Kapex Toasted

[festooltim]

Not a good day I was just cutting my last two pieces of trim on a small attic conversion job and the saw suddenly slowed way down and smelled bad. Thought I would try it again to see what was going on and it tripped the breaker and smelled pretty bad. I'am guessing the armature is burned up. Was not pushing it hard just cutting baseboard and casing today. Not a good time to have a break down funds are depleted after Christmas. Guess I will call and try to find out a ball park figure what it's going to cost.

 

[Samo]

That sucks  [sad]

At least it was on the end of the project, not the beginning.  Hope mine lasts...I'm not easy on it at all..... [eek]

Curious what a new amateur costs installed from Festool?

Good luck Tim, I'm trying to make up for Christmas now too.  [crying]

 

[Jaybolishes]

Hi Tim, that's a bummer and sorry to hear about that.  I was just wondering how old the saw was and how much work would you say you have put it through?

 

[peter halle]

The Kapex also has electronics on board.

 

[NYC Tiny Shop]

Tim,
Sorry to hear this.
Curious, how did you store this Kapex?

 

[festooltim]

I got my Kapex the first day it was released. I am a remodeling sub contractor so I don't do trim everyday. It has always rode in the back of my truck in a covered bed now it rides in my van. It has been at this particular job since last week so it has been sitting in a nice warm room. I didn't think about pictures so I will pull the cover off and take some as soon as I can. Will keep posted on repair if and when it happens. It has done a lot of work for me over the years and it is by far the best Miter Saw I have ever used. When I started as a carpenter my boss was old school and we used a hand miter box to trim out houses. So I have used a lot of different brands over the years. We didn't have cordless drills either we uses the Yankee screw driver or when the boss wasn't looking we beat the screws in with the hammer.

 

[illumicon1]

I seen a Kapex in the classified for sale cheap with cheap shipping. Check it out.

 

[fin]

ahh i broke my mitre saw the other day. not a kapex though. its a dewalt dw701

i wanted to change the blade over. so i had my hand next to the lock button. looking at the saw. then my mate shouted for me. so i was momentarily distracted. looked away. started the saw up and then pushed the button in. BANG.......... now if i spin the saw blade i hear a clicking noise and the lock button has moved. if i turn the saw on it clicks really fast and i see the button moving about. it also seems to have changed position as if its been pushed out of its housing somehow.

gonna have to strip it down tomorrow and see what ive done to it. damn accidents...

good luck getting the kapex fixed. id love to have a turn of one to see what they are like. compared to my dewalt i bet there fantastic like.

 

[Timtool]

I had this with mine, also one of the first models released but in Europe. It's indeed the armature that is burned up. I was fearing a heavy tag, but to my surprise it cost under €250 to have a new engine, new bearings, new dust cover and a new left body panel. One time i had a piece kick back and destroy the dust cover, so they fixed all that as well.

When i look at the cost of the parts on Ekat then i think (over here at least) that they don't charge for their work.

 

[festooltim]

I was going to take the cover off and take some pictures but it looked to be a difficult job so I just put the screws back in. Finally toke it to festool to have them fix it got a trim job coming up with 7 1/4 baseboard and my little 10" dewalt wasn't going to get the job done. I toke it to festool at Lebanon myself on Monday since I don't live that far away. Picked it up this morning so I could have it for Monday to trim out a bathroom. It wasn't good news needed a new motor some bearings and some little things to put it back in tip top shape. The total was $379.00 not cheap but I feel a lot better having my saw back. Haven't used it yet but it looks like they went totally thru it and it should run like new again. Replaced a lot of parts and cleaned it up as good as they could after all it has got a lot of use and even abuse over the years. The motor has a 6 month warranty and that makes me feel better but I hope it last a lot longer than that. I will give another update after it gets a good bit of trim thru it next week.

 

[festooltim]

Well spent the week installing some built ins, doors along with the casing and 1x8 baseboard.  The guys at Festool service have done it again the Kapex works really well it feels very smooth. They did a fantastic job and made sure everything was working better than new. I always had trouble with the guard wanting to be sticky when you lower the saw now it works very smooth I think better than it ever did even when it was new. The repair was pricey but I think I have a new saw again. I wish I could baby my tools and keep them looking new especially when you spend this kind of money. But time is money and I have to do what it takes to get the job done so I can move onto the next one. I'am sure the hard work takes its toll on the tools I know it takes it's toll on me. To bad their is not a place that could put me back to like new again. I didn't have the money to cover the repairs to my saw so the company most all my work comes from did me a huge favor and covered the cost so I am very thankful to them. I have sub contracted from them for many years and they always treat me well and I try and go the extra mile on their jobs so the customer is happy and they get good referrals.  After all if they do well and stay busy so do I. Will post some pics next week to show the job the trim in the new finished attic was made to match the existing a style I haven't done before. Shane if you could thank the guys in service for me. Now if I could find the extra money to have my ts55 working like new again.

 

[MrToolJunkie]

Glad you got your saw fixed.  Sounds like service really came through for you.  $379 does not seem that bad given the amount of stuff you needed done and it is a heck of a lot cheaper than a new saw. 

Scot

 

[festooltim]

Yes considering I have petty much a new saw again it is cheaper than a new one