I was cutting some 16/4 poplar on the tablesaw and got halfway through it
when the saw stopped dead.

At first I thought the blade had simply stopped but then I realized the
motor was completely off. Breaker on the tablesaw has popped. Once I reset
it and gave the motor some time to cool down it worked just fine.

I've never had anything like that happen to me so I'm wondering, what was
the principle cause. Obviously without being there no one can nail it down,
but in general would this be due to a dull blade and too fast a feed rate or
simply overuse/misuse of the saw? I'd probably run 20 feet of this stuff
through the saw prior. Let me be clear, I don't have a saw that can cut 4+
inches in one pass, so I was having to cut, then flip and finish the cut
(and maybe that's the big no-no here)

Might not be the saw alone.

Depending on the weather and local power use, your line voltage might be a
little low.

This causes the motor to pull more amps and therefore run hotter.

Also causes thermal breakers to pop.

Where I live it is not unusual to see our 120 VAC drop to 100 to 102 on hot
summer days.









"Eigenvector" wrote in message
. ..
I was cutting some 16/4 poplar on the tablesaw and got halfway through it
when the saw stopped dead.

At first I thought the blade had simply stopped but then I realized the
motor was completely off. Breaker on the tablesaw has popped. Once I
reset it and gave the motor some time to cool down it worked just fine.

I've never had anything like that happen to me so I'm wondering, what was
the principle cause. Obviously without being there no one can nail it
down, but in general would this be due to a dull blade and too fast a feed
rate or simply overuse/misuse of the saw? I'd probably run 20 feet of
this stuff through the saw prior. Let me be clear, I don't have a saw
that can cut 4+ inches in one pass, so I was having to cut, then flip and
finish the cut (and maybe that's the big no-no here)

Eigenvector wrote:
I was cutting some 16/4 poplar on the tablesaw and got halfway through
it when the saw stopped dead.

What kind of saw do you have? Portable, contractor, cabinet? What is
the amperage rating of the saw and of the circuit in question?

It's possible that the wood was warping and pinching the blade, or that
you were simply drawing more power than the circuit could handle.

Chris

"Chris Friesen" wrote in message
el...
Eigenvector wrote:
I was cutting some 16/4 poplar on the tablesaw and got halfway through it
when the saw stopped dead.

What kind of saw do you have? Portable, contractor, cabinet? What is the
amperage rating of the saw and of the circuit in question?

It's possible that the wood was warping and pinching the blade, or that
you were simply drawing more power than the circuit could handle.

Chris

I would also consider converting my saw to 220. Is your saw outlet on a
dedicated circuit or is there other things on that circuit? If there are
other things on that circuit this will happen to you all the time.

"Joe" wrote in message
. ..

"Chris Friesen" wrote in message
el...
Eigenvector wrote:
I was cutting some 16/4 poplar on the tablesaw and got halfway through
it when the saw stopped dead.

What kind of saw do you have? Portable, contractor, cabinet? What is
the amperage rating of the saw and of the circuit in question?

It's possible that the wood was warping and pinching the blade, or that
you were simply drawing more power than the circuit could handle.

Chris

I would also consider converting my saw to 220. Is your saw outlet on a
dedicated circuit or is there other things on that circuit? If there are
other things on that circuit this will happen to you all the time.

In a way that is reassuring. It tells me that the outlet that it was
plugged into was the principle cause. It was certainly hot that day and the
saw isn't on a dedicated circuit so it sounds like this was a case of not
getting sufficient voltage and having the make up the difference with
amperage.

I know the circuit itself is fine, I run 10/2 to all the shop 110V outlets
both to minimize line loss and to provide an extra margin of safety. But I
never considered the source of the power to be suspect.

I'll have to ponder the headaches of getting a permit to switch out to 220 -
but it sounds like in my case that is the best thing to do.

Eigenvector wrote:
....

In a way that is reassuring. It tells me that the outlet that it was
plugged into was the principle cause. It was certainly hot that day and
the saw isn't on a dedicated circuit so it sounds like this was a case
of not getting sufficient voltage and having the make up the difference
with amperage.

