Yes, You Can Repair Your Harbor Freight Tile Saw.
This repair takes about 30 minutes and costs less than $20, it's easy.
You probably already own the tools.
What's wrong with this tile saw may or may not be what's wrong with your saw.
I bought my Harbor Freight tile saw used and it has been fantastic.
But it stopped running.
Press the On button and nothing happens.
My local Harbor Freight had a returned tile saw for $46.00, a great price, but I wanted to try to fix this one.
If I can't fix it, yes, I'd definitely buy another one.
Harbor Freight is a registered trademark of Harbor Freight, Inc.
First, I need to try to figure out what is broken.
Checking the power first is a good idea.
Yes, it is plugged in and no the circuit breaker was not tripped.
So the reason the tile saw does not run is not because it is not getting any power.
PLEASE UNPLUG THE TILE SAW NOW.
With the tile saw unplugged, I want to see if I can find something wrong. So I will need to remove a cover.
To do that I need a phillips head screwdriver, small size.
PLEASE UNPLUG THE TILE SAW.
On the left side of the tile saw there is a small panel that is held on by 2 phillips head screws in the front and 2 phillips head screws on the back.
Please remove all 4 screws. The screws are small so putting them in a sandwich bag means they wont be lost.
With the panel removed you can see a small black box.
What I'm looking for is the capacitor.
When many electric motors start up they need more power to get started and that power comes from the capacitor.
If the capacitor is broken, then the motor does not have enough power to start. So checking the capacitor is a good idea.
SAFETY FIRST
A capacitor holds an electric charge and it can discharge and the shock could injure or kill you.
The capacitor can hold a dangerous charge even when the tile saw is not plugged in.
ALWAYS discharge the capacitor before handling it.
Do a Google search on how to safely discharge a capacitor and discharge the capacitor BEFORE handling it.
If you are not comfortable discharging the capacitor STOP now. Please call a licensed electrician.
Use the phillips head screwdriver to remove the 2 screws that hold the cover on the black box.
Here is the capacitor.
The material growing out of the capacitor is definitely not okay. This capacitor is bad.
This is not a Harbor Freight problem. This may or may not be a problem with the manufacturing of the capacitor.
If you go to the Wikipedia and do a search on capacitor plague there is a lot of information
on problems with capacitors.
This capacitor may or may not have the problem described in the Wikipedia. This capacitor needs to be replaced.
The specifications are easy to read on the side of the capacitor.
The specifications on a replacement capacitor MUST BE IDENTICAL (30 uF +/- 5%, 250 VAC).
Also, capacitors have different sizes so measure the length and diameter of the original capacitor
so that the replacement capacitor will fit in the same space inside the box as the original.
I ordered a replacement capacitor on Amazon and it is shown above, the specifications are the same but it is a slightly smaller length and diameter.
Replace the capacitor at your own risk.
Any replacement part that is not bought directly from Harbor Freight may or may not work correctly, may or may not damage other parts of the saw,
may or may not create a fire hazard.
Install at your own risk.
For the next step you will need the tool shown above.
You can buy one at Harbor Freight or at a hardware store. It is a combination wire cutter and wire stripper.
They can be tricky to use because adjusting the diameter of the opening for stripping wires is tough.
You turn the wheel and it is labelled with the wire gauge so you can match it to the wire size you are cutting.
It is very important to use the wire stripper to strip off just the insulation, do not cut any of the wire strands.
You want to cut the wires going into the faulty capacitor as closely as possible to the capacitor so you have plenty of wire left to attach to the new capacitor.
No, in the photo above I did not cut the wires as close to the capacitor as I would have liked.
Use the wire stripper to strip off JUST THE INSULATION from the ends of the wires coming out of the new capacitor.
If you're not sure whether the wire stripper is adjusted properly start by stripping off 1/8 inch only. If strands of wire are cut adjust the wire stripper for a larger diameter wire and strip off just 1/8 inch again. If no strands of wire were cut the adjustment is right and now you can strip off 1/2 inch.
Please remove no more than 1/2 inch of insulation from the ends of the wires.
Please hold the wires with your fingers when you strip them so when you pull on them to remove the insulation the force does not pull on the connection to the capacitor at the other end of the wire.
The wire you are stripping should be slack behind your fingers so no pressure is on the connection to the capacitor at the other end of the wire when you pull off the insulation.
Next you will need very small electrical caps.
The larger the wires the larger the caps, the smaller the wires the smaller the caps.
Take one of the wires coming out of the tile saw and one of the wires coming out of the new capacitor and twist them together in a clockwise direction.
You can twist together either wire from the tile saw with either wire from the capacitor.
Then screw the electrical cap onto the wires that have been twisted together, also in a clockwise direction.
When the electrical cap is screwed tightly on the wires pull gently on each wire.
Neither wire should come out of the electrical cap when you pull on them.
If they do, remove the electrical cap, twist the wires back together, put the cap back on and pull on the wires again.
Congratulations !
You have completed the connection of the new capacitor to the tile saw.
Carefully place the capacitor in the box.
Carefully position the electrical connections inside the box being sure none of the wires pass over the edge of the box.
Please note the groove on the edge of the box cover.
Please be sure the groove on the 4 edges of the box cover fits over all 4 edges of the box.
Place the box cover on the box and use the phillips head screwdriver to tighten the screws.
Place the side cover on the tile saw.
Tighten all 4 screws on the front and back of the tile saw.
For safety I like to have a fire extinguisher within reach and safety goggles on BEFORE I plug in and test the tile saw.
Plug in and turn on the tile saw.
My tile saw now runs fine.
I hope your tile saw is running fine too!
Congratulations!
For about $20 and about 30 minutes you fixed your tile saw!