Craftsman radial arm saw won't start....suggestions?

[dirk martin]

I was cross cutting a 2" thick plank today, and the Radial Arm took a big, healthy bite. It stalled the motor, and then I flipped the switch off in abou 1 second. Now, it won't restart. There's a red "reset" button on top of the motor, but pressing it changes nothing.

Sears / Craftsman, 10 Radial arm.

It's a bit under powered, but in very good condition, and has been working for me great.

I've tried different electrical outlets, so I know it's getting juice.

Any ideas gang?

[Carroll Courtney]

You may try it again,sometimes the switch which is an overload heats up and needs to cool down.Also sometimes they just go bad,may try to bypass it just to check to see if that works or not.----Carroll

[dirk martin]

The switch goes bad, or the saw motor?
The switch still clicks fine...but I know that means little.
How do I get in there to bypass it?

[dirk martin]

Still won't start, so it looks like it's not an "overheat" issue.
Bummer.

[Carroll Courtney]

Dirk,you try to find a manual at Sears website on how to access the switch.I can't remember how I took mine apart several yrs ago.Good Luck---Carroll

[Mark Major]

Dirk, try starting it up while holding the reset button down as hard as you can and see if that gets it running.


Mark

[Joe Angrisani]

Dirk.... Did the smoke leak out of the motor? (little joke, big problem)

ps. Did you check the breaker for the circuit you have the saw plugged into?

[Tom Ewell]

I'll offer up another shot in the dark.

If your saw is similar to mine (circa '79), it'll set up for 120v or 240v. Accessing the motor wiring is under the "data" plate atop the motor housing.

You'll need to unplug, take off the guard and blade, crank it up and set the saw in verticle position. My plate uses a single screw to hold fast.

Once you have access to the wiring check out condition of all, broken, burnt, to much dust etc. also check out the back of the plate, there is supposed to be plastic shield attached to prevent live wires from shorting out on the plate. Might be something as simple as a broken wire.

In my saw it appears that the wiring setup and reset switch are all contained in one block, no direct access to the reset, that I can see.

good luck.