My cordless circular saw is acting weird - sparking and making grinding noises. Is it toast?

Hey guys, need some advice on my DeWalt 20V circular saw. It's been acting up lately - started sparking from the motor area when I trigger it, and there's this awful grinding noise like metal on metal. Battery seems fine (holds charge on other tools), but the saw blade wobbles a bit when it spins up. Tried cleaning it out, no visible debris. Is this a fixable thing or should I just bin it and get a new one? Don't wanna start a fire on my next project...

Sounds like your brushes are shot, OP. Sparking + grinding noise usually means the carbon brushes are worn down or the commutator's damaged. On DeWalt tools, you can often replace the brushes yourself - they're like $15-20 for a set. Check if your model has accessible brush caps. If the armature's damaged though, it's probably dead. Had this happen on my old saw - kept using it and the armature welded itself together. Not worth the risk.

Dan's probably right about the brushes, but that wobble concerns me. Could be a bent arbor or worn bearings. Before you spend money on parts, take the blade off and check the arbor runout with a dial indicator if you have one. If it's more than a few thou, the tool's likely done. Also - you didn't drop it recently, did you? I've seen guys try to cut concrete with these and wonder why they fail lol.

Sparky tools are no joke. If it's sparking visibly, stop using it immediately - that's how workshop fires start. The grinding noise suggests bearing failure to me. Bearings go, then the armature starts hitting stuff. DeWalt's decent about parts availability though. Look up your model number on ereplacementparts.com. Might be $40 in bearings and brushes vs $150 for new. But if the housing's damaged or the windings are shorted, it's scrap metal.

Had similar with my Makita last year - sparking and weird vibration. Turned out the field windings were grounding to the housing. Not worth fixing for me since I use mine daily. If you're just a weekend warrior, maybe try the brush replacement first? But honestly, with tool prices these days, sometimes it's better to upgrade. Check Tool Discount Club's refurb section - they had some sweet deals on brushless models last week.