blade brake malfunction

[Bill Carey]

I have a Ryobi TSS220 sliding compound miter saw that I bought in the mid 80's (I think) and that I have used almost daily for low these many years. Still cuts dead nuts 90's. But the blade brake quit working yesterday and after all these years, habits have developed and I'm afraid I'll reach in to grab a cut off now before the blade stops. Anyone know the part I would need to replace to get the brake working again? The parts web sites I visited list most of the parts as obsolete and NA, but there are a few that are available. The armature for instance. And brushes. I just don't know how the brake works - what part controls it. Any schooling is appreciated.

[Paul F Franklin]

Bill, not familiar with that particular saw, but most miter saws use electric braking. Usual suspects (in rough order of likelihood) : Switch, dirty commutator on the armature, brushes, armature.

The failure mode of the armature in the case of bad braking is badly worn commutator that can't handle the braking current. Usually visibly obvious once the motor is disassembled.

Some of the switches in these can be disassemble and cleaned so I'd probably look at that first, followed by inspection of the brushes and armature. Good luck.

BTW, if you need to replace the switch and OEM part is obsolete, search for the part no. There are a couple of companies making replacement switches for some of the more popular tools. I just bought a switch for my dewalt 708 slider a while ago that way.