After Sales Service

Has enyone had any problems getting these small imported lathes and mills repaired. I bought a small variable speed mill from a large supplier in the Chester area 4 months ago ,the control panel blew up and the supplier told me to return the control box for repair. However thay ignore my emails when I ask for information about progress. It is rather worrying and annoying, I see quite a lot of these machines for sale on ebay as for spares /repair

I take it from the way you are talking this lathe wasn't bought from Chester Machine Tools UK as they normally have an excellent after sales service. However it it is and they are having problems then raise the issue on their forum and this will assure that it is seen by the right people.

I have a small DB7V lathe from Chester and to date it has been problem free, I also have a small WM14 mill from Warco and this too has been problem free even though a couple of times I have had a mishap and stalled it under load, don't ask why . Normally modern electronics are pretty reliable but there will always be the odd one or two that fail prematurely. This is the nature of electronics and is known as the bathtub curve due to its shape where the failure rate is initially relatively high followed by a period of low failure rate/high reliability then the failure rate increases at end of life.

As I say if it is a Chester Machine Tools product then it may be better to raise the issue on their forum.

Martin

When the motor control board on my Warco variable speed lathe blew up, rather than obtain a replacement Chinese board frfom Warco I spent a little more money and fitted an industrial quality board from KB Electronics. The original-fit Chinese boards are blatant copies of the KB boards (they may licence the design, but somehow I doubt it) so in many cases it's a direct plug-compatible replacement. I opted to upgrade to a board with regenerative braking, which brings the chuck to a stop much faster. KB boards are available in the UK here: **LINK** (no connection, but very happy with the service)

dup post deleted

Edited By pcb1962 on 20/09/2012 08:07:47

Hi pcb

My DB7 from Chester was advertised with an US manufactured board 'fitted' so it should not be a Chinese copy. Can't say about the mill from Warco but currently its OK. I knew about the KB boards but hadn't taken it further and after following your link was quite surprised at the relatively low cost of these items. Well worth using as a replacement should the original go POP.

I take it from what you say they are effectively a pin for pin replacement unit.

Cheers

Martin

I too have a Warco lathe with a cloned version of an old-style KB board (leaded components, rather than the surface mount ones now favoured by KB). The clone was labelled (I think) "Best Controls" of Taiwan. For a 2HP motor on another machine, I bought a KBIC 240D board, and if the Warco one blows up and can't be repaired, I'll get another of those and fit it in the lathe. It is indeed a pin-for pin replacement, the spade connectors being in the same relative positions.

I put some ramblings about these boards on my website HERE . On the lower half of the page is a schematic for the KB,with a parts list and a labelled photo by way of a parts placement diagram.

Andy

Does anyone know which of the KB Electronic boards would be a suitable replacement for a Clarke CL300 lathe?

I binned my board when it exploded and replaced it with something else, but I don't have the torque that was there previously and would now like to get something better.

I should also add that some of the original wiring connectors were removed, so I'm not necessarily looking for a plug-in replacement if a suitable stand alone unit is available.

Martin.

Martin,

Looking at the chart on page 8 of the KBIC series manual , I would choose a KBIC 240 if you are on 230VAC mains, specifying the appropriate "horesepower resistor" to suit your motor from the list on page 11 - probably a 9838 or a 9839.

I bought a KBIC 240D to power a 2HP motor, and one of those would do equally as well. If the prices are similar it might be a better choice. Its higher rated components would stand more accidental abuse.

Andy

I have, had to post a board off that didnt work on brand new machine. New replacement came back no problem about a week, but still didnt work. Had to then drive 70 odd mile each way with motor, new board. Came back eventually but still no use, all US boards.

In answer to the question, machines are cheap to buy but extortionate to repair providing supplier has a stock, probably not. Thats why it can take more than 7 months for a simple part prone to breaking or wearing out. To give you some idea my other mill brand new not discounted was £650 at lowest price point, a new motor thank you sir £266. Current other mill a transfer box for powered head thank you sir 1 in stock £244, the machine was only £930 new and as good as scrap when other parts need replacing like 3 lead screws always guaranteed to go.

Has anyone had a walk down the back at Chester, you will be surprised long TIR containers stacked 3 high full of taken apart new machines to satisfy parts.

It's not only machine tools that cost a lot to repair. Some 20 years ago one of my friends owned a disributership for a well known European make of car, he worked out that the cheapest way to stock his spares department was to buy one of each model of car - new - and dismantle it back to the basic bits. The spares that that exercise would yield, would have cost him 3 times the cost of the new cars to buy them in as spares.

Seems like things don't change much.

Keith

Medium complexity elecronics have a failure rate of 1% in the first year. Staggering really but that is what it is. Where corners are cut it gets worse. That's why I haven't bought a variable speed lathe. It's ok to get a separate speed control if you like that feature but I recon the basic unit needs to have the gear ratios to work properly without it.

If it doesn't fail in the first year you will still be lucky for it to be working in 10. My 60 year old lathe is good for another half century with maybe a new motor. My 80 year old one won't even need that.

Andy (f)

Thanks for the speedy reply with the link and other information - I'll take a look at the manual and also the "ramblings" on your website

Martin.

Seems a bit high? I'd suspect that a lot of the problems with failures of the lower end variable speed drives are to do with poor design rather than the inherent reliability of the components. Mind you using generic components probably doesn't help.

Regards,

Andrew

Hello all

Martin It was Chester Machine Tools i was referring to .I wish I had your confidence in their service backup ,I have phoned twice today and was promised a return call , I still waiting. It's useful to know there are alternative control panels available but as this is a warranty issue why should I buy .one , any way I sent the complete control box back to them.

Jon did you ever get your machine repaired properly.

Thank you all for your input.

Thanks for your comment bogstandard ,its not very encouraging, if they won't talk to me they will have to talk to Trading Standards. I hope other members are taking note.

Does enyone have a contact name/email address for management/Directors of this outfit

Regards Farmer Dave

Edited By Farmer Dave on 23/09/2012 21:11:47

I've converted my mini lathe to run on a single phase 1/2HP motor. I get 12 speeds! If the PPI pays out, I may finally get an inverter drive

I'm converting my X2 to belt drive..

The basic construction of the chinese machines is good, as long as you don't get a real lemon. generally plenty of metal where its needed and fundamentally accurate. Choose a supplier by their reputation and you will get good service & support.

As has been said many times pay 1/20th of the cost of a Myford and you wn't get a myford, but if you are happy to carry out your own maintanance and upgrades why shouldn't you get decades of use from one?

Neil (12 years driving a mini lathe and still not bored)

Sucsess at last,after I blew my top on the phone on monday I go thier attention,seems box was repaired and ready for dispatch on the 12th Sept. They tried to contact me to arrange delivery and failed then forgot all about me,However machine now up and running.All's well that ends well.

Regards Farmer Dave