Thanks for the video. My belt came off the motor pulley and I've never taken mine apart before. Your video gave me an idea of what I need to do to get to the pulley and tighten it...or replace the set screw.

Thanks for this video. The motor on my table saw -- the Rigid R4511 -- was having troubles after I replaced its bearings and put it back together. Half of the time it would run fine, but the other half it would run rough and trip the breaker. When it ran rough, I noticed the centrifugal switch would close much earlier than normal; it would close immediately after cutting the power instead of a few seconds later once the motor had spun down. Checking the centrifugal switch plate, I noticed the metal tab which acts as the upper stop for the contacts was bent down, keeping the contacts too close to each other when the switch was open. I bent that tab up a bit, cleaned the contacts, and now the motor runs fine. At first I thought I must have damaged the rotor after replacing the bearings, but your video got me on the right path. Keeping the motor maintained on these saws is important, because, at least for my model, there really is no replacement. I bought my saw second hand, so no warranty, my model has long been discontinued, and the motor uses a non-standard mount size. Thanks again for the video.

Josh- Thanks for the video, it was a huge help. My motor is doing the same thing. My saw is only 11 months old... very disappointed with Ridgid. Customer service would not work with me.. told me I had to bring the complete saw in for warranty even though the nearest HD is 300 miles from my place. I decided to remove and fix on my own. Thanks again

I just went though the same process - motor would hum really loudly when trying to start but nothing would move or the blade would just barely creep. Sometimes it would start after a couple seconds, sometimes it would trip my circuit breaker. These symptoms point to a problem with the start capacitor not providing power at startup. I don't have a capacitance meter so I tested the start capacitor with my voltmeter and it acted like it was working. I found a new capacitor at an electric parts supply house in town for about $6 so tried it just to confirm, and the symptoms didn't change. That leaves the centrifugal switch and its contact points as the most likely problem. I could hear a snap as the motor slowed down after it had been running, which I think is the centrifugal switch closing back up. If correct, this indicates that the centrifugal switch is indeed opening and closing. That leaves only a problem with the contact points themselves as the likely cause. You can see these clearly in Josh's video at 11:16. I cleaned the points with a little sandpaper and an emery board, and the saw now starts perfectly. Here's a good video that shows how the start circuit works, how to troubleshoot, and how to clean the points. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/g5OaabOZ2c68eo0.html Note that it's a different motor design - the points look the same, but you can't access them as easily on a Ridgid saw motor. Getting to the points requires pulling and disassembling the motor. It wasn't as bad as I feared. I did take a couple shortcuts that made the job easier: I didn't really want to completely disassemble the saw. As Josh commented below, pulling the motor while the saw is upright would be tough. The motor weighs 30-35# and you don't have much access or leverage through the removable side panel. I flipped the saw upside down and removed the legs and the dust collector just like Josh did, but I did not remove the orange metal shroud or any of the adjusting wheels and gears. That saved a lot of time and still allowed easy access to the motor. Before taking the motor apart, I marked the motor case and both end caps to ensure proper realignment when reassembling. Everything on the motor, including both end caps, came apart easily except for removal of the pulley. I had to hit the local auto parts store and borrow a gear puller to get that done. (In hindsight, I probably should have rewatched Josh's video again, as I didn't really need to remove the pulley.) I'd like to extend a huge thanks to Josh. His well-documented video gave me the courage and guidance to tackle this, and I really appreciate it!

Great video Josh, I have the same saw, the other day I'm cutting a thick piece of pine and the saw starts smoking so I back the piece of wood out (also trying to cut that wood at a 45) so I'm like WTH I'm thinking maybe blade is dull, maybe power cord not sufficient, burned out motor, don't know cause when I push wood into the blade again it bogs down won't cut. So, I bring it to my local power tool repair shop, they tell me the motor is bad and it will cost $550 for motor and $150 for labor, I bought saw used for $300 so that wasn't going to happen, call a motor guy he says he needs the motor numbers to try to find a less expensive motor, so naturally there not visible so I start taking the saw apart to get motor out, as I'm doing this I notice the belt is loose so I tighten the belt put it all back together works perfect, so obviously not to happy with the repair shop. So, in retrospect, it was the belt smoking, not wood or motor.

Sure wish you were a close friend of mine lol. I have this thing completely apart and now I need to put it back together. On mine my height adjustment was messed up and only thing I had left to do was take it completely apart and put it back together lol. thanks for the video.

Great Video, Thanks for taking the time to show us what you had to do to repair your saw. I have the same saw and I have had it for over 5 years. After spending a few hours aligning the Arbor to the miter slot and the fence it has been a great saw. I just converted it to 240 volts. The jury is still outs as to if it is worth spending money on the conversion. I had everything I needed so their was no cash outlay. It does start up faster. May I ask why you had to open up the motor the first time? I was happy to see that you did not have remove the Arbor bolts from the table top. This saves the alignment as I can see.

