Ohhh No! What did I do to my CMS???

[91FE]

I've got a 12" Ridgid CMS. I was cutting a 2x4 this weekend. Simple cut, nothing fancy. I might have been going a little too fast with it, but nothing ridiculous. For some reason the blade got jammed. I was startled and not firing on all cylinders, so there was about a one second delay before I let off the trigger. I pretty sure my slow reaction time did some damage to the saw.

I'm not sure what the inner-working of a CMS look like, or how it operates. I always assumed it was a direct drive motor. What could I have cooked by running the motor with the blade jammed? Now, the blade feels like it's slipping It doesn't seem to get up to speed like it did before, and there's an abnormal grinding sound when it winds down after releasing the trigger.

What have I done... and more importantly...how do I fix it?

Thanks,
Scott

[BobSch]

Blade slipping? It's possible the blade nut just came loose. Check that first.

Good luck.

[91FE]

I checked it. The nut and blade were still tight to the arbor.

[JimD]

Scott,

There have been a lot more times I thought I had done damage to my tools than times I really did damage. I do not know about your Rigid but my CMS has some gears or a coupling between the motor and the blade. It looks like the motor is direct coupled but it is not. There is a chance you damaged something but if it still cuts OK and the only evidence of a problem is it doesn't sound quite the same, I'd keep using it. In my case, I imagined different noises, I think, based upon my fear I had damaged something. I do not know if that is what is happening with you but I do not see anything terrible that can happen if you just keep using it. If it's damaged, it will make real loud not difficult to interpret noises or stop working.

Jim

[Stick]

I never had one apart, but I wonder if they aren't built like a circular saw, with the blade gear driven off splines on the end of the armature. That's pretty much the way my old Skilsaw acted before it finally died. Same thing, stalled it once, and it started making noise. Took it apart and found it had one broken spline, I milled off the rough edge, but it didn't last long after that.

[LCHIEN]

its a universal motor probably. Take off the brush covers and check the brushes for damage. Try to put them back in the same place and orientation.

[91FE]

latest wrinkle:

I went to double-check that the blade was tight. The button you push down to lock the blade from spinning while tightening/loosening the blade doesn't work. I push it and it does nothing. What's that mean?

[cwsmith]

I'm not familier with the interworkings of the CMS. It may have an electric brake that is fouling, but the last post mentioned that the arbor lock no longer works, so maybe you sheared that pin somehow. But, maybe you just didn't have the arbor in the right position when you tried it. With the unit unplugged, rotate the blade manually while pressing in the lock pin. If it doesn't engage after turning the blade a full 360, the pin may be sheared and the end of he pin may be lodged in the arbor shaft. That could be what is slowing it down and also making the noise. I just can't imagine how the pin would have engaged just because you stalled the saw.

Whatever it is, it sounds serious enough that you should probably get it to a service center. You mentioned it was a Ridgid, so it should be covered by either the 3-year warranty or the Limited Lifetime Service Agreement. Of course the biggest problem may be the distance between you and an authorized service center.

Good luck,

CWS

[91FE]

Yea... when I pushed down the lever, I rotated the blade like normal to find the "slot" that the locking device seats itself in. I found it. It does push in like it's supposed to... and it feels like it's locking the blade... but it doesn't. You can still turn the blade by hand with the locking mechanism in place.

Looks like there's a Ridgid service center about 25 miles from me. I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but it looks like I've got no choice.

Thanks for the help,
Scott