TS3660 vibration and noise

[Lawman]

I recently purchased a Ridgid ts3660 when they went on sale for $399.00. It went together without a problem. However after a minor amount of use, which entailed mostly making a couple jigs and test cuts, it started to get a lot of vibration and make a rapid noise that I can only decribe as "clacking"

The motor spins quietly without the belt on it, so I know its not the motor. When the belt is on and the arbor shaft turns is when the vibration and noise occur. When the saw runs without the blade it still makes the noise. It sounds as if it is coming from the arbor shaft area in the interior of the saw, possibly like its a bearing or something.

I checked and realigned the blade to ensure nothing had worked loose. I checked the pulley wheel on the arbor shat and that is secure. When i turn the blade by hand (without the belt on the pulley) it seems to move freely. I checked the blade guard area in the interior and nothing appears loose, and there is nothing foreign stuck inside, like wood etc...

I called Ridgid tech support and after going over all these issues again with them, they suggested that I return it to Home Depot since I am inside the 90 day of purchase. I was hoping to avoid this as it took a while to put together and moving this beast using my little Nissan Xterra would prove to be a royal PITA, not to mention that finding the 3660 is becoming ever more difficult since the mark-down.

Anyone have any suggestions about how to get this problem fixed that would not require me to disaassemble this monster and take it to the store or service center?

Lawman

[hewood]

The usual suspects are motor/belt tension, blade guard rubbing, belt not being seated properly on the pulley grooves, pulleys misaligned, warped blade, the blade not being seated firmly, or could also be a bent motor shaft or arbor, but those the latter two would have occurred right from the start.

[Lawman]

I have checked all of those and I believe I can say its not something that has to do wit the alignment or the motor. The problem is somewhere inside the saw housing. Its not the blade, as it makes the noise and vibrates even when the blade is off. Thats why I think it may be the arbor shaft.

What I need is suggestions of ways to verify thats the problem, and suggestions of how to solve it if it is. :(

Lawman

[hewood]

I have checked all of those and I believe I can say its not something that has to do wit the alignment or the motor. The problem is somewhere inside the saw housing. Its not the blade, as it makes the noise and vibrates even when the blade is off. Thats why I think it may be the arbor shaft.

What I need is suggestions of ways to verify thats the problem, and suggestions of how to solve it if it is. :(

Lawman

Take the belt off and run the motor by itself, if it still shakes it's the motor. If it doesn't, then it narrows it to something in the pulleys, belt, or arbor. Not sure how to narrow those down without replacing those parts one at a time.

[cactusman]

Take some time to revisit your overall assembly of the saw. Perhaps you neglected to tighten something..as often you only do hand tight or loosen to ensure everything is aligned.

You may want to remove the blade guard and fence and other non critical objects and then run the motor and belt attached. Maybe the blade guard is loose and rattles.

Is the table top itself vibrating? If you press on the top does the vibration change? if you touch the outer case of the motor does it change it's tone when running? Does the saw have a roll around base? See if you have that installed correctly.

It's very difficult to arm chair trouble shoot a problem with you being "there" and the rest of us being "here" So we all shout out suggestions.

Please report back your findings and solutions.


Cactus Man

[Woussko]

A) Under good lighting and with a magnifying glass in hand, carefully inspect the belt. Are there any cracks, high or low spots or anything that looks bad about it? If yes, then it needs to be replaced.

B) With blade removed for safety, try winding a piece of string several feet in length around the pulley and give it a fast pull. This will spin the arbor shaft much faster than you can turn it by hand. Listen carefully. What do you hear?

C) If steps A and B fail, then with the blade, washer and nut left off, reinstall the belt and power up the saw for a few seconds. Do you hear the noise now?

D) When starting, running and stopping the saw, have someone look carefully at the motor for any wild movement.

Please post what you find out and good luck.

[Gofor]

I would start with the obvious: Have you checked to see if the trunnion bolts are tight? Mine came with them only hand-tight. If I hadn't decided to correct a .005" blade-to-miter-slot deviation, i would not have discovered the loose bolts. Second, ensure the under-table blade dust deflector is not loose and possible catching the blade.

Go

[Lawman]

Final update... hopefully...

I checked the things suggested, but to no avail. I started making arrangements to find another 3660. I bought one at a nearby city's HD, and will bepicking it up Monday, and will be taking the one at home back to the HD near my home once assembly of the new saw is complete (using the box from the new one to transport the old one back).

Thanks for the suggestions, I hope the new one doesn't decide to have a meltdown after barely any usage... lol

Lawman