My DeWalt 7740 began to start hard today. It doesn't always do it, but
there's a distinct effort (and a burning smell, as the motor is trying
really hard to start) to start the motor rather than the usual quick and
smooth starts. I'm not sure about this, but when pulling the saw through
the wood the motion seemed more "grabby". I wonder if that's a sign of the
blade slowing down?

The blade spins freely and the bearings are new.

If a start cap was going bad, would the motor behave in this manner? Any
other likely suspects?

Puckdropper
--
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On 1/29/2018 1:15 AM, Puckdropper wrote:
My DeWalt 7740 began to start hard today. It doesn't always do it, but
there's a distinct effort (and a burning smell, as the motor is trying
really hard to start) to start the motor rather than the usual quick and
smooth starts. I'm not sure about this, but when pulling the saw through
the wood the motion seemed more "grabby". I wonder if that's a sign of the
blade slowing down?

The blade spins freely and the bearings are new.

If a start cap was going bad, would the motor behave in this manner? Any
other likely suspects?

If not the starting capacitor, perhaps a dirty (or otherwise
malfunctioning) centrifugal switch. There is a switch that engages the
starting capacitor and then takes it "off line" when the motor is
running. Never had this problem with a RAS, but had something very
similar with a large office cross cut shredder. A good dose of
compressed air in the direction of that switch (mounted at the end of
the shaft) offered a temporary cure.

Puckdropper wrote in :

My DeWalt 7740 began to start hard today. It doesn't always do it, but
there's a distinct effort (and a burning smell, as the motor is trying
really hard to start) to start the motor rather than the usual quick and
smooth starts. I'm not sure about this, but when pulling the saw through
the wood the motion seemed more "grabby". I wonder if that's a sign of the
blade slowing down?

The blade spins freely and the bearings are new.

If a start cap was going bad, would the motor behave in this manner? Any
other likely suspects?

Sounds like the start cap to me.