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View Full Version : Heathway SUCKS! I need to vent.



smutboy420
08-03-2005, 05:50 AM
ok, So last year I bought a lathe from heathway. I had 2 choices for electrical hook up . 115v or 230v they convinced me to go with the 230v set up . So I say ok lets go with the 230v then they charged me $300 to convert the lathe over to 230v operation. and I had to wait 2 more weeks (it was already set up for 115v)
well I get my lathe and have my electrician wire it up to a 230v line and every thing seemed good till about 2 weeks ago when the DC motor speed controller crapped the bed on me. turns out internally they hooked it up to be running on 115v not 230v
so they charged me an extra $300.00 for nothing at all !!! and you would think heathway would know how a heatway lathe is supposed to be wired.
So for a year it has been running 2x the amperage and voltage to the motor then what it was wired up for. it was such a heavy duty motor and controller that it took a year to burn out the controller.
WELL stupid me thinks hey its only a year old and its burned out already because it was hooked up wrong by heathway. So I figured I'd get some kind of help from heatway (esp sense the baldor controller has a 2 year warranty from the maker. but only heathway can get it extanged for a new one baldor won't extange it with me directly (only threw the OEM that would be heathway)
well I contact heatway and at first they tell me its not there problem cause they sold the lathe part of the Co to MM knight Co. So I call knight and they say sense I bought the lathe 2 weeks before they bought heathway thats its heathways problem.
SOOOOOOOO I get back in touch with heatway. at first they try pulling the never heard of me don't know me thing. they wanted all kinds of PROOF I bought the lathe from them.
then I send them the documentation I have showing it came from them and I asked it be wired for 230v not 115v. then they wanted to know how I knew it was wired wrong by them. so I let them know I talked to baldor technician on the phone and he had me check inside the controller and found it was wired wrong ( I also had my electrician double check to be sure I was not tripping or any thing) heatway then blames it on there electrical guy and say oh well he doesn't work here any more so its again not there problem. then they held me up another week ignoring me and stopped responding to any emails or returning any calls. well it turns out I had to shell out $389 to go and buy a new controller and I had to buy a new motor to go with the new controller because it originally had a DC motor and
a DC converter/controller so I had to switch both the motor and controller out. because the new controller is An AC controller so it also needs a AC motor.
I just wanted to vent and pass the info along to any body thinking about buying any thing from heathway. what douche bags esp sense they could of helped me get my controller fixed or swapped out from baldor no problem at all. instead it cost me a lot of $ I don't have and a lot of time I will never get back.
THANKS heathway. I will make sure I never even buy a sliver of graphite from your Co. now.
I din't even complain when I first got the lathe it had one chuck that was compleatly shot and useless(they did say it was not the greatest but that it was still good when they sold me the lathe) and they convinced me to buy a used replacement one from them for $800 more!! then even that had to be reallined before it was even any good. so In reality i got screw every wich way on this lathe. oh and the lathe leaks oil like a sieve too!

Dog Squeez
08-03-2005, 06:50 AM
Judging by the way they have treated you, you might want to talk to a lawyer.
They will usually give you a free consultation to help you decide what to do.
You shouldn't have to bear the cost of their mistake and they are legally responsible
for their employees mistakes whether they still work for them or not.

Good luck,
Brian

smutboy420
08-03-2005, 06:51 AM
WOW!!!
talk about a difrence its been almost 2 weeks getting the run around. then i post my feelings on the matter and let heathway and knight know i was not happey and was going to let every one know.
NOW!!! all of the suddon they are saying to send the controller in and they will fix it and send it back.
so if they do at least i'll have it as a back up or for anought project if needed.
I'll post an update if they really do fix it for me.

smutboy420
08-03-2005, 08:44 AM
Judging by the way they have treated you, you might want to talk to a lawyer.
They will usually give you a free consultation to help you decide what to do.
You shouldn't have to bear the cost of their mistake and they are legally responsible
for their employees mistakes whether they still work for them or not.
Good luck,
Brian

being that it was only a bit under $400 its not even worth the extra day to talk to a lawer.
I'll just fix it my self and have the satifaction of knowing its fixed and fixed right. and will know not to go to them again.
in the long run it will be better then befor it broke the new controller has a remote keypad for speed and direction. and can even be computer controlled (not that it ever would need to be but it can be)

highroller
08-03-2005, 09:15 AM
Smut,$400 for a/c motor and controller????That is expencive,Bill Roach,Roach industries will sell you a D/C motor & contoller wired and ready to install for that much.D/c motors are the only way to controll a lathe,stops and starts when you want it ,no lag like a A/C motor set up.I think it is worth making Heathway fix it and do it right,I would also Put the D/c motor back on after the fix and use the A/c motor for some other project.Todd

smutboy420
08-04-2005, 07:31 AM
part of that $389 is $40 shipping. and $80 of it was cause I splurged and got the remote keypad option. I could of skipped the keypad or built on for it.

