I have the ryobi bt3100 table saw. It worked really well for awhile but now its almost impossible to raise the blade. I’ve done the regular maintenance on it and its still not working. Anyone else have this problem? I asked HD about returning it(almost 1year old) and they said nope. I really cant afford to be without my table saw for the 2 weeks the service center told me it would take to fix it. Wish I would’ve gone with Bosch or Dewalt. I guess there’s really no question here, i’m just ranting a bit.
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Replies
Yeah - guess you get what you pay for.
Ryobi is junk.
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
MSA1,
I don't know this saw but if you clean up the threaded rod that raises the motor or blade it might fix your problem. Blow it out with air, clean it with a toothbrush, and lube with a silicone spray(Not WD40).
KK
well now that everyone has beat you up for owning a ryobi tool, i just wanted to let you know there is help ,it's call ryobi annomous and were here to help. lol i have a friend [thats how all us of talk about ryobi tools] that has the same problem.turn the saw upside down,unplugged!!! and take a blow gun and clean the plate off that the saw slides up and down on. then hit it with a little silicone spray, should work like a new one. my "friends" needs this done about every 3-4 weeks of hard use. don't take all the ribbing two hard, just ask if anyone else sells a 10" saw,with a 26" table and built in stand that will saw through 3.5" of oak for 200.,that will shut them up. good luck i think you will find this fixes your prob. larry a friend of a ryobi owner.....
Edited 11/13/2004 10:58 pm ET by always overbudget
I'm not a fan of Ryobi either. Matter of fact, I am head of our local chapter of ROAs, Ryobi Owners Annonymous. Our motto is "Friends don't let friends buy Ryobi"
But I don't think this is a valid criticism of Ryobi. I have the DW tablesaw and a shop Grizzly and with both I need to lube the moving parts or suffer the same fate. I don't know how you define regular maint. but every time I change a blade, I use my Boeshild B_9 or Slip-it spray lube. i think these fine wax based lubes are better than silicones when you are around woods that will be painted. Silicone in the wood can interfere with good paint jobs so I save silicone for my boots and cars.
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Yeah, yeah, I know. I am no fan of Ryobi either but my buddy has the saw and his worked great. Believe me i'm wishing I wouldn't have bought it, but it works great except that its almost impossible to raise the blade! I cleaned the snot out of the screw shaft, the slider plates and used dry silicone spray and it didnt work. Does silicone go bad? My can is probably a few years old.
There are two shims in the sliding mechanism. If you carefully take the assembly apart, you will find that one or both of them have become misaligned. Disassemble as necessary and correctly place the shims. Bend the stops as necessary. Once you have the raising mechanism open and partially disassembled, the solution will be clear. I have owned a Ryobi table saw for eight years and consider it to be the best buy in the industry. It is a precision instrument and cannot be banged around like an old rusty Craftsman. It is also not a $1000.00+ saw. But it is almost there in terms of quality.
I had this same problem three years ago. Since I made the adjustment, I have not had a problem.
PS: This is about a twenty minute job.
If that is the problem, it IS a Ryobi design problem and I take back my defense of them of this.
I have also been moderately impressed with this saw but when I went to buy one, I was told by the retailer that if I were having it on the job site for multiple users, that it was definitely not a good choice and that I should get something more rugged. Your comment reminds me of that.
So I bought the Grizly. Then they came oput with the DW and I bought it for a portable, and since then, there are a multitude of decent quality portable table saws. But the Ryobi was the fiorst. I'll give them that much for pionewering the market with innovation.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Piffin,
You stated, "But the Ryobi was the first. I'll give them that much for pioneering the market with innovation." I recall that they were also the pioneers who intoduced the first of the small portable thickness planers. A huge market segment was born overnight.
Ryobi has a role to play in the world of real tools, it is just different from the role played by Milwaukee, or Festo, etc.
Bill
Â
Makita and Hitachi both had portable units first, but Ryobi may have been first with really small cheap ones
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
You are right, I was referring to really small, inexpensive units.
I'd use the saw as a boat anchor.Regards,
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
Hey Les, its not the shims. Just took the entire thing apart, the shims were fine. At least its no worse........still very difficult to raise or lower. Thanks for the advice though.
There have been a number of problems with the blade height adjustments. See these links for possible solutions.
