Grizzly Lathe Motor Problems

M

mpatti

Guest
I recently bought a 4003G and have had nothing but problems with the motor. Originally the motor began "squeeling" with only a few hours of use. Grizzly took the motor in, fixed a bearing, and returned it it within about a week or two.(good service and that was appreciated) Since I got the motor back I machined one barrel and I just got half way into a muzzle break job and the lathe won't start up. When I move the lever the motor just humms and nothing will turn. I can turn the belts by hand (nothing seized) but the motor will not turn the gears. I can't believe it. Not only is my lathe out of commission again but so is the rifle I was was working on. I am spending more time working on the lathe than on projects. Since I can't contact Grizzly till Monday, does anyone know anything I can check for this problem or does it sound like the motor is just toast???
 
Chinese motors are not very good. I have a replacement motor for that lathe if you want it. Just pay the shipping costs.

Thanks
Chris
 
I have a Chinese lathe that humed and it turned out to be the start up CAP.
If you turn it on and give the chuck a spin with your hand it will start BUT BE CAREFULL.
Kim
 
Replacement Motor

Chris,
I would like to find out some more information regarding the motor that you have.

My email is mpatti1@verizon.net. Could you email me there??
Thanks
 
Turning By Hand

Kim,
I tried doing that but it did not start. I will try again today because I would love to get 5 more minutes out of the lathe to finish the job before I have to remove the motor and send it in again.
 
I sometimes get that same thing. It is the two stage starting switch in the motor. If you take the cover plate off, and if it is like the motor on my Jet, you will see a centrifugal switch on the end of the motor shaft. The switch on mine has a tendency to work loose and all it needs is to tap it back into position. It is supposed to be in the starter position first and after it starts the centrifugal switch kicks it into run position. Be careful, if you tighten the locking screws too much, you may split the switch housing.

Jim
 
For what it's worth: I live very close to Grizzly and I get up there pretty often. I have seen the pile of "defective" motors in the first bay, right behind the pick-up window at the back of the store. The size of the pile does not give me a warm'n fuzzy feeling about the quality of their motors. I have also experienced my share of toasted Grizzly motors. Making a long story short, on the advice of my local motor repair shop I threw my third replacement 1-hp Grizzly drill press motor (even though it was still under warranty) in the trash and bought myself a nice cheap (but four years later, still reliable) Dayton "Farm-Grade" replacement motor.

I can't imagine the frustration you guys must be dealing with. When my motors got cooked, I pulled them off the drill press and 45-minutes later I was standing in line (at the Muncy, PA store) waiting for a new motor. You guys... are eventually going to pay UPS more than enough to cover the cost of a good motor.

Just my $.02
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I bought my Grizzly new in '96, and the motor went about a year and a half before it got pretty rough-sounding, and finally the start/run switch and one running capacitor went out. I called Grizzly, expecting about 90% for sure I'd be buying a replacement motor. They encouraged me to send it to them and they'd go through it......I had nothing to loose except one-way shipping. It came back in a little over a week, with a note saying they had replaced the centrifugal switch, both capacitors, and the bearings. I have used it (fairly heavily for hobby use) ever since, with no problems at all.

Remember, these things are very inexpensive.........Grizzly gives excellent service...........give them a chance (or two on occasion).

Now that my motor has 12 years on it, I'd have to think long and hard before I'd have it repaired vs replacing it with one that will be smoother, quieter, and probably be more reliable.

