Fibber2

I may have to take this discussion to Dewalt's Customer Service in order to get a clear picture on how to proceed. Thanks! I lost my beautiful boy to Bloat. The FedEx and mailman used to ring the bell and ask if Madison could come out and play. He was just that kind of gentle giant. This pix was taken at my daughter's preschool where he was 'pet of the day'. We now have a silly yellow lab. Nice dog but dumb as a rock.

For my DSW980 Type 1 the diagrams from the factory were better than what they had up on ereplacementparts.com http://servicenet.dewalt.com/Products/Detail?isId=true&productNumber=DWS780&selectedType=23480 For reasons unknown both the support bridge/rails and the linear bearings are both shown on the exploded parts diagram as "170". Eparts only shows the full part number and price for the support, whereas Dewalt has both. 170 N084698SV SUPPORT HOUSING Incls. rail 1 $129.81 170 N395710 LINEAR BEARING KIT 1 $47.50 Net is this won't be a cheap experiment.... EDIT: OK, this is getting interesting. If I change it from Type 1 to Type 20 on the Dewalt site it updates the 'default' drawings, yet the .pdf downloads remain as they were for the Type 1. On the 'default' drawings for the Type 20 I now only see one '170', with a different PN & price: 170 N157708 SUPPORT HOUSING 1 $194.25 Did they revise the whole assembly?

DR99: Thanks! That's exactly what my oldest drill looks like. I know it's an 1802, so have to check the exact series tonight. It does smell a bit - figured it was just aged brushes. Maybe it's worse that that! Chadlanthier: Nice GSD. I use a pix of me and my old boy on other forums also. Probably should amend my profile to show him.

While there are some 'clean sheet designs' in the green series, a number of them are only mild upgrades to the older blue. It's pretty amazing how the constant voltage attributes of the Li-Ion batteries really seems to step up performance of the older tools. Plugging in a new style battery (they last longer and run hard pretty much until the discharge sense ckt kicks in) makes the old feel like new. Catch a battery or battery/charger deal (especially those included with a new tool that you want) breaths new life into everything else you already own. Thanks again for the welcome. I was on both the old Dewalt tool and Ryobi 1+ forums years ago. I actually found that my old Dewalt account got me in the door here without having to register.

The good part is that not too many of you have experienced this. The bad part is that I've got one. I can only suggest that you stop into a few retailers and slide one for yourself. If you are really unlucky, you'll find one like mine! I'm long out of the warranty and regret that I didn't make a fuss to Customer Service when it was. So be it. I hate to shotgun this, but I've considered looking for an exploded diagram for this saw and possibly ordering bearings for a home rebuild. Can't be much worse than doing a CV joint on a car, eh? ;-) One of these days I need to snap a picture of the dust collection adapter I made for connecting my shop vac. I guess I should contribute something positive to this forum.

Thanks for the welcome, gentlemen! While we have more 'upscale' brands in the lab at work, I found that the Ryobi cordless line offered pretty decent performance for a paltry sum. Perfect for the handy homeowner and occasional "Rebuilding Together" charity project or the like. I think my oldest is an SA1802 drill that came with the original P100 packs - 10+ years ago? Been slowly adding Li packs, but this deal really made me happy. Kudo's to Ryobi for not just abandoning us 'old blue tool guys', and offering an economical upgrade path!

It would be great to know that newer saws don't have this issue, or that the majority of 780's produced are good. But if you want to see what some of us are fighting, stop into a HD or Lowes and give one a push. Retail stores typically put out a floor display unit from the first-of delivered, and that bolted-down example stays there for the sales life of the product. I've tried them at a number of stores, and too many of them feel like mine! It's kind of sad, as I want to love the beast. It's a great saw with the exception of this issue. BTW, that black knob up top is a lock, and not a drag adjustment! But right near it, IIRC, is an allen or torx inset screw that adjusts bearing preload.

