Kapex life span

As a side note my older non soft Start Makita ls1211 never tripped the festool vacuum or a20 amp breaker when hooked up together. 
 
Brice Burrell said:
I don't think it's the vac, it's possibly the saw that is the problem.  My guess is the motor on the Kapex is not powerful enough for hard professional use, so eventually it burns out for some users.  It has "less powerful" motor so it can be run through the vac and not trip the circuit the saw/vac is plugged into.  Not plugging the saw into a vac won't help because the saw's motor is still too underpowered for hard use. This is all speculation on my part.     
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Interestingly enough I just did a quick look at 10" miter saws that included Bosch, Milwaukee, Dewalt, Makita and Hitachi, the motors on all these saws spin at 4600-5000 rpm @ 15 amps.

The Kapex spins at 3400 @ 13 amps. [sad]

 
Tinker said:
Brice Burrell said:
Tinker said:
...Brice has mentioned the possibility of a problem in running the Kapex thru the CT vacs.  Is it possible a bigger vac would help to prevent such burnouts as what is discussed in this thread. Is it the fault of the CT, the Kapex or at the panel. I had a RAS for years.  Even with no dust vac hooked up, it would often tip the fuse box and i had to wait til it cooled down.  I don't think such overloading did the saw any good even tho it trip at the panel.  Maybe Festoy needs to rethink the CT where the Kapex is being run thru them.
Tinker
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Its not really possible to cut big beams on the kapex its a smaller capacity saw. and if the piece of wood fits in the saw you should be able to cut it all day, day in, day out. without the motor giving up..

I don't think it's the vac, it's possibly the saw that is the problem.  My guess is the motor on the Kapex is not powerful enough for hard professional use, so eventually it burns out for some users.  It has "less powerful" motor so it can be run through the vac and not trip the circuit the saw/vac is plugged into.  Not plugging the saw into a vac won't help because the saw's motor is still too underpowered for hard use. This is all speculation on my part.   
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Your speculation comes from more first hand experience than from my point of the question.  I seem to recall some pretty hefty beams that JMB showed in some of his projects.  Maybe in his case, he was on the right track when he mentioned loking at radial saws. 
Tinker
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Hitachi is 12 amps. Makita saws spin at 3200 same with Milwaukee. I bought the makita ls1216l when it first came out the info plate said 13.6 amps. I think current saws say 15 amps. My understanding of blade speed is the non electronic controlled motors spin faster so they maintain enough speed under load. The electronic controlled motors are supposed to maintain speed so can have a lower speed. This is cross manufacturers.
 
Hi, i hope JMBFestool sends the saw in to see what went wrong. Anything else is speculation. It would be nice if someone from Festool chimes in. I own the USA version of the Kapex and have cut large 2 inch mahogany for 40 doors. Cut all kinds of crusty painted wood trim. Sometimes it gets left outside, rain, snow I treat it the same as any other tool when working. Back at the shop I clean it up for next days work. I drag it up 3 flights of stairs and back down daily. Yeah its a bummer for sure if JMB's saw crapped out twice. Maybe I'm lucky. I hope the OP finds an acceptable solution. Yes I would still buy another Kapex saw because it really is that good. Being able to quickly set-up, cleaner worksite, customers notice that. Not having to cut outside because "that carpenters tools puke dust all over the house"  I am not a cool-aid drinker neither, I just enjoy working with good tooling. Festool's I own only represent about 5% of the equipment I use. I also have sliding Hitachi's (3) Dewalt's (4) sliders and fixed heads, Bosch (3) fixed heads, Craftsman's (3) the old cast iron boat anchors. I still prefer the Kapex. 
 
However it's still part of the gene pool. Check out its credentials,
20 years of cutting lumber, concrete, various metals and brick. It still works...it's also available for sale.

I haven't sold it because I'm a bit concerned if my Kapex does decide to crap out. If that happens I will be a very unhappy camper.
 
galwaydude18 said:
Hey JMB did u send the saw in for repair?
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Yes my dealer told me I should.

Said just see what they say got nothing to loose.  Dont have to repair it.

Which is fair point but I was already planning on making something with the kapex parts.

I was thinking maybe using the gear box.... grind it of as small as possible and mounting it to little invention i made a while ago which is underpowered the gear box would reduce the rotation but increase the torque.  Secondly the gliders i was thinking mounting my drill on for my pocket hole prototype i made a while ago.  Currently just using draw runners.

I had already cut the lasers off never use those bloody things anyway and was thinking of keeping them for something god knows what lol.  Mount them on cnc for tool alignments or work piece alginment so i can place a work piece any where on the bed move the gantry over workpiece turn laser on and i know its running square????

 
Sal C. said:
Been a long time guest follower of this forum and own a number of Festool products including the Domino XL, Rotex 150, TS75, and others. All have served me well in a hobbyist environment. I have also been keenly following posts on the Kapex as I would like to upgrade to it for improved accuracy and dust collection.

I just registered to the forum in order to post this note as another data point for Festool product management. This is not meant to cause argument among members but to get Festool to understand that the amount of conversation related to the Kapex and its problems is causing me (and I  assume others) to defer or avoid its purchase. In my case I am waiting for a new release of the saw. I realize that this may be off in the future; but I am not compelled to buy at this time given the list of recurring issues.

Hopefully, this feedback has value to product management and we will see a new an not only more reliable but better functioning version of the Kapex.
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I owned mine for 9 months and just sold it. 
I was so surprised to read about all the failures,  there is no way I'm spending $2k on a saw and then spend another $800 to fix it when it's out of warranty.

Stay away from this version of the Kapex,  wait till they release the next generation.
 
Doug S said:
My Kapex burnt out at 18 months old and got repaired under warranty, it's now 3.5yrs old and I am expecting the same problem again anytime soon but obviously now it's out of warranty.

I do think Festool should step up and replace the armature etc on burnt out saws whatever the age because going on the number of problems we hear about it is not fit for purpose.

Doug
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Honestly,  I personally feel that the price of a Kapex is 2-3 times the price of a regular Bosch/Dewalt because Festool has factored the replacement of one or two motors during the warranty period. 

 
Green Koolaide said:
Honestly,  I personally feel that the price of a Kapex is 2-3 times the price of a regular Bosch/Dewalt because Festool has factored the replacement of one or two motors during the warranty period.
Click to expand...

That's very unlikely .. as a premium brand the Festool prices and a similar relative ratio across the board to a cheaper brand's range.

I would be very interested to know if the guts of a brand new KAPEX is identical to one that's ~5 years old .. has Festool made any running improvements or are they still selling the same old thing at the premium they're charging?

 
I think Kev brings up a good question.  I'm wondering why no one from Festool has weighed in on this discussion.  It seems we would all like to know if the current Kapex has been improved.  I'd hate to think the lack of a Festool response is an acknowledgement of a faulty product...
 
Do you think festool is going to come on here and say "ya sorry guys, we've been cheapening internal components to maximize profitability on the kapex, yearly. Honestly we didn't think you would notice LOL"?

Not saying that's what's happened but you get the point.
 
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