Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

[kebwi]

Well, I broke my HF tile saw. As you can see in the photos, the spindle on the motor end is fine but the spindle on the blade end is shot. It just spun itself to bits. I was sawing along, then a bunch of clattering, then it was over. The blade still spins because the belt drive has a lot of tension but it obviously won't "push" through brick anymore. It's done for.

Luckily, I purchase the $20 1-year replacement plan when I bought the saw. I already called HF and they said they would just send me home with a new one. The only expense is the incredible hassle of packing a filthy 150lb saw and driving it all over Seattle for a long evening.

Look folks, HF is cheap Chinese crap and we all know it. There's nothing wrong with that so long as it you take in stride.

Put differently...cough up for the replacement plan. You will not regret it!

Cheers!

[fxpose]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

Bummer... Looks like the locking pin/wedge became loose and came off. Were you able to find it?

[kebwi]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

I assumed that piece disintegrated. I heard a clatter right as things went south, so maybe instead of breaking, it simply popped out and shot off somewhere. I could look around my basement a bit I suppose. I dunno.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

That is not broken. it will cost about a nickel to fix.

Edit-what it indicates is that you are probably putting too much pressure on the blade. Let it work at it's own pace, the saw and the blade will last longer.

[kebwi]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

Fair enough. I concede that it looks like a very simple repair. Neil2 and I came to the same conclusion in my oven thread. Problem is, I'm not sure how to approach it. Where do I get that piece? HF had no interest in repairing it. They seem to consider any repair worth less than the cost of the the overhead.

I'll do a little research, but if you know offhand where to get the "key" as I think it is called, I would be open to suggestions.

...and point taken on taking pressure off the blade. Maybe I got too ambitious.

Thanks.

Looks like HF has a way to order parts. It's interesting that they had no interest in pursuing that course when I called. I'll have to see what it costs of course. Since the replacement plan is already paid for, it isn't in my interest to pay *too* much for the repair except that, as you say, it would be absurd to replace the saw under under such circumstances.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

Just go to any hardware store or big box and buy a piece of keyway. It is probably 3/16, but you should measure it to be sure. It will be in the bolts and screw section.

[shuboyje]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

It's called Key stock. You should be able to find what you need here:

Order , COLD ROLL STEEL, Mild Steel, STAINLESS, STEEL KEY STOCK, STEP Alloys 1018, 300 SERIES, Steel in Small Quantities at OnlineMetals.com

[jbriggs]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

It looks as if the woodruff key is missing, or has walked out the shaft and flung (technical term!) across the room. There is probabally a set-screw in the "v" portion of the belt pulley that holds in the key and it might have been loose and allowed the key to walk out. Very simple fix. Either get a new key or some key stock and a new set-screw, apply loctite (superglue will work if you don't have loctite) and you are back in buisness.

If you are not sure the size (could be metric), try to disassemble the opposite side and see if that key fits the other end, and if it does the take it with you to Lowes/HD and use it to match up a new one.

Good luck!

[kebwi]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

Cool, I'll look into that. The exact part description is C5x30. I don't know what the C means. I'm guessing the 5x30 is width/length in mm.

[kebwi]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

How do I realign the two halves of the hole (that's a funny play on words). The belt is very tight. I'm not sure I can turn the shaft or the belt independent of one another with my hands.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

You will probably have to loosen the motor mounts. I am not familiar with HF junk, but that is the most common method.

[chuckster]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

If its "too tight" to rotate the belt by hand - its probably "too tight" to use that way and may be the reason it popped out. There should be a bit of play in the belt - up and down at mid-span.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

if you can, take off the pulley, and clean up the shaft, It often gets scored from this happening.. just use a flat file,, You may also have to tap the new key in with a "SMALL" hammer, you can put a little lube on it too... Make sure you tighten the allen screws again... When putting the belt back on, wrap it around the larger end first, then around the smaller end while turning the larger pulley, often you can force it on this way without loosening the mounts,, If that doesnt work then you will have to loosen the mounts, Just make sure to re align them as straight as possible..

If you do have the extended warranty, call them and replace the unit,, let them do the work...you also get a brand new saw...

Cheers
Mark

[kebwi]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

If its "too tight" to rotate the belt by hand - its probably "too tight" to use that way and may be the reason it popped out. There should be a bit of play in the belt - up and down at mid-span.

I can confidently say, having taken the housing off to look at the belt and pulley system, that the HF saw is not built the way you describe. It is extremely tight. Note that it wouldn't work very well any other way since it is a tension belt. The belt itself has teeth but the spindles do not...which seems odd to me...but ultimately there isn't any tooth-meshing, so the only way the belt can turn the spindle is by tension...so it needs to be tight as I understand it.

[fxpose]

Re: Buy the Harbor Freight extended warranty!!!

The motor itself should be mounted on some sort of pivoted mount which allows adjustments for belt tension. I'm assuming this is the case with this unit.