Kapex died... Festool Repair to the rescue!!

[WoodWhisperer]

Three days again I was installing shoe mold in a house we were working on. Just after lunch all hell broke loose with all that was good with the earth!  Saw started making a weird noise and started bellowing black smoke from the rear of the motor.
I call festool and they said I can ship it to them or drop it by. Well, I guess I am blessed to only live and work 45 mins from the USA headquarters. So I run up there and dropped it off just before 5pm. Very nice and helpful people working at the facilities. They called me at 5pm the next day and said it was fixed! That's about as fast as service one could ask for. The kapex is only 2 yrs old so I was 100% covered under the warranty. I was pretty pissed that a 2 yr old saw was smoking more than a chimney but festool came through,fixed and replaced parts that weren't even broke.
Parts replaced:
-Armature
-ball bearing
-blade guard
-brushes
-spacer brushes
-field coil
-inserts
-laser adj. label
-laser window

Saw is good as new! I'm just guessing here but some of the parts seem to be upgraded or something. The spring that lifts the head seems stronger. Everything works really well now. Glad festool stands behind there product like they do!!
Sean
P.S. If only everybody could see the inside of the headquarters! Wow!
I'm pretty sure heaven looks similar to what I saw today.

 

[glass1]

Holy cow.  Even if yo get 4 years out of it this time than you will have a 1450 white elephant after only six years of service.  Many guys I work with (myself included) still use the old Hitachi 8 1/4" , original Hitachi 10" 's, and older makitas after 10 15 20 years only replacing brushes and maybe a bearing or two.

 

[Cheese]

[member=21332]WoodWhisperer[/member]
Just curious what materials you've consistently cut over the last 2 years with the Kapex? Interior trim and casing, construction (2X) materials or thick, dense hardwoods or ????

 

[Just F Me]

I'm curious as to what the repair cost would have been if you were OUT OF WARRANTY????

 

[WoodWhisperer]

[member=21332]WoodWhisperer[/member]
Just curious what materials you've consistently cut over the last 2 years with the Kapex? Interior trim and casing, construction (2X) materials or thick, dense hardwoods or ????

I mainly cut poplar 1x, trim, some reclaimed wood. Nothing out of the  ordinary. I am alway careful and let the saw do the work. Not sure what happen?!

 

[WoodWhisperer]

I'm curious as to what the repair cost would have been if you were OUT OF WARRANTY????

I'm guessing at least $300-400. That's a lot of parts. I could probably look up the part #'s and add them up.

 

[Doug S]

My Kapex did the same but at 18 months old, repaired under warranty, the list of parts came to over £200. It is now just over 3 years old, out of warranty and I am worried  [sad]

Doug

 

[peter halle]

If I read the OP post correctly there were numerous parts that were replaced that were not related to the failure.  Festool USA is known for going beyond what is just required.  Pricing a repair based on what was not REQUIRED but rather DONE and then attempting to extrapolate some sort of info is... well...not worth trying if any sort of accuracy is the goal.

Use the tools.  Make money.

Peter

 

[Julian Tracy]

Hard to make the money when $1500 saws are toasted in 2-3 years... So what's the deal with these?..  Everytime I think maybe I'd spurge, I hear a burnt up story.

Like the other poster - I don't ever expect a mitersaw to die.  I had a Bosch saw for 4 years, a dewalt for 6, and currently use a bosch glide as well as a 11 year old cordless bosch 10" miter saw and a 15 year old dewalt 12"...

Too much scratch for a tool with a sharply defined life span.

Talk all you want about the great warranty, but what about year 3.25?  Maybe that blown up carvex post was a fluke in the lineup, but help me out here - there's been like 30 or so blown up kapex's right?

I spend that kind of cash on  a mitersaw and I plan on being able to use it for at least 10 years.

Jt

 

[peter halle]

Always great to read your posts Julian.  Personally I wonder if the thought process about a tool never failing for a professional might not be the best thought process for a professional, but we each have our own ways of doing things and pain thresholds so to speak.  Perhaps when you have once again have that itch to buy a Kapex there will be one available in the classifieds at a reduced price.

Peter

 

[WoodWhisperer]

If I read the OP post correctly there were numerous parts that were replaced that were not related to the failure.  Festool USA is known for going beyond what is just required.  Pricing a repair based on what was not REQUIRED but rather DONE and then attempting to extrapolate some sort of info is... well...not worth trying if any sort of accuracy is the goal.

Use the tools.  Make money.

Peter

Peter, I really have no reason to try to figure out how much it would have cost. It was covered under the warranty and I'm glad they took the time to replace a few extra parts too! I am also worried for when I don't have the warranty anymore. It's a lot easier to replace a $400 dewalt than a $1400 kapex. Not sure if I would. Time will tell. Love what the kapex does for me and it is a joy to use most of the time.

