How is Keling Support?

[Bob La Londe]

The reason I ask is that I asked them about settings for use of their motors with a Gecko Controller. One I already have and told them I already have. I got an attempt to sell me motors and the controller I already have, but no answer about using the motors I was considering buying to use with that controller.

It makes me wonder. I am working on setting up my third machine, and I was considering using Keling motors with it. I had pretty much decided on them, but this raises my eyebrows.

Does the support get any better after they have your money in their pocket? Their response was kind of obtuse.

[Dorsal]

1) I've gotten reasonable support for questions from Keling in the past. They didn't drive to my house bearing gifts, but the questions were answered. Maybe they didn't understand what you were asking.
2) If you had controller questions, Why didn't you post them to Gecko?

[Bob La Londe]

I had questions about using Keling motors with Gecko controllers. But the question was more motor specific. What voltage and current limit will get optimum results (rated holding force and decent speed) with these motors with a G540? That is not just a controller specific question. That is a motor and controller question. I never received a response. Instead I got a link to sell me the controllers I clearly stated I already had.

I asked Marcus at Gecko and got his opinion instantly, but he reccomended asking Keling specifically about their motors. His response was NOT a knee jerk response to try and sell me product I already had. He answered the questions I asked him to the best of his ability and directed me to somebody who should be more knowledgable on the items he was not 100% certain about.

I have copies of all the messages of course, and Keling never even attempted to answer the questions asked. I had not intended to turn this into a bashing thread. I just wanted to see if Keling was somebody I wanted to continue to try and do business with by reading other people's support responses.

I have two machines running. Both have Keling motors according to the vendors. I have another machine I plan to get running soon, but do have not yet purchased motors for. One of the machines I have is using a vendor controller that I do not care for. I wanted to try the Keling Motors on that machine with one of my Gecko controllers to see if my issue is really with the controller or if its with the motors.

I already have three Gecko G540 controllers. One is in use. One is for the machine I want to check, and one is for the machine I am building.

I asked via e-mail first. (NO RESPONSE AT ALL) Then I asked a few days later via their web form. (NO RESPONSE AT ALL) Then a couple weeks later (yesterday) I asked via their Ebay account. Finally got a response. "You can buy those controllers from us here at this link." Really. Not one bit of actual help.

"Why didn't you ask Gecko about how to setup Keling motors?" Really? Funny thing is I did ask Gecko what they thought would work. I didn't come here first, and when I did I didn't just say something like, "Keling support sucks if you aren't purchasing something from them right this second." Instead I ASKED how other people's support was.

I asked Keling about 2 sets of motors. The ones I already have, and the ones I WAS considering buying from them for my third machine. They answered nothing about either one.

[Bob La Londe]

In all fairness. I did receive a message this morning from Keling with specific answers to my questions. Don't know if it was in response to my posting here, or if it was due to my letting them know directly that I was not 100% satisfied with their previous "responses."

[dpgoldberg]

My experience with getting support from Keling was decidedly negative. The questions I had were relatively simple, but what answers I did get were fragments of half sentences which made very little sense. The only answer they gave which was at all helpful was "Contact Gecko support".

After my third request to Keling for clarification, they just stopped answering my emails. From what I've read in these forums, that's not uncommon. I think that one of the issues is a language barrier. I know most of their products come from China, and it's not clear if they are based in the US or China, but tech support in english is not their strong suit.

Good luck.

[doug6949]

We gave up trying to do business with Keling as they do not provide anything I would call customer support. I pay the extra money and buy motors from Anaheim Automation. They have considerable online resources and people at the end of a phone line.

Doug

[Bob La Londe]

I was considering going to Pacific Scientific (or whatever their new trade name is) for that reason.

[drawho]

Tried to find out about KL-4000ATC CNC Spindle with ATC: $3999
listed on their website. They say it has a automatic tool changer--no pictures no explaition--3 emails and still do not know. How many tools does it hold etc.

You would think for a fairly big sale they would try to help.

Horrible customer relations.

[Kelinginc]

Originally Posted by drawho Tried to find out about KL-4000ATC CNC Spindle with ATC: $3999 listed on their website. They say it has a automatic tool changer--no pictures no explaition--3 emails and still do not know. How many tools does it hold etc. You would think for a fairly big sale they would try to help. Horrible customer relations.

Hi All

I was out of town for 5 days, I did not read all emails from your guys.
Pls send me your question again, I will reply
Home

[morsee]

I was having a problem with my z axis stepper-driver combination. It worked perfectly at all but the slowest speeds. I occasionally use small tools on the Z axis and need plunge rates under 0.25 inches per minute. It lost steps and acted erratically at plunges below 0.63 inches per minute. I'm not sure whether the problem was my fault as I may have hot switched the dip settings. I'm just not sure!

I sent an email to John about the problem. He emailed a return (overnight) asking me to phone him to discuss the issue. I did and during the discussion he agreed that the problem was probably in the driver. He asked me to return the driver and he replaced it, no questions asked. Four days later I had the new driver in my hands. The new driver works perfectly!

At my request, he also sent me the correct DIP settings to match the motor with the driver. The Z axis uses a smaller stepper with 4 wire connections VS the X and Y motors with 8 wire connectivity. I was too stupid or proud to put the DIP settings question on this site. That won't happen again.

The bottom line is that John seems to be running a small shop. He also seems very busy and, obviously, is occasionally out of contact for a few days at a time (China?). When he's available he gets right to his customers. I've asked him a few questions as I set up for this project and I've found his reply times very satisfactory. I also think that John has had some English language problems, though I find that his language capacity is improving fairly fast. My Mandarin, on the other hand, stinks!

All in all, I have found Keling products to be relatively inexpensive, reliable and solid designs. If you want to see my mill project before I installed the Z axis check out this video. The big steppers routinely hold 2 thousandths of an inch even though the 0.2 inch lead Roton "rolled" ball screws on the x and y are directly driven.

YouTube - grizzlyproject.mpg

All in all, the bucks I saved on the steppers and drivers were splurged into the PMDX breakout and a SmoothStepper. These were very worthwhile . . .

Still learning. . . . EM