Thanks for the great video. Was able to save my Rigid Table Saw after it started tripping the breaker 5 seconds after turning it on. Just wanted to add to Clif T's helpful comments. I also removed the motor without disassembling the whole saw (removing orange shroud, etc.). I removed the mounting bolt nut, removed the belt tension bolt right beside mounting bolt, then tilted the motor using motor angle adjustment crank on the table saw. Without tilting the motor, the motor would hit the orange frame of the table saw when trying to get it off the mounting bolt. It wiggles loose, then I set it on a board that I placed across the orange shroud base. This allowed me to work on it without removing the AC cord/switch wire. My motor was slightly different than the video. The centrifugal switch was on the opposite side of the motor (near where the fan blade is). The centrifugal switch itself was in good shape, but the centrifugal switch mounting screw had become loose, which I think was causing my problem with the motor.

Good vid on getting inside one of these motors! I'm surprised that there hasn't been a class action lawsuit on this saw. They are junk, motors are proprietary and costly, cheaply made Trunnion systems are junk full of slop. Have you put a dial indicator on your blade yet? Check to see how squair the blade is to the guide in the table, also check to see how much the blade deflects when you raise and lower it.

Where did you find that centrifugal switch

Was considering this or a grizzly hybrid. You just convinced me to get the grizzly. If this happened to me home depot would be replacing the saw or giving me a complete refund

Josh - thanks for the clear and well-edited video. I've got the same problem and this looks like it'll be very helpful. I'm curious about motor removal - do you think it might be possible to remove the mounting bolt and drop the motor out, without disassembling the whole saw?

Thanks for the video, very informative. My R4512 is about 11 months old so I'm glad I found this. Just to ask, did you contact Ridgid about this?

Excellent video, thank you. The only question I have, what is that Rigid 'vice' you're using to hold the motor. I can't seem to locate it on their website.

I need to take the motor out of my rigid tablesaw ,and it’s the brand new one the updated one ,can I take the motor out without taking the casing off of it?

Go duke. Sorry just noticed. Lpl. My saw is doing this as well.

Wow, the R4520 is garbage too. It has a blade raising/lowering issue. It’s covered by warranty so you will only be without your saw for 2-8 weeks. Enjoy.

In case anyone runs into this video years later like me: you can absolutely pull the motor through the back of the saw. Remove saw from power. Unscrew back plate. Unscrew the 2 nuts holding the motor in and disconnect from power. There's also a white plastic clip holdinh the power cable, you'll have to remove as well it's held in by a screw. Once you remove the big top nut the motor will mostly stay in place since it rests on the stud. Change the angle of the blade like 20 degrees and you'll get enough clearance to pull the motor out.

I bought one like 6 months ago , didn't run guy said yea well it WAS a hellva Saw , best $175.00 Dollars I ever spent 🤫, hehehe

HAAAALLLLP 😂😂😂 please. I’m just a one woman show and I my orders are just so backed up at this point i a stress mess. I have a R4512, gonna try and give as much info as I can hopefully someone can help me diagnose. So it just started making a loud rattling noise starts instantly when turned on continues after start up but instantly stops when I turn it off, and the arbor is still spinning/winding down. And kinda seems like it starts to loose power as well. Also when I felt the motor it felt pretty hot, but can still touch and leave hand there without it even being uncomfortable so not sure if that’s just normal, when this happened I was ripping strips for trellises and had been running steady appx 3-4 min maybe. I also ripped strips for some trim about 10 or 15 min before also steadily for about 5min . Did not smell how ever and I got my head in the back panel and gave a good few sniffs by the motor.(yes it was unplugged) I’m pretty sure it’s something with motor though. Anyways Took off blade still made same noise. Took the belt off still made same noise. Pulled cover off capacitors, made sure they were discharged, and then for the life of me could not and still cannot find my damn multimeter🙄🙄🙄 at first glance they seem fine, I don’t see any bloating/bulging? Not sure what you’d call that. There is nothing leaking from them either. I’m not really sure if they would cause this noise or not, but checking the microfarads is still on my to do once I can find, borrow or buy another meter. I’m just hoping someone might know what causes that kind of noise and point me in the right direction. Also do I have to take the whole damn thing apart to get the motor out? Because I’m not seeing anyway to, without doing that, 😭😭😭 I spent freaking hours getting everything calibrated and fined tuned to basically perfection, I’m ocd as hell about having things like the measuring/angle guides, blades, and fence being correct. If I could afford a cabinet saw I’d have one. One of these days it’ll happen. If failing equipment doesn’t tank my business first. Anyways if it’s not the capacitors only thing I know to do is check the centrifugal switch, then onto the bearing and armature, thing is. Although seems pretty similar I’ve never worked on any electrical motor as new as this one and I’m feeling in intimidated as hell, if it were an old craftsman, I think I’d have less hesitation thinking I’m gonna mess something up. I can try and post Vid of sound somewhere if needed but I need to get this thing back up and running like yesterday

this is a great video about this saw, which i own.. however this looks like such a giant pain in the ass to me lol.. if this ever happens to my saw i think i might just use it as an excuse to buy a new sawstop which i cant afford lol