 

[glass1]

Armature and field coil failure: say no more.  The thing is I would like a saw like the kapex, light, relatively quiet, dust collection, dual lasers, etc.... But the leaky arbor, non flat base, motor failure, silly safety, internal blade guard( like hitachi), poor miter lock with stiff turn needs fixing. Come on festool lets do better than the carvex, current ts 55, and kapex. The vacuums, sanders, routers, trion, domino(needs more robust fence) 850 planer are solid tools.  Hey it's not just festool. I bought 2 dewalt smart point nailers on Monday. Both broke on Tuesday. Returned that day due to depth adjustment failure. I guess my standards are just too high. One more thing Has festool lowered the quality of the pastiche on the sustainers and the tops of the new vacuums as on of my new style sustainers male receiver to interlock together broke after a couple of months while my old sustainers have stayed unbroken for years ?  My original midi plastic just seems tougher than my new ct 26's plastic.

 

[Just F Me]

It's a lot easier to replace a $400 dewalt than a $1400 kapex. Not sure if I would. Time will tell. Love what the kapex does for me and it is a joy to use most of the time.

^^^^^THIS!

 

[CumminsDiesel]

If I read the OP post correctly there were numerous parts that were replaced that were not related to the failure.  Festool USA is known for going beyond what is just required.  Pricing a repair based on what was not REQUIRED but rather DONE and then attempting to extrapolate some sort of info is... well...not worth trying if any sort of accuracy is the goal.

Use the tools.  Make money.

Peter

Peter, I really have no reason to try to figure out how much it would have cost. It was covered under the warranty and I'm glad they took the time to replace a few extra parts too! I am also worried for when I don't have the warranty anymore. It's a lot easier to replace a $400 dewalt than a $1400 kapex. Not sure if I would. Time will tell. Love what the kapex does for me and it is a joy to use most of the time.

Right,and using my 10" DeWalt for ~13 years its still working very strong.And it cost me ~$200
Your Kapex is broken after 2 years !?!  [eek]

 

[CumminsDiesel]

Armature and field coil failure: say no more.  The thing is I would like a saw like the kapex, light, relatively quiet, dust collection, dual lasers, etc.... But the leaky arbor, non flat base, motor failure, silly safety, internal blade guard( like hitachi), poor miter lock with stiff turn needs fixing. Come on festool lets do better than the carvex, current ts 55, and kapex. The vacuums, sanders, routers, trion, domino(needs more robust fence) 850 planer are solid tools.  Hey it's not just festool. I bought 2 dewalt smart point nailers on Monday. Both broke on Tuesday. Returned that day due to depth adjustment failure. I guess my standards are just too high. One more thing Has festool lowered the quality of the pastiche on the Systainers and the tops of the new vacuums as on of my new style Systainers male receiver to interlock together broke after a couple of months while my old Systainers have stayed unbroken for years ?  My original midi plastic just seems tougher than my new ct 26's plastic.

Ha,thats the main reason why I choose Festool,Kapex,Carvex,TS55.....and all have PROBLEMS!!! [eek]

 

[CumminsDiesel]

I guess my standards are just too high.

I don't know how high is your standart...but my DeWalt Miter saw,Table saw,drill,reciprocating saw....works just great from day one! And according to the Festool price....no excuse for all those problems they have!

 

[Jozsef Kozma]

Holy cow.  Even if yo get 4 years out of it this time than you will have a 1450 white elephant after only six years of service.  Many guys I work with (myself included) still use the old Hitachi 8 1/4" , original Hitachi 10" 's, and older makitas after 10 15 20 years only replacing brushes and maybe a bearing or two.

The 8 1/4  hitachi was a game changer and the  10 inch dual later
The prices were up there to $550 for 8 1/4 around 90?
$800 for 10 inch around 95
Also, never used those saws for framing in those days
The materials we are cutting are lot tougher on the saws
Azek , composites , mdf
I never had problem with them but know of lot of carpenters who did (in a 30 mile radius)Pelham tools in Portchester always had a few in for repairs
Now days we know within minutes if someone has a broken kapex in Australia  the UK or in the US and let's not forget Greece

Jozsef
First mitersaw
10 inch Rockwell with 1X4 table

 

[peter halle]

I've had my Kapex since 2010 and have no issues.  Makes me money every friggin day.

Peter

 

[CumminsDiesel]

I've had my Kapex since 2010 and have no issues.  Makes me money every friggin day.

Peter

I can say same about my DeWalt miter saw,and it cost a lot less and makes me money without  any problems!

 

[Kev]

Holy cow.  Even if yo get 4 years out of it this time than you will have a 1450 white elephant after only six years of service.  Many guys I work with (myself included) still use the old Hitachi 8 1/4" , original Hitachi 10" 's, and older makitas after 10 15 20 years only replacing brushes and maybe a bearing or two.

The 8 1/4  hitachi was a game changer and the  10 inch dual later
The prices were up there to $550 for 8 1/4 around 90?
$800 for 10 inch around 95
Also, never used those saws for framing in those days
The materials we are cutting are lot tougher on the saws
Azek , composites , mdf
I never had problem with them but know of lot of carpenters who did (in a 30 mile radius)Pelham tools in Portchester always had a few in for repairs
Now days we know within minutes if someone has a broken kapex in Australia  the UK or in the US and let's not forget Greece

Jozsef
First mitersaw
10 inch Rockwell with 1X4 table

The little 8" Hitachi was my entry into SCMS .. The day it's started to hiccup was the day I splurged on the KAPEX. Irony was when I finally got round to sticking the Hitachi on eBay I decided to take the brushes out and give them a scratch - the thing sprung into life and ran perfectly [eek]

Thems da breaks [embarassed]