Circular saw gets stuck and stops easily

Nutty_Death · 27 May 2021 at 19:37

Got a new circular saw a couple of months back. Makita DHS680Z.

I've found it gets stuck really easily when cutting more than a couple of inches along. Even on wood that's just a couple of mm thick.

Makita batteries which are fully charged and it came with a new blade.

I guess it could be user error but there's surely not much to really understand in how to use it, which then makes me think it's faulty.

Any thoughts?

danoliver1 · 27 May 2021 at 19:57

Blade on the right way?

Danm54 · 27 May 2021 at 20:18

I've had the same one for a year or so now and it gets regular use.
Only thing I can suggest is make sure you're cutting in a straight line and not curved. Run the saw along a straight edge or a square and it should be fine.

Edit, thin sheet material is awkward to cut at the best of times, you need to keep it flat and well supported else it'll snag the saw blade.

Tony Edwards · 27 May 2021 at 20:44

You may need to support both edges closer to the cut. It sounds like it could be bending/flopping/folding towards the blade which is causing friction.

Topdonkey · 27 May 2021 at 20:53

Are you using a thin kerf blade ?, I switched to a 1.6mm one on my Bosch cordless and it rips through 32mm marine ply almost with ease, the thinner the blade the less battery you use for each cut too

ShadowMan · 27 May 2021 at 21:15

What capacity battery are you using? Smaller batteries are not just smaller capacity but have much less discharge power so will affect the power of the saw. I find this on most of my makita tools. Use as large a battery as you can on it. I use 5ah on pretty much everything.

Nutty_Death · 27 May 2021 at 21:19

Using the stock blade that came with it.

I'm not convinced it's pinching as I was cutting up a pallet which had plenty of support and it would get stuck before making it through a plank.

So far I've tried a variety of wood and it starts off well and then you can hear it progressively slow down before stopping.

Changing the depth didn't seem to help.

Nutty_Death · 27 May 2021 at 21:20

ShadowMan said:
What capacity battery are you using? Smaller batteries are not just smaller capacity but have much less discharge power so will affect the power of the saw. I find this on most of my makita tools. Use as large a battery as you can on it. I use 5ah on pretty much everything.

Today was 3ah, so I'll try my 5ah and see if that makes a difference.

ShadowMan · 27 May 2021 at 21:22

Its worth a go. I notice the difference most using things like my SDS, Circular and Recip. saws. They get stuck so much less.

robj20 · 27 May 2021 at 21:57

Weird I have never noticed a lack of power using a 2ah on mine.

ShadowMan · 27 May 2021 at 22:05

Its just down the the discharge rate of the batteries. Larger packs have more internal cells in parallel so can discharge lower amps per cells for any given fixed power draw. This means that they can provide more amps than a smaller pack to up power or as is normal just last longer by drawing a smaller load for longer to deliver the same amount of power. Where this affects some tools is when the ramp to cut/drill tougher materials/binding and the power draw goes up with load on the tool. A small pack will cap out before a large pack.

https://www.protoolreviews.com/tool...hargers/battery-amp-hours-affect-power/53874/ explains it a bit with generic numbers and they tested the packs in drill tests.

KompuKare · 27 May 2021 at 22:05

Topdonkey said:
Are you using a thin kerf blade ?, I switched to a 1.6mm one on my Bosch cordless and it rips through 32mm marine ply almost with ease, the thinner the blade the less battery you use for each cut too

Plus less wasted material, less saw dust.
Obviously thicker blades are required for some things, but when you can thinner ones have many advantages too.
As for battery sizes: with some makes it is really easy to notice. A 2A and a 4A will often look like exactly double of the other with each cell having the same capacity, but rather than 5 * 3.7V the bigger battery is 5 * 3.7V * 2 with the cells connected in parallel given potentially twice the amps.

EH75 · 27 May 2021 at 22:10

Mine does this sometimes. The causes I have found are pretty much as has been mentioned above, either the blade needs changed, the cut isn't straight, whatever is being cut has dropped slightly or the battery needs charging (not necessarily completed empty, even half full there is sometimes a difference). I bought myself a quick square to use as a straight edge when cutting and this has helped somewhat in terms of being able to cut in a straight line. Width of the blade and number of teeth probably makes a difference too.

Mr.Cookie · 27 May 2021 at 22:19

danoliver1 said:
Blade on the right way?

I did this, first time I used mine was to cut polycarbonate roof panels and seemed really rubbish and very noisy. Span blade round and boom straight though and quiet!

alexakasloth · 28 May 2021 at 07:09

Sounds like the sheet where you've cut is pinching the blade.

mid_gen · 28 May 2021 at 10:05

I've the same one, and used it with a 3Ah battery to do my engineered wood floor a while back. No problems, although when the battery got depleted it started to struggle. One batt lasted most of the day though.

Delvis · 28 May 2021 at 10:46

alexakasloth said:
Sounds like the sheet where you've cut is pinching the blade.

He's already stated it does the same on pallet wood

jaybee · 28 May 2021 at 11:07

ShadowMan said:
What capacity battery are you using? Smaller batteries are not just smaller capacity but have much less discharge power so will affect the power of the saw. I find this on most of my makita tools. Use as large a battery as you can on it. I use 5ah on pretty much everything.

I've never in nearly 10 years of using Dewalt XR Lithium ever come across this behaviour of bigger batteries making tools work faster/better/more torque.
I've used a mixture of batteries but mainly use 2ah ones. Whenever they get depleted they generally just suddenly stop working rather than progressively get slower.

Hotwired · 28 May 2021 at 11:41

jaybee said:
I've never in nearly 10 years of using Dewalt XR Lithium ever come across this behaviour of bigger batteries making tools work faster/better/more torque.
I've used a mixture of batteries but mainly use 2ah ones. Whenever they get depleted they generally just suddenly stop working rather than progressively get slower.

It is true though. Under heavy loads a battery pack with more cells will demonstrate higher performance as well as longer runtime. Fastening and driving and drilling tests can show 20-30% faster or higher torque between lowest (2ah) and highest(4-6ah) capacity battery packs.

pp111 · 28 May 2021 at 16:52

Battery powered circular saws are not that powerful and the blade will get stuck unless you are 100% straight with the cut.

jaybee said:
I've never in nearly 10 years of using Dewalt XR Lithium ever come across this behaviour of bigger batteries making tools work faster/better/more torque.
I've used a mixture of batteries but mainly use 2ah ones. Whenever they get depleted they generally just suddenly stop working rather than progressively get slower.

Same here. I have a multitude of different batteries and it makes no difference which I use. They all drive things the same way.