-Dave-:)
 
Dave,

You have had much better luck than I have. I was using my Grizzly 17" floor-standing drill press to predrill holes in staircase handrails for the baluster dowels. For the most part I was using a 7/8" Forstner bit, and the holes were only about 1-1/2" deep. This isn't particularly hard work... and with an expensive Forstner bit, the owner (me) isn't likely to push it too hard... or I would end up buying new bits for $26 a copy. At any rate, the first motor simply would not start one morning. At that time I had had it only a week or so... it had not done much more work than some plug cutting (3/8" plugs). Sure enough... I took it to Grizzly and, with no questions asked, got a brand new motor. The second motor lasted several months, doing maybe two houses worth of balustrade, when it started smoking (badly). That time was a rerun of the first time... new motor, no questions asked. The third time was about six months later. Same problem as the first one... turn it on and it simply hums. This time, however, they told me I had to leave it and they would repair it. To the man I was doing the work for, that was the wrong answer. He told me that he would pay for the repair if I took it to my local motor shop. There, I got a big surprise... they would not touch it. The shop foreman bad-mouthed the Grizzly motors up and down both sides and told me that my only option was to have Grizzly fix it, or buy a new motor. That is how I found my way to the local industrial supply store (in Williamsport, PA) and a new Dayton motor (the only brand they had with the same hp, shaft size, RPM, and frame size).

At any rate, I hope your lathe motor will last as long as you need it to. I suppose its the old luck of the draw.
 
I've had my fill of Chinese motors. I was disappointed when i watched Gordy's video and heard the distinct noise of the Chinese motor start up and the loud gearing. I was hoping that lathe was of better quality.
 
Grizzly isn't the only brand with motor problems...

The OEM 3hp single-phase motor in my JET GH1340W-1 lathe shot craps at close to the 1yr. mark. Since JET didn't have a replacement motor in-country, and it was still under warranty, they offered to pay $300 towards the motor of my choice.

Having read many similar threads concerning chi-com single phase motors on a couple of machinist's websites, I bought a 3hp US Motors 3-phase & a Westinghouse/TECO FM100-203-N1 VFD, which takes 220v single-phase input and outputs 220v 3-phase. It's rated to a full 3hp, so I'm getting the full rated power of the replacement motor.

Advantages of a VFD/3-phase motor include - smoother running than most AC single phase motors, variable speed control, programmable start/stop that allows a 'soft' start. I've been very satisfied with the conversion, and would go the same route in a heartbeat if the Taiwanese single phase on my JET mill craps out.
 
Lathe Noise?

Chris Luke said:
I've had my fill of Chinese motors. I was disappointed when i watched Gordy's video and heard the distinct noise of the Chinese motor start up and the loud gearing. I was hoping that lathe was of better quality.
Click to expand...

Hi Chris,

I going out on a limb here and guessing that you were just kidding about being able to actually hear the difference in a lathe motor and gearing on a DVD.

I'm starting to really worry about my new Grizzly lathe and if I got a genuine Grizzly lathe.

Mine gets used 10-14 hours a day and when I turn it on, it runs. It's quiet with no vibrations and holds tolerances I never dreamed I'd be able to achieve for my chambering.

All kidding aside now. I've been dealing with machine companys for over 35 years and never have I gotten better and faster service than with Grizzly. Their head technician Doug is a treasure trove of knowledge. With all the complaining about different problems with Grizzly stuff, I've yet to hear anyone actually say "They refused to help me".

Every machine company in the world gets bad parts and people have break downs but no one takes care of their customers like Grizzly does.

Bob Pastor
Owner Viper International

P.S. If anyone wants to see piles of bad machines or parts just go to any Sears store or any big machine company distribution center.
 
No. I could hear the distinct sound of the chi com motor on start up and the gearing did sound loud but it's hard to say from a DVD.
 
After contacting Grizzly, they have agreed to replace my motor with another. I must agree that this company has fine customer service and are a pleasure to deal with.
My only concern is what happens when my year warranty is up. I would like to think that I will get a few barrels out of the lathe before I have to actually buy a new motor. Who knows maybe this one will last better. For now I will give them the benefit of the doubt and I appreciate their service and I hope it will continue in the future.
 
I replaced mine with a Baldor and i don't have any worries at all. In fact, I completely rebuilt the machine. I had to remachine the tail stock so that it would center, replace the bearings, all of the screws, built a heavy steel stand/base and replaced a bunch of the gears. It's a very accurate lathe now but it took a lot of work to get it that way.

Chris
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top