788 has lose tension

[wwalker47]

Help somebody!

My DeWalt 788 has lose tension. When I put the tension on the blade it goes all the way to and past 5. I called DeWalt service center here and they said I could take the head apart and turn the tensioning rod anti-clockwise. That seems to me that I am unscrewing the rod. I know it is held on with a nut (or what ever) way in the back so if I turn it too much in the anti-clockwise direction will the nut (or what ever) fall off?

Question is by turning it in the anti-clockwise direction am I tighting the tension or loosening it?

BTW I do have an exploded drawing of the saw.

-Bill

[William Young (SE BC)]

Hi Bill.
I see there are no responses here yet.
There are some answers to your question where you also placed it on my Woodworking Friends site.
Hope it is of some help to you.
W.Y.

[jttheclockman]

Bill go to http://www.scrollsaws.com/ look at the left hand side for dewalt tune up

[wwalker47]

Bill-
I just responded on your forum and thanks for the advice. Like I said I will order the parts you suggested. I will let you know when this is done. Until then thanks.

-Bill

[William Young (SE BC)]

Thanks Bill;
Before you order those parts check your email. But if you have not already adjusted the rod, I would suggest you don't do that at least for now.
W.Y.

[wwalker47]

Update

I took my 788 to the DeWalt service center. Bad news it will be a week before they can look at it. Good news it is under warranty. So I guess I will have to go back to my old Delta ss250.

I will let y'all know how all this comes out and what they did to fix it.

-Bill

[jttheclockman]

They are going to adjust the tension rod as was stated. Sorry but I bet they have the saw for more than 1 week. That is why a back up is always handy no matter what it is. You will still be able to make saw dust. Good luck with the saw and do let us know what the outcome was.

[wwalker47]

Update

Well, I got my saw back and I must say I don’t see much difference. I now have some clattering along the upper arm—I know how to adjust that, tho.

The people at my DeWalt repair center said the tension problem was with the Jim Dandy EZ lift I have on the saw. I was not so sure about that. I call Jim Dandy and they said that the EZ lift has nothing to do with the tension, I thought as much.

So I called the other center across the bay in Tampa. The guy there agreed; it’s not the EZ lift. He said to adjust the tension tighter by turning the tensioning bar (inside the upper arm) clockwise. I did as he suggested and now I have good tension and no clattering. It did take quite a few tries to put it right mind you.

-Bill

[jttheclockman]

I kinda figured that is all that it needed. Tried to tell you. This problem has been around for awhile but easy to fix. Good luck with the saw and now back to making saw dust.