Possible, perhaps even likely, but certainly not conclusive...

We're still lacking any information whatsoever on the size of the motor,
breaker rating, whether it actually was the breaker that tripped or the
thermal overload on the motor, etc., etc., etc., ...

So, all 'tis speculation at this point...

I know the circuit itself is fine, I run 10/2 to all the shop 110V
outlets both to minimize line loss and to provide an extra margin of
safety. But I never considered the source of the power to be suspect.

What breaker size and motor size, current rating? There's the key...

I'll have to ponder the headaches of getting a permit to switch out to
220 - but it sounds like in my case that is the best thing to do.

You'd have to have a permit to simply pull a 220V circuit? What would
be entailed in the run--if the panel has room and unless is in another
location that would require an external run (say from house to
unattached garage or similar), can't see why it wouldn't be something
couldn't be done under most dispensations in code/permit requirements
I've seen that have provisions for single-owner households for homeowner
work.

--

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
. ..
I was cutting some 16/4 poplar on the tablesaw and got halfway through it
when the saw stopped dead.

At first I thought the blade had simply stopped but then I realized the
motor was completely off. Breaker on the tablesaw has popped. Once I
reset it and gave the motor some time to cool down it worked just fine.

I've never had anything like that happen to me so I'm wondering, what was
the principle cause. Obviously without being there no one can nail it
down, but in general would this be due to a dull blade and too fast a feed
rate or simply overuse/misuse of the saw? I'd probably run 20 feet of
this stuff through the saw prior. Let me be clear, I don't have a saw
that can cut 4+ inches in one pass, so I was having to cut, then flip and
finish the cut (and maybe that's the big no-no here)

Even half depth you were cutting 2 inches deep basically and the blade was
not clearing the top of the wood. That is still a lot to chew for a
contractors saw. Be sure that you are not using an extension cord when you
are sawing thick material or make sure you are using proper sized cord and
not too long. Be sure to use a "clean & sharp" blade. And feed a little
slower.

"Eigenvector" wrote:

I was cutting some 16/4 poplar on the tablesaw and got halfway
through it when the saw stopped dead.

At first I thought the blade had simply stopped but then I realized
the motor was completely off. Breaker on the tablesaw has popped.

The old "Trying to get 8# in a 5# bag" routine.

Going to take at least 3 passes with a slow feed rate to get thru that
stock.

Lew

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
news:RFook.863$7N1.332@trnddc06...
"Eigenvector" wrote:

I was cutting some 16/4 poplar on the tablesaw and got halfway through it
when the saw stopped dead.

At first I thought the blade had simply stopped but then I realized the
motor was completely off. Breaker on the tablesaw has popped.

The old "Trying to get 8# in a 5# bag" routine.

Going to take at least 3 passes with a slow feed rate to get thru that
stock.

Lew


Well sometimes you have to make do.

Wrong tool for the job, don't have to tell me.

On Aug 12, 10:54 am, "Eigenvector" wrote:
I was cutting some 16/4 poplar on the tablesaw and got halfway through it
when the saw stopped dead.

At first I thought the blade had simply stopped but then I realized the
motor was completely off. Breaker on the tablesaw has popped. Once I reset
it and gave the motor some time to cool down it worked just fine.

I've never had anything like that happen to me so I'm wondering, what was
the principle cause. Obviously without being there no one can nail it down,
but in general would this be due to a dull blade and too fast a feed rate or
simply overuse/misuse of the saw? I'd probably run 20 feet of this stuff
through the saw prior. Let me be clear, I don't have a saw that can cut 4+
inches in one pass, so I was having to cut, then flip and finish the cut
(and maybe that's the big no-no here)

What kind of blade? If you have to make due with the TS for this kind
of stuff a 24T thin kerf rip blade makes a huge difference over say a
full kerf 40T combo blade.

