Wolfgang motor sounds bad

[frejohg]

We mounted everything now and the engine sounds pretty bad for some reason, it sounds well when its held upside down, just asking if you know anything about this problem?

[Jay C]

I have one I bought too and I've noticed the "crunchy" sound of the AC motor. Maybe the commutator/brushes need to be run in and we are hearing the brushes hit the slots. I bought the Wolfgang for my X2, but I bought a Widgitmaster and a Proxxon IB/E and haven't plugged the Wolfgang in since.

Jay

[jalessi]

The Wolfgang motors are noisy, after running for a few days it should quiet down some what.

It is possible for the motor pulley to be installed improperly causing the commutator to be out of alignment with the brushes.

If that is the case the motor will not make noise when its upside down.

Even so it still may quite down after a good run in.

Jeff...

[frejohg]

The engine did quiet down, but now the spindle makes some noise, dunno if its the bearings, if you take the "belt" off and give it a spin, it wont spin very freely.

[lovebugjunkie]

Originally Posted by frejohg The engine did quiet down, but now the spindle makes some noise, dunno if its the bearings, if you take the "belt" off and give it a spin, it wont spin very freely.

Same thing happened to mine, did not last long at all, maybe 5 hours cut time on it.

Not sure if there is a way to replace the bearings, I ask but never got a replay from the seller. Ended up in the trash.

edited: Just found an old post on another forum I made, in that post I stated I had less then 10 (not 5) hours on it when it went bad. I will go with the 10 hours as I made that post when it happened. Sorry, my memory is getting realy bad.

[lucas]

Originally Posted by lovebugjunkie Same thing happened to mine, did not last long at all, maybe 5 hours cut time on it. Not sure if there is a way to replace the bearings, I ask but never got a replay from the seller. Ended up in the trash.

I do have the same experience with TWO of these spindles: a DB and a TB 300.
Both failed (either extremely noisy or not spinning freely) after only a few hours of running.

I managed to replace the bearings but with mixed results.

Both spindles now run freely (even after several hours of running idle, only cutting air...) but started to be noisy really fast,
I will have to run them for a longer time to evaluate the results.
But I really doubt that they will keep up to their predicted performance.

I'm very unhappy with all this as I expected to buy "high tech" and quite expensive products from an Ebay seller with very positive feedback and reviews on "The Zone".

[jalessi]

Lucas,

We have had the top spindle bearing fail due to Locktite contamination.

After replacing the top bearing the spindle runs well.

Sorry to hear so many people are having problems.

We have switched to Kress spindles with good results, the $100.00 dollar price differential seems to be worth every penny.

Jeff...

[lovebugjunkie]

Lucas, I too thought I was getting a “quality” product. My main reason for getting it was I needed a 1/8 spindle. Live and learn. His non response to my email via ebay was more of a let down than the bearings going bad. I have had a few email and pm's asking for my opinion of the wolfgang spindle and told them my experience.



I am now using a Porter Cable router with the precision ¼ and 1/8 collets from PreciseBits. Using the 1/8 collet to hold 1/16 and 1/32 ball nose bits with 1/8 shank and have not broken a bit yet.

[lucas]

Originally Posted by jalessi We have had the top spindle bearing fail due to Locktite contamination. After replacing the top bearing the spindle runs well. Sorry to hear so many people are having problems.

Jalessi,

how did you replace that bearing?
I assume you had to dismantle the entire spindle?
How did you do that and which replacement bearings did you use?

Your experience could indicate what I eventually did wrong.

@ Lovebugjunkie and Jalessi:

You both switched to other much bigger and heavier spindles.
This is no option for me as I did build a small, precise machine really dedicated to this wolfgang spindle for PCB work only.
I did this based on his positive Ebay feedback and positive reviews here on the zone.

I really need a good spindle like this or I will have to dump the entire project and cut my losses: quite some $'s and 6 months of my spare time...

[lovebugjunkie]

Lucas

I have never purchased from this company.

You might want to call them up to see if one of their products would meet your needs. Cost more than the wolfgang, but in the long run might be a better way to go.

http://www.ramprodinc.com/


george

[lucas]

George,

thanks for the link.
These look to be really good and some of them are not that expensive.

My problem: I have a machine designed for a wolfgang spindle and uses a BLDC motor to drive it. The Z assy is really unconventional and cannot accomodate a spindle like the ones you linked to or I would have to ditch half of the machine and redesign it.

I do have another machine with a Proxxon micromot wich looks similar to the ones in your link, but these are big (compared to the wolfgang that is) and rather noisy, they are cheap but perform really well.

My machine needs a small spindle without integrated motor, I started this build to obtain a precise and silent PCB drill and mill.

I don't intend to give up and would like to know why my spindles are failing,
others have problems too but it seems there are quite a few working fine.

So I would appreciate some info from Jalessi (or others) on how he rebuild his spindle......

Thanks again and regards,
Luc.

.

[jalessi]

The Wolfgang spindle uses bearings that are available from VXB, they have a store on eBay.

http://stores.ebay.com/VXB-Bearings-...rd-and-Slotcar

A puller is required to disassemble the spindle.

Did you purchase a used unit, why don't you return it for warranty service?

Jeff...