Chinese Spindle opinions

[ennova]

Hello,

I purchased a spindle off of love-happingshopping on ebay. It is a water-cooled 2.2kw spindle. I recently received it and I was not happy with the condition I received it in. I was wondering how many people here have also purchased this spindle? When you received it, did it have any rust on it? I can understand that they probably spent some time testing it, and didn't bother to try it off before shipping it to me and it had time to rust while in route to my house. I want to know if anyone else had this happen to them? I contacted love-happyshopping and after a few days he(or she) finally got back to me stating that it is still "new" and has a 1-year warranty and simply rusted while shipping. At this point my options are to try and test it and see if it will work or get a refund. However getting a refund will be expensive as it will cost me nearly $180 to ship the thing back. I could also try with ebay buyer protection or a paypal claim. What would you guys do? Thanks for any advice.





I can't even screw in the inlets for the water-cooling hose adapter, they are that rusted. The adapters seem to have gunk all over them as well, which leads me to believe that this spindle was used before it was "tested" as new...

[stevespo]

My spindle had a little bit of surface rust in spots (not as much as yours). A little steel wool, small wire brush, and a coating of oil and it cleaned right up. Hasn't been a problem, so I would give that a try.

Steve

[analogman]

My spindle had a touch of rust. I hooked it up and have been using it on production jobs for months now. Use a coolant that has anti-rust (and anti algae).

I am very pleased with it.

[hobby1818]

Be carefule with love-happingshopping. No support and warranty from this guy.

[ennova]

I just now realized that my VFD is missing buttons. Three of them seemed to have fallen out somehow.

[flash319]

Wow I was thinking about getting one of these. I have been reading lots of posts on here and thought that they would not be to bad but after seeing this garbage, no thanks. Who lets that leave there buisness to a customer.......

[stevespo]

Well, a little bit of superficial rust doesn't affect performance at all. True, it makes you wonder about quality control in general, but it's effectively a $200 spindle. If you've read the threads and talked to owners I'd bet you find that it generally exceeds everyone's expectations and is a great value.

My own spindle came from Chai (linearmotionbearings2008) and he's very professional, responsive and trustworthy. When my VFD died after 8 months, he sent a new one right away. No issues with him.

Analogman, what are you adding to your coolant for rust prevention/anti-algae? I'm just running tap water and I hadn't considered internal rusting as an issue. Algae/mold has not been a problem at all. I guess Boston water has enough chlorine to kill off most junk.

Steve

[lgalla]

With all I have read on many threads,posts,other forums.you will do much better on the slots in vegas.For every happy customer,there is hundreds with issues.I am a gambler but the odds are not too good on this Chinese junk.
Larry

[lgalla]

Here are a few pics of a 4Kw spindle ordered from China and is sold as aircooled.Cost was about $900US.The first picture is what the bloke received.
The other is from the E-bay ad.See any difference?

[ger21]

For every happy customer,there is hundreds with issues

Funny, I read exactly the opposite. Everyone seems really happy with them, and I've onle read of one bearing failure. I've read far more posts about bad Porter Cables, which cost nearly the same if you don't count the VFD.

[lgalla]

Gerry,I suppose we read opposite.I said issues.Most posts are issues thats why they are posting.Most of the boys are saying you get what you paid for.Most of the issues have been the VFD,rust,broken water connections,loose bolts,cold soder joints,wierd joint of nose etc.I guess I was exggerating,sorry.I have always respected your knowledge and opinion and have decided to purchase a 4Kw spindle from China as per your advice.
Larry

[stevespo]

Yeah, Larry's feelings on China are very well documented.

I'm as "buy local" as anyone I know, sometimes to a fault - but I can't escape good functionality/value when I see it. Would it be better for the local economy to buy a Colombo? Maybe someday I'll do that, but I'd much prefer something made in my own city.

Anyway, I agree with Gerry that the OVERWHELMING majority of users are happy ones. I'd love to see the forum posts with hundreds of unhappy users. Where are they?

The benefits outweigh the negatives quite heavily, IMO. I've probably put as many hours on my spindle as I did my first 2 PC890s, with heavier cuts and faster feedrates. My productivity has improved, the accuracy is still outstanding. Do your own research and make the decision.

If the surface rust is an issue for you, then work with the seller to honor the warranty. If there was no stated warranty, then the consumer made an unfortunate choice.

Steve