On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 07:54:52 -0700, "Eigenvector"
wrote:

I was cutting some 16/4 poplar on the tablesaw and got halfway through it
when the saw stopped dead.

At first I thought the blade had simply stopped but then I realized the
motor was completely off. Breaker on the tablesaw has popped. Once I reset
it and gave the motor some time to cool down it worked just fine.

For the sake of clarity, what do you mean by breaker on the tablesaw?
Did the breaker in your electrical panel blow or the overload on the
table saw motor.

If the former on an otherwise cool running motor, you were drawing too
many amps on the circuit, combination of the work required for the
operation and whatever else was drawing from the same circuit. If the
latter, you overheated the motor and the overload protected it from
damage.

Since you were not cutting clear through and without a splitter,
fairly easy to bind the blade and cause an overload.

Frank

I've never had anything like that happen to me so I'm wondering, what was
the principle cause. Obviously without being there no one can nail it down,
but in general would this be due to a dull blade and too fast a feed rate or
simply overuse/misuse of the saw? I'd probably run 20 feet of this stuff
through the saw prior. Let me be clear, I don't have a saw that can cut 4+
inches in one pass, so I was having to cut, then flip and finish the cut
(and maybe that's the big no-no here)

"Frank Boettcher" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 07:54:52 -0700, "Eigenvector"
wrote:

I was cutting some 16/4 poplar on the tablesaw and got halfway through it
when the saw stopped dead.

At first I thought the blade had simply stopped but then I realized the
motor was completely off. Breaker on the tablesaw has popped. Once I
reset
it and gave the motor some time to cool down it worked just fine.

For the sake of clarity, what do you mean by breaker on the tablesaw?
Did the breaker in your electrical panel blow or the overload on the
table saw motor.

If the former on an otherwise cool running motor, you were drawing too
many amps on the circuit, combination of the work required for the
operation and whatever else was drawing from the same circuit. If the
latter, you overheated the motor and the overload protected it from
damage.

The tablesaw fuse popped. I say popped because its labled "fuse" and it's a
button that you push. Just being clear because it is ambiguous what I
meant.


Since you were not cutting clear through and without a splitter,
fairly easy to bind the blade and cause an overload.

Frank

I've never had anything like that happen to me so I'm wondering, what was
the principle cause. Obviously without being there no one can nail it
down,
but in general would this be due to a dull blade and too fast a feed rate
or
simply overuse/misuse of the saw? I'd probably run 20 feet of this stuff
through the saw prior. Let me be clear, I don't have a saw that can cut
4+
inches in one pass, so I was having to cut, then flip and finish the cut
(and maybe that's the big no-no here)

"Eigenvector" wrote:

The tablesaw fuse popped. I say popped because its labled "fuse"
and it's a button that you push. Just being clear because it is
ambiguous what I meant.

For purposes of clarity and future use:

The table saw motor does NOT have either an internal fuse or a circuit
breaker, it has a THERMAL OVERLOAD relay.

IOW, if the motor gets t hot, the THERMAL OVERLOAD relay trips.

When the motor cools down, pushing the reset button on the motor will
allow the O/L relay to be reset and the motor to be restarted.

The only circuit breaker involved is in the panel board protecting the
wiring feeding the saw motor.

As described above, the equipment performed as designed to function.


Lew

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
news:W1Iok.1007$T91.104@trnddc04...
"Eigenvector" wrote:

The tablesaw fuse popped. I say popped because its labled "fuse" and
it's a button that you push. Just being clear because it is ambiguous
what I meant.

For purposes of clarity and future use:

The table saw motor does NOT have either an internal fuse or a circuit
breaker, it has a THERMAL OVERLOAD relay.

IOW, if the motor gets t hot, the THERMAL OVERLOAD relay trips.

When the motor cools down, pushing the reset button on the motor will
allow the O/L relay to be reset and the motor to be restarted.

The only circuit breaker involved is in the panel board protecting the
wiring feeding the saw motor.

As described above, the equipment performed as designed to function.


Lew

Understood.