The age old question: repair or replace?

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Soft Cars

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Sep 14, 2022
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Skilsaw Worm Drive circular saw. Backyard DIY saw with very little use for such a professional saw. During startup it'll make a pop sound out the back of the motor (sometimes). It's definitely intermittent, that's why I hesitate taking it to a repair shop. I know automotive diagnosticians hate intermittents. The other problem is the saw just doesn't run as smooth as it used to. I've taken the saw apart to perform tests on the armature and inspect the gear set. Armature checks out fine and the gear set looks new. There's probably some way to measure gear backlash, but I don't know what it is. The saw has 5 bearings. I replaced one of them for feeling slightly rough when I rotate it in my hand. The saw is back together and runs exactly the same as it did before disassembly. Parts for the saw are not cheap. A new armature can cost upwards of $100 and a new gear set $60. Lowe's has the saw on sale for $159. Mine is one of the very last saws to be assembled in U.S.A. The new saws all come from China. I haven't tried any of the new saws to compare. What would you do?

SKILSAW HD77M
7-1/4’’ (184mm) Worm Drive Saw F012HM7700
120V 60Hz 13A no load speed 4600/min
SN 78315 HH344112
Assembled in USA
 
AZjeff said:
I'd run it until something happens you can identify.
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The thing makes me nervous when it pops. It sounds exactly like a balloon getting poked with a needle.

There was this one time when I was in welding class at city college. When I went to go unplug a welding machine, there was a huge white flash of light and a pop. I thought I was dead for sure. The power was knocked out across the entire campus after that. And did I mention that the welding machine was plugged into a 480V outlet? That incident still haunts me.
 
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Soft Cars said:
It's back to making pops again, but don't tell the people at GJ. I want to leave a happy ending over there. 😉
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Soft Cars said:
The thing makes me nervous when it pops. It sounds exactly like a balloon getting poked with a needle.
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Is there a flash accompanied with the, "popping"? An odor of something electrical burning? I had an older TV, (25" picture tube model), that we had in a room for several years that sat unused.

We put it back into service, and after a while we heard a loud "pop". It kept playing for several hours with no ill effects. Then there was a huge "pop" that was deafening. The screen went dark.

I immediately yanked the plug out of the wall, and the whole house stunk to high heaven. It was so bad we dragged the thing out to the garage. Big mistake.

It stunk up the garage so bad we had to leave the doors open to get rid of the smell.... Bottom line, if you suspect it's a precursor to something electrical about to tank, get rid of it and get a new saw.

A new one correctly made in China with a warranty is going to be better than a failing one that could cause a short, or end up allowing you to become a resistor for 120 volts.
 
My money's on a frayed or separating wire.
I've repaired a few 110 appliances where a wire broke within the insulation. They'll melt/burn through and it's obvious to see.
Once, I saw a glow from within the insulation and sure enough, it was a wire barely touching its burnt ends together.

Also, the switches on large saws are common maintenance items.
 
billt460 said:
Is there a flash accompanied with the, "popping"? An odor of something electrical burning? I had an older TV, (25" picture tube model), that we had in a room for several years that sat unused.

We put it back into service, and after a while we heard a loud "pop". It kept playing for several hours with no ill effects. Then there was a huge "pop" that was deafening. The screen went dark.

I immediately yanked the plug out of the wall, and the whole house stunk to high heaven. It was so bad we dragged the thing out to the garage. Big mistake.

It stunk up the garage so bad we had to leave the doors open to get rid of the smell.... Bottom line, if you suspect it's a precursor to something electrical about to tank, get rid of it and get a new saw.

A new one correctly made in China with a warranty is going to be better than a failing one that could cause a short, or end up allowing you to become a resistor for 120 volts.
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Yes there is!
I feel like I'm holding an electrical bomb in my hand waiting to go off. And the electrical bomb has a blade on it. :oops:
 
Soft Cars said:
Yes there is!
I feel like I'm holding an electrical bomb in my hand waiting to go off. And the electrical bomb has a blade on it. :oops:
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Get rid of it. It's just not worth the danger. Especially if it possibly shocks you while in operation. Then you could drop it while its running. No matter where you take the scenario from there, the outcome can't be good.
 
Well this afternoon I took it into a factory authorized repair center. They'll probably have it for at least two weeks. I told them what it was doing and what I did to it. I told them I have done everything I can do. Now if they were able to just tell me which part to change, I could do that easily. Surprisingly, the saw doesn't have that many parts. Some of the bearings probably require some specialized pullers. I'm going to try and find out what kind of pullers they use. The two bearings supporting the gear set are definitely pressed onto the gear shaft. Some of the bearings supporting the armature can be tapped out of the gear housing using a punch and hammer. Replacing the center armature bearing was fairly easy. I guaranty you I'm going to milk those people for all the information I can get.
 
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