Regards,
Dennis
http://www.ryobitools.com/cgi-bin/htdocs/powertools/dcforum/DCForumID24/3579.html#4
http://www.bt3central.com/articles/#General%20BT3%20Information
I bought 2 Ryobi's TS.
First one was stollen. The Second is still with me at..the machine shop.
Best tool for the money...and the only one for that money.
YCf Dino
I second the advice to go over to http://www.bt3central.com/forum to ask for some more help. The shims were a known problem for the older BT3000, but I'd heard they were fixed with the newer model. This might be a very simple fix - perhaps your splitter guard is too close to the blade or got bent somehow.
D&L
I've had the 3000 for 3 years. Originally bought it for light home use. Of coarse it found its way on the job within weeks. We've cut thousands of feet of 2X, of cedar batts and trim, jamb liners, interior and exterior trim and have found it to be a heck of a tool. You can't crowd it, it does require some alignment maintance, and will need occasional belts. I've chnged belts once, and would never do it again. We have a service center that will do it in a day. Other than that its kept hummin every work day for 3 years.
It has a universal motor and it's light weight, but if you use common sense and respect and care for it like anyother important tool it'll provide good and faithful sevice, plus paying for it self on a weekly basis.
I like'um so much, I just bought a 3100 Monday.
I get the same problem with mine, a 2100. It happens after the blade stays in the same position for some time. Simple fix, remove the plate, lower the blade, air blow the slide rails, and spray them with Top-Cote or Dri-Cote. Depending on where you are a little rust or oxidation occurs on the slides, they just need to be lubricated, but not with oil.
I use it regular on the table top to cut down on friction.
I also spray my miter saw blade before making critical cuts in maple crown mouldings. Maple is very unforgiving and the slightest burn can show up like crazy in a miter. A little lube helpsn and this stuff leaves no residue.
View Image
My shims were not out of alignment. Now its so bad I can barely get the blade to go down. I think the part that rides on the screw may be stripped. Now I need to find time to take it in to the shop........boy what a savings it was to buy the ryobi...........
You said you took the thing apart, there are hex screws to adjust the tightness of the assembly sliding on those stainless steel shims.
Are you referring to the four screws that hold the two sides of the unit together? They were completely tight when I took it apart.
Are you referring to the four screws that hold the two sides of the unit together?
No, remove the blade. You will see 4 small 7/64" hex screws that adjust how tight the unit slides on the rails.
I'll take it apart again tomorrow. Maybe I over tightened them. I an barely move the blade right know and i'm ready to whip this thing in the dumpster.
The adjustment screws are just behind the blade, no need for a major takedown.
Didnt get a chance to work on my saw today but I did look behind the blade. The only screws I saw were the ones I had to remove to get to the shims. Not to sound stupid but are these the ones you're talking about? Do you have the BT 3000 Or the BT 3100?
I have the old ryobi 2100
The set screws are hidden in small holes, hex heads 7/64"
I assumed the system is similar on the 3100
Thanks Gordsco, I have had no time to mess with the saw this weekend but hope to get the blade off tomorrow. I cant even get the blade to go down now. I'm going crazy here.
I don't have the Ryobi, but it might make you feel better to know you can have the same problem with a Bosch -- that is, hard to crank the blade up and down.
With the Bosch, there is a small pair of plastic (!) gears ( I think they are called helical) just in front of the blade. They fill up with sawdust, and have to be cleaned regularly with a toothbrush -- particularly if you are cutting soft resinous woods like pine. It helps to spray them with silicone, but you still have to clean them periodically.
You've probably already done it, but I would look for any gears and threaded rods that can get mucked up with sawdust. You might have to revert to something like a aerosol blade cleaner to loosen it up, and maybe a brass brush to dislodge it.
You're not making me feel any better. I was seriously considering the Bosch as a replacement for my Ryobi. Does anyone make a better blade lifting system?
To make matters worse: I complained about this to a Bosch rep, and he gave me a chit to have it fixed free at the service center (saw about 3-4 years old). The service guy told me if you torque too much on the handle when these gears are frozen with sawdust, it can easily break the aluminum casting that holds the blade. If that happens, it would cost you better than $200 to replace. The "fix" was some kind of simple bracket that protects this housing. But I still was told to be careful and keep the gears clean. I bought my Bosch during the first run when the 4000 came on the market. I imagine they have since remedied the problem, but I don't know for sure.