usually a dc motor and controller is the way to go but if you use the right ac controller you can have the same flexibility.
the only dc controller I would use is one of the baldor controllers like was already on the lathe. but best price I found on them new was $360 plus shipping. plus I was not sure if my dynamic braking module was bad or not and that was another $37 so it was looking like an almost $400 fix going with the dc controller. but I dint feel comfortable plopping down that kind of $ for something that already didn't last me a year even.
the newer digital controlled ac drives are the tits tho you can program the ramp up and ramp down speed, breaking, max rpm ,jog,3 preset speeds,as well as constant torque through out the rpm range. ;-) that part was key in deciding to go with the ac set up.
heres the controller I picked
http://cgi.ebay.com/1-2HP-Variable-Frequency-Drive-motor-110V-Speed-Control_W0QQitemZ7529714964QQcategoryZ42895QQtcZph otoQQcmdZViewItem
with this keypad
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7527276040&category=71393&ssPageName=STORE:PROMOBOX:SHOWCASE
with a 1140rpm variable speed motor.
IF I don't like it I can always slap the dc controller and motor back in and if I like the newer ac set up I can always sell the dc controller plus the dc motor is a pretty rare specialty motor. I might even put that puppy on my metal lathe so I don't have to change gears and belts to change my rpm.

The next upgrade for the lathe is going to be a motorized fire carriage. its got a place to hook a servo motor on the back of the fire carriage and I can put limit switches along the bed that can slide where I want them. then to pre heat a large long PC like a bing or some thing. I can slide my limit switches to where I want em and set my flame to a nice preheat flame and push the start button and my fire carriage will move back and forth. I also have a few proportional valves I can hook up to control my flame. if I run every thing off a PC I think I can make it a semiautomatic bing maker.
I have been collecting all the items I need to make my shop the digital shop of the future.
right down to computer controlled ventilation.,kiln, lathe,torch.
I even got some equipment I can hook up that would allow me to turn stuff on or off from another computer on the internet. so we can have our kiln up to temp and a full tank of o2 when we get in to the shop. oh and I can't forget a PC based stereo system so I can have endless tunes in the shop.
It will be HotAssGlass's technology show case of the future.

Julian
08-04-2005, 08:26 AM
Right on... set up VNC and you could make glass from inside on the couch

smutboy420
08-04-2005, 09:35 AM
I got to add the kewl bell that dings every time a bing is done. :-) like when the fries are done at Mcdonalds. I guess the only thing kewler then that. Would be to have a web site where the customer designs there own bing, dill vase or what ever with a few clicks of the mouse and the bing-o-matic spins it out for them. boom bam boda bing!

bc
08-04-2005, 01:34 PM
Good for you jj. I still say fuckem. This instance brought out there true colors. fuckem.

IrieGuy05
08-04-2005, 02:05 PM
Yeah fuck them yo. DING-bongs are done, DING bongs are done...

Bonz manifest
08-04-2005, 02:19 PM
yo bro ,get a LITTON. they rock. sorry to hear about you heathaway problem.

smutboy420
08-04-2005, 04:42 PM
i used to have a big 6-7/8th x80 inche bed littion model k till it had a very very very bad accident one day woops. so its just spare parts now.
if i ever do need to get anouther lathe i will defintly choose a litton the other one was a tank.
but i have the beastway so thats what i use. shes still got a lot of years in her. just wish they wired it up right in the first place last year. but atleast i got an education in dc and ac motor controlls.
and doing other stuff while i wait for parts to arrive. allways some thing else i can do. luckly I din't have any major lathe days planed till mid month. then its
bing bong is done
bing bong is done
bing bong is done again. ;-)
bonz you need any for track seasone?
http://24.92.50.103/glass/bongs.htm

we can even maybe etch some horses in em.
heres on of the naked lady ones we do.
http://24.92.50.103/glass/bong_chick.jpg

Bonz manifest
08-04-2005, 04:46 PM
good idea bro, throw some horses on some art and bring it up!

smutboy420
08-04-2005, 06:06 PM
I'll do 1 or 2 to see what you think.
who do i ask to see or talk to?
I hear you guys got your stuff a bit better woked out as to who runs things.
we had a heck of a time tring to work something with you guys in the spring but first person said to go see some one else, who told us to no we had to talk to some other person. then that person told us we had to talk to the same guy that said we had to talk to in the first place who then said no we need to talk to some the other person.. ah man it was almost like getting stuck on the latham circle with my grand ma at the wheel :-) (lathan circle is local humor bonz will prob get it non-locals might not) but its all good crap happens
A few kids we ran in to up your way say we should defintly try to hook up with you guys again.
and they said theres just one person in charge of stuff like that now (or to that effect at least.) So that sounds like some thing we might be more willing to take the drive for again if stuff is running smooth for you guys.
but a basic big pcs with a big etching is about $50-$60 wholesale. lil less if they are smaller. lil more if they are bigger. If this SOUNDS like any thing you can work with just say the word and I can make it so. If you want we can do an exlusive design with a horse and track theam for you. Sence you are by the track. You'll be the only shop around the whole cap district with horses on glass art during peak track season. ;-)