Kapex life span

[Julian Tracy]

Seems there are probably reports of at least 10-15 blown Kapex motors between this and other threads.  Some (many) here will say that is not really that high of a number. 

Now,  those same people will also counter that because this is a Festool-specific forum these isolated problems are drawn here and of course are not a large statistical sample.  I guess all that is still true

But as far back as I can recall, I cannot recall ever reading in ANY forum about a blown motor in a Dewalt, Makita, Bosch or Hitachi miter saws through the years. 

And I've owned 6-7 miter saws in my years from a couple of those mentioned brands and though I've worn out one of them, never did any of the motors give out in any of them, and it didn't really seem to matter what types of cutting with what kind of blade I used.

Each saw I've ever owned has just kept plugging away.

It's one $$$$$ expensive miter saw to NOT have a bullet-proof motor in it. 

Julian

 

[ajones]

I'll answer for him as someone who is waiting to send my saw in for repair pending your response. Some concession would have been nice. Cover my shipping or cover my motor replacement. My saw is less than 4 years old and the motor failed. Whether that's a widespread issue or not, MINE failed. That shouldn't be acceptable to your company and some type of assistance in the process would have been enough to keep me satisfied. Right now im feeling very un satisfied with your company and I don't feel im being unreasonable to be frank.

Also being frank, haven't you already listed your saw in the classifieds for sale with a cooked motor, and now you are trying to work both both ends?  Just saying....

Peter This is not moderation you should be ashamed of yourself posting such garbage

 

[Stephen B]

I'll answer for him as someone who is waiting to send my saw in for repair pending your response. Some concession would have been nice. Cover my shipping or cover my motor replacement. My saw is less than 4 years old and the motor failed. Whether that's a widespread issue or not, MINE failed. That shouldn't be acceptable to your company and some type of assistance in the process would have been enough to keep me satisfied. Right now im feeling very un satisfied with your company and I don't feel im being unreasonable to be frank.

Also being frank, haven't you already listed your saw in the classifieds for sale with a cooked motor, and now you are trying to work both both ends?  Just saying....

Peter This is not moderation you should be ashamed of yourself posting such garbage

[size=13pt]
So now this thread is now about to descend into a debate about moderation.  [eek]

Peter has seen his error and apologised. Let's all leave it, and move on.  [smile]

Kapex, anyone!?

 

[ajones]

After all the fuss ,concern and high blood pressure this issue has caused , I find festools reponce

Underwellming

It has done little to address these issues, if there are issues and if anything just added fuel to this!

I have a kapex,gets used every day , its never missed a beat from day one, it must be 7or 8 years old , so this dont rock my world but says something about Festools comitment to its customers

I'm honestly curious to know what sort of response would have satisfied you.

How about sorting out the issues. rather than trying to duck them, with some spurious, can you help us understand the problem nonsense which it would appear is designed to kick the ball down the road, and stop treating your customers with such obvious contempt.

 

[tomscf]

"... I just want those directly affected by issues to state what the saw had been used for, what service they may have had(if any), the symptoms of the problem and any diagnosis they were given and the customer service they then had from either Festool or their dealer or both."

I wrote suggesting this on something like the 9th or 10th of March. It's pretty much what Tyler is now asking.

If those affected had bothered to give it a go way back then, those in Germany would have had about 2 weeks of statistics to refer to rather than a load of back-and-forth ridiculousness such that should be the reserve of Mumsnet.

Give everyone a break and either do what Festool are asking kindly for you to do to help resolve all this or go outside and make the most of Spring and stop all this nonsense.

If a fix can be found by manufacturer and customer working together then I applaud that. And if when doing it, you are polite and courteous then I'm going to wager that that is what you shall get in return.

This won't be an overnight fix...that may be stating the obvious but I thought it needed saying.

Anyway - I'm going to go now and play in the sunshine...

Tom

 

[glass1]

Do all your investigating and info gathering, but in the mean time til you figure it out offer a 10 year warranty on the motor.(retro active) Just sayin.

 

[Rick Christopherson]

Well said, Tom.

