TS55 – growling suddenly louder

I

Iwood75

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Nov 17, 2011
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I've had my TS55 for almost a year now and I've adjusted to its growling sound at start-up.

Yesterday, I was ripping (with a 28 tooth blade) the bottoms of four 1-3/4" exterior doors which were pretty rain soaked. The saw overheated and twice shut itself down. Never happened to me before so it was very disconcerting. Then today, I was crosscutting some 1x6 fir boards (switched to a 48 tooth blade), and the growing noise occurred WHILE CUTTING and seemed even louder than its usual off-load sound. Cut quality was still good... blade's tight...  gimbals are adjusted properly, etc.. SO, is there any way that yesterday's overworking/overheating problem could have caused some new issue? If not, guess I'll chalk it up to my vivid imagination combined with poor "sound memory."  Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
 
Mine always has made that growling noise and since its always performed, I guess it's just normal.  But I do wonder what exactly is responsible for the growling grinding noise, anybody know I'd like to hear it.  It seems the sound is intermittent.  My saw has overheated too many times count, I don't think it affected its performance though.
 
Your saw is still under warranty, so if you think there is a problem, you should send it in. If it wasn't under warranty, then you could pull the arbor gear and repack the grease.

However, you have changed more than 1 variable at the same time. So if you want to check it more, you should put the old blade back on and see if it still seems odd to you.
 
Jaybolishes said:
But I do wonder what exactly is responsible for the growling grinding noise, anybody know I'd like to hear it.  
Click to expand...

The sound is due to backlash of the pinion gear and the spiral worm gear, as the PWM circuit of the variable speed controller rapidly turns on and off to control motor power. Under load you don't notice it as much because the gears are always under the same compressive lash. But with an unloaded blade, the inertia of the blade will cause it to constantly be under load and freewheel as the controller switches the motor power on and off. The gears are constantly engaging and disengaging.

PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) is a standard motor controller method for reducing speed and/or power to a motor by turning it on and off at a very rapid pace.

[attachimg=#]
 
That's my question and concern. To quote Rick..."Under load you don't notice it as much..." Why is mine suddenly louder under load than when the blade is unloaded? The 48 tooth blade that is now on the saw is the same blade that has been on the saw in the past – when the sound was mostly at start-up.
 
Iwood75 said:
I've had my TS55 for almost a year now and I've adjusted to its growling sound at start-up.

Yesterday, I was ripping (with a 28 tooth blade) the bottoms of four 1-3/4" exterior doors which were pretty rain soaked. The saw overheated and twice shut itself down. Never happened to me before so it was very disconcerting. Then today, I was crosscutting some 1x6 fir boards (switched to a 48 tooth blade), and the growing noise occurred WHILE CUTTING and seemed even louder than its usual off-load sound. Cut quality was still good... blade's tight...  gimbals are adjusted properly, etc.. SO, is there any way that yesterday's overworking/overheating problem could have caused some new issue? If not, guess I'll chalk it up to my vivid imagination combined with poor "sound memory."  Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Click to expand...

Mine has started shutting itself off as well. Or the blade will just stop during a cut. I always took this as it being underpowered and not that something is wrong.
It has me looking at the Makita plunge saw as I have heard it is more powerful.
 
Iwood75 said:
which were pretty rain soaked
Click to expand...

I have two thoughts here:

1. Has the blade become dull?

2. Did wet particles from the wood being cut get into the saw somewhere and clog something, forcing the saw to work harder?
 
Thanks for your thoughts.

When I changed blades from the 28T back to the 48T, there was no unusual accumulation of sawdust on or around the blade. And, I don't see how/where wet particles would actually get into the saw. Anyway, while sweeping up the door trimming sawdust that the CT26 did not capture, the saw dust was surprisingly dry.

I'm going to switch blades again and retry as Rick suggested. Sending the saw back to Festool for warranty service will be my last resort as I've experienced shipping damages with Festool tools and rails in the past.

Thanks again.
 
The standard blade is pretty fine as it is. If you are cutting thick/hard woods, you should use a blade with less teeth (panther...). I have the TS75 and the difference is night and day cutting through harder or really thick boards. I also though my saw was underpowered. You really have to use the proper blade for the job at hand. Most people tend to think of the standard blade as a rough cut blade...its really not.
 
I just re read your original post.  Have you checked to make sure that your original ripping of wet bottomed door hasn't resulted in a clog above the blade and towards the dust chute?  I have had quite a few clogs when cutting wet material in these areas.  You may have to take the blade housing apart to check.

Just a thought.

Peter
 
I noted that you have had the saw for almost a year.  You can still get free shipping both ways if you  get to Festool quick.

Seth
 
Seth, Thanks for pointing out the shipping cost savings. However, I'm reluctant to ship my saw as I've experienced shipping damage in the past. I'll save that as a last resort even if I have to pay "second year" costs.

Thanks Peter for your thought about a possible clog. I haven't taken anything apart yet. But, here's what I have done so far...

1. I put the 28T rip blade back on. While cutting, the louder growling sound was still present.
2. I bought a new 48T blade... still loud. (As an interesting aside, the new 48T cut is not quite as smooth as my original 48T.)
3. I spoke with Lester in Festool service. He suggested that I try running the saw without a blade. "If all's well, it should not make that growling sound at all." With the blade removed and the saw held "mid air", there was NO growling sound. Guess that also means there's no "clog" above the blade?

Wish I hadn't taken the $70 for the new blade out of my Kapex piggy bank. (I'm about two-thirds there!)

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and suggestions.  Looks like I'll just carry on and TRY to ignore the growl... for now.
 
Guess that also means there's no "clog" above the blade?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure why you determined that?

It's easy to take the blade cover off and inspect/clean inside. I seem to recall that it's a handful of T15's.

Tom
 
You're right Tom. Now that you've questioned it, I don't know why I assumed that either. Duh! I'll take off the cover and inspect inside in the am.
 
It's entirely possible you have a build up or even a chunk in there.

Sometimes after considerable use, and usually associated with mdf or gummy wood, the dust extraction port gets stuck. It should swivel relatively freely. The only way I know to free it up is to take the cover off and clean out its groove.

Tom
 
Well, I removed the blade cover – half hoping I would find a clog and therefore an easy fix. But, it's perfectly clean in there.
 
Bit of a gamble, but I bought an old ts55 in bits. The end bearing was shot to bits, so much so the bearing had totally seized and blackend (charred grease presumably). I had a spare 608 bearing (standard skateboard type and revived it but the speed control has gone, but now have a cheap single (max speed) rough board cutting saw.

Is it possible this bearing is binding at all? Way to check it is (unplugged of course) plunge the blade and check if any resistance to turning by hand, and any rubbing / grinding nose from the casing near the air vent / brushes. Any additional frinction would put extra load on the motor and cause more frequent thermal overload during use.
 
The reason why you lost speed control on your bits-and-pieces saw is that you lost the feedback loop that tells the controller how fast the motor is turning. The controller thinks the motor is not moving, so it always gives it full power. The hall effect sensor is located in the motor enclosure above the outboard bearing. Either the connector for this sensor is not connected to the controller, or the magnet that this sensor detects has broken.

I would also be very leery about your bearing cross reference that points to a skateboard bearing. The size may be equivalent, but the duty and speed rating may not be.

HallEfect.jpg
 
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