SOLVED! - TS55 EQ getting bogged down

[fifo28]

I have had the saw for some time but I am a hobbyist so it has only seen reasonable use.  The saw gets bogged down and slows down considerably.  While cutting 3/4 ply I need to stop at least once stop and then turn the saw back on and let the blade get up to speed to continue the cut.  This has also happened with 1/2 sheet goods as well.  I am using the stock blade.

Everything else is great with the saw.  Even though it bogs down the quality of the cuts are excellent.  I cut some 3/4 hard maple over the weekend and I took it real slow and it did great.  No burning and the cut was clean.  If the maple cuts had been longer I would have had to stop and restart.

Any ideas what this could be?  Thanks

 

[Shane Holland]

My first guess would be that you may need to check the blade's teeth to make sure they are sharp and undamaged.

If that passes, check the toe-in on the saw. See page 22 of the supplemental manual.
http://www.festoolusa.com/media/pdf/Festool-TS55REQ-Supplemental-Manual.pdf

Also, remember Festool's service team is a great resource. Just give them a call.

 

[mouppe]

I made the mistake of putting my saw blade in facing the wrong way once. Took me a couple of slow burning cuts to realise what was wrong.

 

[fifo28]

I don't get any burning or a bad cut so I assumed that the blade was good and sharp.  Is this a bad assumption?

 

[demographic]

How long is your cable run to the saw?

I have had problems like this on a site where the cable run is too long and there's too much voltage drop over the distance.
That was when the extractor was connected as well, cured it by running 32 amp cable a lot closer then I have a 32-16 amp cable (ots got a 32 amp plug then about three foot of cable then a 16 amp socket that I plugged my extractor into.

This was all running a on a 110 volt system by the way.

 

[fifo28]

I just wanted to close this out.  Demographic nailed the problem.  I had an extension cord running to a CT 36, then a long plug it cord to the saw.  Once I eliminated the extension cord and plugged the vac directly into the wall all of my issues went away.

Thanks all!

 

[ajones]

Looks like you guys are a bit marginal with 120v

 

[TomE]

Good to see the solution.

I've used extension cords to my old CT 22 quite often for sanding operations but all of my cords are 12ga and heavier and try to keep the length of extension to 25' at the most.

I also only use the heavier plug-it cords for all my tools, they fit all and there is no bother as to having undersized power cord going to the tools with longer hose rigging.

At a new site I check the available outlets with a simple tester to make sure the live, neutral, grounds are correct along with any GFCI function, not only for my tools but also to let the electricians know there is a problem should there be one.

 

[mike_aa]

Glad you solved it!

I always use 12 gauge extension cords, but I was wondering how much the actual length of the wire run in the house matters.  Our service comes in at the front corner of our house.  It's a ranch and some outlets on the corner in the back where we added on could have close to a 100 feet of (12 gauge) romex snaking through the walls to that outlet.  I did notice a problem once with a floor sander tripping the breaker when plugged into one of those outlying outlets.  The sander also had a 12 gauge cord that was at least 25 feet long.  I tried plugging into an outlet in a room closer to the panel and the problem went away.  I didn't know if the breaker was just more sensitive on that outlet or if the wire distance was actually the cause.

Mike A.

 

[demographic]

Looks like you guys are a bit marginal with 120v

Building site use.
Often long extensions with too many people taking power off at every stage.
Last place there must have been 80 yards of leads from the site generator to the house I was working on.
They insist on us using extraction then don't give enough power to cope with the demands so I suggested a change and they took three phase to a a large site transformer much closer to the house.

That's why I now use the 32 amp sockets on the transformers then run my own cable out from there.
Anyone plugs into my extension without my permission gets unplugged without an explanation.

 

[Holmz]

Glad you solved it!

I always use 12 gauge extension cords, but I was wondering how much the actual length of the wire run in the house matters.  Our service comes in at the front corner of our house.  It's a ranch and some outlets on the corner in the back where we added on could have close to a 100 feet of (12 gauge) romex snaking through the walls to that outlet.  I did notice a problem once with a floor sander tripping the breaker when plugged into one of those outlying outlets.  The sander also had a 12 gauge cord that was at least 25 feet long.  I tried plugging into an outlet in a room closer to the panel and the problem went away.  I didn't know if the breaker was just more sensitive on that outlet or if the wire distance was actually the cause.

Mike A.

You can find it on the net. Most cords are not 12 gauge, 16 seems common.http://www.paigewire.com/pumpWireCalc.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

The power company can also go brown, which is handy when they charge by the amp-hour.

The interfaces can also be offenders, so every socket. If the plug is not hot then there is not loss.

When a couple of 16 gauge are piggybacked with a vac and a tool, it would be like 1/2 mile of house 12ga Romex.

 

[mike_aa]

Glad you solved it!

I always use 12 gauge extension cords, but I was wondering how much the actual length of the wire run in the house matters.  Our service comes in at the front corner of our house.  It's a ranch and some outlets on the corner in the back where we added on could have close to a 100 feet of (12 gauge) romex snaking through the walls to that outlet.  I did notice a problem once with a floor sander tripping the breaker when plugged into one of those outlying outlets.  The sander also had a 12 gauge cord that was at least 25 feet long.  I tried plugging into an outlet in a room closer to the panel and the problem went away.  I didn't know if the breaker was just more sensitive on that outlet or if the wire distance was actually the cause.

Mike A.

You can find it on the net. Most cords are not 12 gauge, 16 seems common.http://www.paigewire.com/pumpWireCalc.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

The power company can also go brown, which is handy when they charge by the amp-hour.

The interfaces can also be offenders, so every socket. If the plug is not hot then there is not loss.

When a couple of 16 gauge are piggybacked with a vac and a tool, it would be like 1/2 mile of house 12ga Romex.

Hi [member=40772]Holmz[/member] 
Thanks for the response.  The floor sander tool I was using was a U Sand Pro Sander.  No 16 gauge here.  It uses a 12 gauge 25 foot cord to power a 1.5 HP electric motor that turns four 6 inch RO pads.  All the house wiring to the two outlets I tried is 12 gauge with 20 amp breakers.  So it was 12 gauge all the way. 

The first outlet that kept tripping the circuit breaker is about 35 or more feet of wire further away from the service panel than the second one which is about 70 feet of wire from the panel.  After I was plugged in to the closer outlet, I was able to sand 500+ square feet of oak in several grit passes without tripping the breaker once. 

I've always read about power loss when using long extension cords so I guess I'm just wondering if that same reasoning could also be applied to the extra length of house wiring in my case.  Could that have been contributing to a power loss that triggered the breaker, or is it due to another factor I haven't considered?

I hope this makes sense!

Mike A.

 

[Holmz]

Assuming that you need a given number of watts to do the work, the those are a product of the voltage and the amperage.
The only way to know those is with a sparky measuring the current and the voltage.

I am assuming that if the voltage is dropping, then the current needs to increase. Which means there would need to be a lot of loss to move the current towards 20A. But the sparky can know the amps at which the breaker gets thrown and see if it is out of spec.