While strolling thru HD's Christmas Clearance section I stumbled upon a cardboard display with two packs of the newer high capacity 4Ah (72Wh) P108 (?). Over on the tool aisle they sell these individually for around $100 each. This two pack was marketed as a "Special Buy" and originally sold for $99. Last night they were marked down to $84 for clearance! At $42 per power pack it's a pretty incredible buy. Maybe I should have snagged two packages?

Thank you! Glad to see that I'm not alone. I posted this same complaint on the old Dewalt Owners Group way back when with no real resolution. I was in HD just last night buying some battery packs and again pointed out to the tool mgr just how badly the floor model slide worked. His comment - he hears this too often about this model. I bought my DWS780 in December, 2011 (?) at Home Depot, so I definitely have an early production model. They were being sold concurrently with the old 718, but I liked the higher rear fence, the deeper throut and the LED blade cut guide. And while the'd cut the price on the old saw to move them out, they were including the #726 rolling miter stand with the new model for $550, so I couldn't pass it up. I returned the first unit because the slide chattered like crazy. The replacement is better, but certainly no prince! Following recommendations I've tweeked the allen (?) head adjuster, waxed & oiled the slides and bearing. I see no imperfections on the rails, so it has to be internal. I'm an engineer and 'handy homeowner'. So far I've used the saw for 3 rooms (about 600 sqft) of 12mm Pergo (with 96 tooth laminate blades), several rooms of crown and base moldings, and a bunch of smaller hobby stuff with the OEM blade. So the saw is still young by 'real users' standards. It's maybe a little better with use, but the occasional chatter of the slide can definitely be seen in the finished cut edge. I'd sure love to see a solution!

Thank you for your reply and comments. Here's the action that I have taken in the past two days. 1) I called Dewalt and opened a case with Customer Service. They promised to have one of their tech guys give me a call to talk about options. One is to take it into an authorized repair shop (there happens to be one within 5 miles of here!) and have it evaluated. While I'm not nuts about doing a rebuild on a brand new item, it might make more sense than going thru the boxes at the stores looking for one that rides smooth. 2) After seeing it for themselves, several store employees now share my concern about why the Dewalts slide so much worse that the competing products on the shelf. Unfortunately, I think I'm starting something here.... 3) I had ordered an XPS light for the 718, and another brand stand for the saw. Once I became 'fully educated' that I could get this as a package (780 comes with the light, and HD is giving away free stands), stepping up to the 780 makes good technical and economic sense. HD even matched an internet price, bringing it down to $540 from $599. I'm returning the 718 today. 4) I'll try working in some lubricants and fiddle more with the 4mm adjustment over the weekend and see how it goes. Thanks again!

First post here, but I've used a 718 before in a past life building sets for my daughter's HS musicals... I was impressed with how nicely that saw moved on the slides, and recently decided to purchased one. I bought one (DW718SP) and struggled thru this past weekend with it. The sliding action is just awful. There is a great amount of initial 'stiction', followed by chunky-bumpy sliding - enough to show blade marks in the wood where it wobbles on thru. Yes, the locks are off. I tried adjusting the single 4mm set screw on top, but within an 1/8 of a rotation we go from locked-up to sloppy loose. And even when sloppy loose, it still seems to bump along. Inspection of the polished rails shows no obvious divots or damage. The issue must be within the bearing set. I went back to Lowes, and then Home Depot to try out the floor models. One 10" Dewalt slide nicely, while the 718 and 780's available to touch were pretty rough, although I don't think they were as rough as mine. By comparison, the Hitachi, Ryobi, Bosch, Makita, Ridged, Lowes house brand, etc., all slide like butter.... A one finger operation that on some saws even seemed to improved when you pulled down on the handle and thus placed some additional load on the sliders. I even purchased another Dewalt and dragged it home only to find another disappointment. What's wrong??? Do they just start out tight and improve with use? Or does Dewalt suddenly have a problem with bearing? I desperately want to love this tool, but right now I'm quite disappointed.