Paul Di Biasio
12-28-2004, 5:39 PM
I have had the Bridgewood PBS-440 (18") for 5 years now and for 2+ years the unit cuts off after < 5 mins of sawing. When I first called Bridgewood about the problem, the tech told me to adjust the amp cut-off adjust inside the starter. That suggestion never worked. Around that time Bridgewood switched from Italian made motors to USA on the newer models and that threw me off, thinking that was the problem. Customers were complaining about the Italian motor overheating.
There was no mention in the manual of a fix for a saw that overheats and trips. So today, I was determined to get to the bottom of it (because I was tired of waiting for the breaker to cool off to start over), even if it meant buying a new motor. After a call to the technician, he suggested testing with an amp meter to check the power draw and if necessary I replace the mag switch first ($127).
I then asked him "then what? If that doesn't fix it." He said the motor is probably fine otherwise it would completely seize up. Then he said "Did you check the belt tension? It should be like a Banjo string." BANG! No not since day one. Upon searching the manual, it says "After several days of use, re tighten the belts because they stretch a little after installation"
Unfortunately, although it apparently solved the problem, the technician believes that the switch is now bad from tripping so many times. Sure enough, the saw tripped after 20 minutes of sawing. Much better than before but I am replacing the switch anyway.
Although I am taking full blame for this ( I am paying the $127), I still think they should have figured this out the first time. This is one of the drawbacks of using european power tools, poor manuals. Although it was translated, the page heading read "Inconvenienti: Cause e rimedi". This is the same complaint I have about the Minimax T-124 Lathe. It takes the average user a long time to get up to speed.
Anyway, I still love this machine.. I'm getting excited to get all that horsepower back and happy I didn't have to shell out big bucks for a new motor.
There was no mention in the manual of a fix for a saw that overheats and trips. So today, I was determined to get to the bottom of it (because I was tired of waiting for the breaker to cool off to start over), even if it meant buying a new motor. After a call to the technician, he suggested testing with an amp meter to check the power draw and if necessary I replace the mag switch first ($127).
I then asked him "then what? If that doesn't fix it." He said the motor is probably fine otherwise it would completely seize up. Then he said "Did you check the belt tension? It should be like a Banjo string." BANG! No not since day one. Upon searching the manual, it says "After several days of use, re tighten the belts because they stretch a little after installation"
Unfortunately, although it apparently solved the problem, the technician believes that the switch is now bad from tripping so many times. Sure enough, the saw tripped after 20 minutes of sawing. Much better than before but I am replacing the switch anyway.
Although I am taking full blame for this ( I am paying the $127), I still think they should have figured this out the first time. This is one of the drawbacks of using european power tools, poor manuals. Although it was translated, the page heading read "Inconvenienti: Cause e rimedi". This is the same complaint I have about the Minimax T-124 Lathe. It takes the average user a long time to get up to speed.
Anyway, I still love this machine.. I'm getting excited to get all that horsepower back and happy I didn't have to shell out big bucks for a new motor.