Kapex died 19 months old

Mine just died. Same electrical deal. Motor spins at low rpms. Variable speed dial no longer working. Stinky motor. Saw is three months old. Trim only. Sharp blades always. Plugged into Midi and then outlet. No gradual death. Working one cut, not working next cut. It's in its box (yes, I saved the box!)in the back of my wife's car for drop off and shipping to the repair center tomorrow.
I'm glad its warranted; however, I'm very leery of trusting the saw now. I'm trimming with a builder on a commercial office space, so I finished the last two hours on his saw. I have a Bosch 12" DB Glide in the workshop, but the job is 50 min. away. No quick run! I've only lost one other miter saw on the job and that was a broken head spring.
I hope this is a one and done deal. I'm also glad this happened on this job. Last job was 6 trim guys in a 7000 sf house. I would have been teased mercilessly. As it is, I've been treated to a very nice 3 minute spur of the moment song about how the builders Hitachi saw was jealous of my Festool cuz it "just sits around and doesn't do anything".
I really have grown to like the saw, quirks and all. I'm  thinking right now to pick up a third saw to leave in trailer. Just in case.... and I think that's a bad thing for Festool. Between the exorbitant price and perceived reliability issues, I know 7 guys that would NEVER buy one....
 
Sigh ... I just read this entire thread.  Depressing.  Guess I'll wait until a new version comes out -- hopefully not in the distant future.
 
Festool *HAS* to be working on a solution for this. I just hope they offer it proactively once they figure out what is happening...
 
Update on mine. Shipped on Tuesday afternoon, back on doorstep when I returned home the next Tuesday afternoon. Not too shabby! Repair list was pretty much a new motor. They also replaced the laser sticker, tweaked the lasers, adjusted the fence clamps, and replaced both throat plates (chipped). The saw is nicer than brand new!!!! Was nice to have it back. The Kapex has really grown on me. The Bosch DB Glide is nice, but you really have to work at cutting with a "neutral" hand or risk blade deflection.
Still leaving the Bosch in the trailer "just in case" and the shipping box is back up on the shelf. It stinks that it broke, but you cannot beat the warranty/service. Period.
 
Glad Festool took care of you.  I hope the Festool elves are busy taking in all of this info for upgrading the saw.  I'd buy one if it's reliability and price were better.  It certainly has some cool features.
 
Mine has been perfectly reliable.  Also, I was happy to pay the price paid.  Every time I make cuts inside I feel good about the saw.

YMMV of course.

Ajax said:
Glad Festool took care of you.  I hope the Festool elves are busy taking in all of this info for upgrading the saw.  I'd buy one if it's reliability and price were better.  It certainly has some cool features.
Click to expand...
 
Just curious for those that run the Kapex and plugged into a dust collector, are you making sure to run it on a 20amp circuit? It really won't work that well on a 15 amp. I'm not sure if this would cause the problems that have been occurring but it can't help.
 
I use my Kapex and CT on a 15 amp circuit all the time.  I rarely have access to a 20 amp circuit in customers' homes.  5 years and counting.

Peter
 
Interesting, maybe it's an issue with mine then. I've tried it with my Midi on a couple occasions and no luck. I end up having to find a 20 amp in a bathroom or kitchen. I'll try and take a video of it. Just happened again last week on a a job. The saw runs at about half power
 
in desperate situation where I am tripping a breaker I have had to resort to turning down the suction on the CT.  But that is rare in my experiences.  Other's might vary.

Peter
 
My Kapex is still shiny new and I'm posting to see where this thread is going.  Sorry to hear that your Kapex died after 19 months but, quite relieved that Festool took care of the problem almost immediately (and with the loaner I guess it was immediate).

Jack
 
I wish this thread would die :)

jacko9 said:
My Kapex is still shiny new and I'm posting to see where this thread is going.  Sorry to hear that your Kapex died after 19 months but, quite relieved that Festool took care of the problem almost immediately (and with the loaner I guess it was immediate).

Jack
Click to expand...
 
Grasshopper said:
I wish this thread would die :)

jacko9 said:
My Kapex is still shiny new and I'm posting to see where this thread is going.  Sorry to hear that your Kapex died after 19 months but, quite relieved that Festool took care of the problem almost immediately (and with the loaner I guess it was immediate).
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Let me mention why I think that it's useful.  When I first joined a few years after buying my Domino Joiner I came across a thread like this that mentioned that the Domino Fence was slipping and I had experienced that problem and ruined a few expensive case pieces.  However I thought that since my Lamello joiner had similar fence slippage I would just have to pay attention and continually check the setting.

I contacted Shane about my Domino issue and I was asked to send my Domino back to the service center where they fixed the issue and returned the tool to me within a week. Finding out about potential issues and getting them resolved is one benefit of this web site along with a ton of useful information.

I don't want to see this become a "complain about Festool" website but issues uncovered help us all out just like discovering a new technique or product release.

Jack
 
Unfortunately I also have had the displeasure of seeing sparks shoot out of my kapex. It was a year ago or so, but as my memory serves it ran me about $275 for the repair (non-warranty). Major bummer. Even a bigger bummer to see all these other stories. Just for the record, I own a 15" and 8" Hitachi from the late 80's (hand me downs from papa) and other than needing new brushes a time or two over the years I have never had a problem with either.

Anyhow, I was just wondering; how many of you who have had kapex problems always have a dust extractor connected at all times like me? I'm running a midi or ct22 99% of the time when I use my saw. The guys at the service department explained the problem was a result of insufficient power, so I'm wondering if these saws are also going down when no dust extractor is being used. I try hard to only use my re-built kapex on its own circuit, but good luck getting other people to care about my tools.

Starting a new project tomorrow (remodel) and when I asked the project manager about available power in the house he kind of made it sound like there are only a few circuits turned on and lots of other workers on site. Maybe I'll forget about using the vac on this job and suck dust like old days with the hitachis.
 
My lord to read some of the comments on in this post saddens and sickens me. Can't you just be happy to be alive. Ya it's a bummer that a piece of equipment broke but it's better then watching your friend evaporate in a minefield. For those who are perfect please disregard, nothing is perfect in this world. It is great to see that the company stand behind their productS with no BS or run around. Try to return a head of lettuce and see how much fun that is. And no I'm not a paid spoken and had eggs and bacon for breakfast.
 
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