Brand new Grizzly G1023SL table saw, terrible vibration...Help!!

[Mark Cooper]

I just purchased my first table saw, a Grizzly G1023SL (220v 1-phase 3HP).

Like most Grizzly owners it seems, mine arrived in a box that looked like it had been run over by a dump truck. In reality, the guy who delivered it had an otherwise empty truck, and put the saw in the middle of the damn thing with NO OTHER SUPPORT!! Bottom line, just a mile from my house he had to lock up the brakes, and the saw fell over on its side. I believe it hit on the side with the tilt handwheel, so I THINK the motor didn't absorb the blow. Aside from this, however, the box had obviously taken numerous other blows, because it was just about shredded, as was the box the fence was in.

I've got the top off the saw as we speak, and there does not appear to be any damage to the saw whatsoever...not even a scratch. However, it has an absolutely TERRIBLE vibration. I put a blade on it and it whistled like a freight train. I put a Starrett straightedge against the motor pulleys, and found that the arbor pulleys are about a full quarter inch offset. When I rotate the arbor, as the belts rotate around the pulleys, it isn't smooth at ALL. I can feel a continual hesitation, then release, then hesitation, then release... In addition, the motor comes to a stop almost immediately after being switched off. Most other saws I've seen rotate for quite some time before coming to a stop.

So bottom line, what should I do? The obvious thing to do would be to move the pulleys back into alignment, but I would have to move the arbor the wrong way, and it looks like the blade would hit the saw. Am I right about this? Do the two sets of pulleys have to be directly over each other to quell the vibration?

Any other suggestions would be helpful...I'm not a machinist!!

[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

Contact Grizzly.

Others have described a similar problem and I believe the fix was to adjust the pulley's to be in line. Another source of noise/vibration on these saws has been a loose belt. In any case, you should be calling Grizzly as this thing is brand new and still well within the warranty period. They will give good service. Cheers, cc

[Dave Anderson]

[Larry Jaques]

On Tue, 12 Apr 2005 21:25:05 -0400, the inscrutable "Mark Cooper" spake:

That sounds like the belt is trying to jump the groove.

So are the pulleys out of alignment on the same plane (easily corrected) or are they tracking in two different planes?

---------- __________ easy fix: realign pulleys.

---------- \ not so easy fix. Motor bracket bent? \ (OK, so it's a slight exaggeration.) \ \ \ \

I had a vibration developing in my Griz bandsaur. I hadn't gone back to retighten the bolts after a few hours of use and the motor pulley had come loose. Tightening the motor pulley set screw took the vibes away, the easy fix. I also installed a link belt on it and it smoothed right out.

If moving the arbor causes an interference fit with the blade, _don't_ do it. Instead, I would see about adjusting the motor brackets and/or motor pulley to line it up. Try that first. Unless the pulleys are absolutely identical, you'll probably need to align them with the straight edge against the side of a groove. That's where it counts.

What has the Grizzly technical support guy said?

---------------------------------- VIRTUE...is its own punishment

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[SonomaProducts.com]

Call Grizzly immediately and negotiate a replacement for the entire saw.

1. If they are sure thet their is no problem with the saw, then there should be no problem swapping it out.
2. I, personnaly, would be willing to pay the shipping to have it replaced.
3. Do this now, waiting will only make it harder to do as more problems creep up and you always wonder if it was the shipping damage.

I honestly believe you could get Grizzly to replace it. Not sure about the shipping. If they hesitate mention you participation in this forum and how we are all waiting to hear what they do.

P.S. I am normally not so militant but I like Griz and I'll bet they will do the right thing.

[4wards]

Link Belt. Worked amazing for me.

[Mark Cooper]

Okay...so here's the latest:

I called Grizzly, and their tech agreed with me that part of the problem was likely that the pulleys were not in alignment. I'll try to describe a 3-D situation with a 1-D mind at best, but essentially the pulley shafts were parallel to each other, but the arbor pulleys were slightly to the side of (not directly over) the motor pulleys. Graphically, I had this situation:

| | | | | |

instead of this:

| | | | | |

By loosening the motor mounts and sliding the motor, I got that fixed. However, the tech also warned me to check for a bad belt, and sure enough one of them was. That right there basically cured most of the problem. I cut that one off, and now I'll either get a new one from Grizz or cut the other two off and go with links.

I'm pretty much convinced the saw wasn't damaged in the spill, and I think the saw is now within reasonable tolerances. The tech agreed that, since the motor didn't take the hit, the spill probably didn't do any damage. He said I could probably see it if it did, and I've been over it pretty well and not found anything.

Thanks to everyone for their great suggestions.

[Vic Baron]

Glad to see that Griz was able to help. I had a problem when I initially got my G0555 bandsaw and they were quick to help. Nice to have a company that will stand behind their products.

Happy sawdust making!

Vic

[SonomaProducts.com]

Glad to see all is well. I think the tech was right in having you check the belts. He likely knows they ship very low quality belts with their machines.

I was doing maintenance on a new Griz 20"planer that never seemed to work right. We determined that the outfeed roller was way bent and Griz sent a new one immediately. As part of the replacement process I found that one of the three "new" belts that came on the machine was already broken and another one was shredding. The machine had less than two hours of op time. In addition to replacing the outfeed we went to an auto shop and got three new high quality belts. I also aligned the pullys which were out of alignment (not enough to damage a good belt). The shop owner though I was a genius when the planer now worked properly AND no longer had such loud belt slap and hum as it did with the cheapo belts that came with the unit.