kapex smoked out yesterday, and someone asked me about "what power supply?"
what do you mean by 3.3kva or 5kva transformer?
in the US, we just plug into the wall outlet.  but id like to know what you're talking about when you reference transformers & power supplies?

 

[joiner1970]

it is to do with the transformer i was told you should use 5KVA plenty of power but who is going to carry that about.
i use 3.3KVA with no extension lead

DAZ

my kapex smoked out yesterday, and someone asked me about "what power supply?"
what do you mean by 3.3kva or 5kva transformer?
in the US, we just plug into the wall outlet.  but id like to know what you're talking about when you reference transformers & power supplies?

We use 110v transformers here on construction sites to reduce the voltage from 240v . there are different kva's for higher amperage tools.

 

[Holmz]

If the electrical shock doesn't kill you the repair bill might.