Tired BT-3000

[George Cole]

My saw was purchased when they first came out..It is starting to get tired. I broke two belts about a month and half ago and replaced them with the aid of this forum...Thanks.. Now the old saw does not want to rip 2x4s. I replaced the blade with three different (sharp) blades plus one new one with various teeth ranging from 60, 40 and believe it or not a 20. .all rip blades..I am thinking of replacing the motor and jacking up the HP. Is this possible and is there a alternative available? Thanks,
George Cole

[LCHIEN]

My saw was purchased when they first came out..It is starting to get tired. I broke two belts about a month and half ago and replaced them with the aid of this forum...Thanks.. Now the old saw does not want to rip 2x4s. I replaced the blade with three different (sharp) blades plus one new one with various teeth ranging from 60, 40 and believe it or not a 20. .all rip blades..I am thinking of replacing the motor and jacking up the HP. Is this possible and is there a alternative available? Thanks,
George Cole

first of all good rip blades don't come in 40- and 60- tooth versions, they are all low tooth count like 24 usually. 40's work, but 60's really start to labor when ripping.

The original BT3000 (1st year of production) had a 13A motor instead of the later 15-amps motors, this would up the HP by about 15%, not a huge amount.

But maybe its as simple as your rip fence operation being off... if its out of parallel with the blade it could pinch and make ripping very hard.

ask me to send you the BT3 FAQ (see my sig line below)

[Schleeper]

George, it sounds like you have one of the 13 amp, "Made in USA" models. I have the same one. I believe they stopped making them in 1996, so replacement parts unique to that model haven't been available for many years. And from what I understand, you can't replace the 13A motor with a 15A one. Your only alternative is to buy a 13A motor from someone who's parting out one of the old saws. If you're lucky enough find someone like that, their motor may be no better than yours.

You may want to consider buying some else's used saw, and keep yours for parts.

[George Cole]

Thanks!
The 40 and 60 tooth were in fact called combination blades. The motor is in fact a 13 amp motor. I have aligned the fence to the blade. Today I plan on getting a 6 pack of Warsteiner and running a 30 amp dedicated line to the saw...I am loving retirement..This saw is like an old dog...can't bring myself to get rid of it and getting a new one..

Thanks again.
George

[George Cole]

Ran my dedicated box with a 30 amp ckt.bkr. The old Ryobi has been resurrected with new life. Took a hard look at what was on the ckt. and found I was running three fans with filters I use for dust control along with a vacuum. Duh! I really knew better. All is right with the world now...Thanks for the advice.

Best Regards
George Cole

[Uncle Cracker]

Glad you got the ol' girl running rightly. They really are willing workers, these little saws. Diamonds in the rough...

[George Cole]

That's a fact...I refuse to replace it...

[Uncle Cracker]

Even those who have moved on to bigger, more pro-style saws have often kept their BT's as dedicated dado machines. They've got 9 lives. I will always have one, even if I end up parking my car outside to make room for it.