I was wrong - and it's a good thing!

[JimD]

I wrote my thread about a bad day for my 3100. I convinced myself that the threads stripped out of the motor and the switch were broken. Today I disassembled it and am happy to report the threads are in good shape and the switch was just full of sawdust. My son blew out the switch (I asked him to look at it) and it works fine. Tom also helped me get everything back together. I had the motor completely out so there was a fair bit of reassembly to so. It also seems my saw was never assembled correctly. I found two shims in the back (motor) side on one side and none on the other. We put one on each and the blade is better aligned with the base now.

My height problem was the plastic handle. It was loose and the saw was dirty and needed lubricated. The plastic handle of the BT3100 will only put so much force on the raising mechanism so it was slipping. I wonder if the BT3000 had a metal or otherwise more substantial handle? With the plastic handle of the BT3100 you really shouldn't strip the motor threads.

I spent a bit on parts but I may need them someday. I am glad the saw is back up and running.

Jim

[Mr__Bill]

Some times it's a relief to be wrong! Glad it's back up and working, at least now you have a good understanding of the inner workings of the saw and a clean well working one too.

Bill

[Pappy]

Good to hear you are up and running again.

Post a list of parts if you don't want to store them. Someone else may need them and the worst you may loose is some shipping costs.

[LinuxRandal]

The early BT3000 had a metal handle. The later one, had a plastic handle.

[charliex]

Glad to hear you're back in production and with no major damage.

[os1kne]

Shortly after I bought my BT3100 (~2002), I replaced the plastic blade adjustment "wheel" with a metal one with parts from Sears - not the BT3000 part due to the Sears parts being more readily available. I recall that I had to special order the parts and there was an adapter between the new wheel and the saw. I never had a problem with the plastic wheel, I just didn't like the looks of it and suspected that it would be a weak link (and at the time, I had no kids and more time to fuss and fiddle with minor things like that.)