It would seem that the most vocal individuals in this discussion are those that aren't even having a problem, or worse, don't even own a Kapex! It really detracts from the discussion and the discovery of the true information that is needed to realize whether this is significant or not. The needless sniping is hindering the exploration of information, and quashing any discussion or interest from those that could help.

Tom

 

[green fever]

Wow I must be lucky then ? I have had 3 kapex saws, one 110v & two 240 volt models I have had very minor niggles but nothing like motor failure or burnt out internals , I still own the 240v models and they are used daily one is over three years old the other just under , I do take care of my tools but I cant control the internal workings just the way I use the tools , that said I would expect them to last longer than twice the warranty period seeing as they are roughly twice the price as other saws on the market,
just to add I still have an elu chop saw that is over 20 years old and still going strong it has never ever failed to perform , now will a kapex 120 ever beat that is anyones guess ,
I still like the 120s and until another company comes up with something better I am sticking with what I have . Green.

 

[Holmz]

No, you're  reading it correctly Holmz.
And, his name is 'Holmz', not 'Holz'. But you know that, of course.

I am often referred to 'as a Holz', so I knew it was for me.  [wink]

 

[Sal C.]

Many valuable points have been made both positive and negative. Sniping may not be valuable; but this thread (with all of its activity and more importantly its reach) taken as a whole, has caused heightened attention from Festool that would not have happened otherwise. Trying to moderate that activity down may be needed. However, it should be done cautiously. Overall, the dialog should continue.

 

[Rob in Vancouver]

I'm trying to remember an expression that I once heard....... Oh yeah,  "where there is smoke there is a Kapex" .

 

[glass1]

For the record I own a kapex. 

 

[TomE]

Wonder if variable speed control setting should also be considered as the problem data is collected.

Ran across a story dating 2011 where the fella was cutting an outlet face plate using the lowest speed, the faceplate jumped and bound up the blade, next time the saw was triggered things started going south eventually leading to burnout.

I don't recall ever reducing the speed of my Kapex , hadn't needed to. My other saws do not have this option.

I've had other brands with soft start/speed control fail (not miter saws) but it did not result in blown motors, just bypassed the controller and used the tools at hard start/full speed.

 

[Deansocial]

While they sort the motors maybe the casting could be tidied up too

Ill get my coat

[dead horse] [dead horse] [dead horse]

 

[TylerC]

Hey, everyone. Just a quick reminder that we want to hear about your Kapex experiences at kapex[member=6061]festool[/member].com. We have only received one submission so far. If you’ve had an issue with your Kapex, please send all of the details to us at kapex[member=6061]festool[/member].com. It will help us to have a complete understanding of the concerns that have been brought up in this thread. Thanks.

 

[GarryMartin]

We have only received one submission so far

[jawdrop]

 

[bobfog]

We have only received one submission so far

[jawdrop]

I'm not surprised. It smacked of child psychology to me; like when a nagging child wants a new toy and you tell them to go and write their Christmas list to Santa to get them off your back for a few hours.

Ultimately there have been tonnes of threads about the issues and Festool's engineers are more than qualified to look at where there are weaknesses. This business of asking for more detailed information just seems like a delaying/appeasing tactic. Festool are more than capable of establishing what is causing the failures on their own, they just obviously don't want to commit the resources to doing the work themselves and quickly arriving at a solution.

 

[Cheese]

We have only received one submission so far.

[jawdrop] [jawdrop]

 

[jmbfestool]

I havent submited yet.

Ill get round to it.

Just need to sit down and do it. Just been so busy at moment! Not even had time to play xbox with DeanSocial

 

[Brice Burrell]

Hey, everyone. Just a quick reminder that we want to hear about your Kapex experiences at kapex[member=6061]festool[/member].com. We have only received one submission so far. If you’ve had an issue with your Kapex, please send all of the details to us at kapex[member=6061]festool[/member].com. It will help us to have a complete understanding of the concerns that have been brought up in this thread. Thanks.

I'm very surprised to hear only one person took the time to respond.  I suppose if Festool really wanted to get to the bottom of this they could look through their Kapex repair records and call the users for info.