[Mark H]

I ordered a spindle from Linearmotionbearings (chai) based on the feedback given here, at a much higher cost than other ebay dealers had the same thing (2.2kW 240v spindle + vfd in my case) however I don't think I got what I paid for.

I've emailed Chai, however I wanted a second (and more) opinion from people here as to if this spindle i received is what i should have expected, or not.

The spindle has significant signs of wear marks and looks as though it has been mounted on something - due to the grip marks around the barrel, however this might be from a press when putting it together. A lot of the paint has been scratched off and there are signs of rust on steel parts. Quite a bit of effort has been put into removing some text, however i think i could restore the original etching if i needed to read the text.

At the top of the spindle is etched "10 02 09" which i'm guessing makes this either two, or three years old depending on the order of the digits being mmddyy, ddmmyy, or yymmdd.

I'm also missing the connector for power, it was not in the packaging...

The VFD had one of the screw terminal's screws missing, turns out it had unscrewed itself (probably during transit i'd guess) and it was floating around inside amongst the through hole electronics. I managed to retrieve this, and in the process inspected all the electronics - they look to be well assembled even if a bit cheaply - so i think the VFD is good to go.

[JohnZ]

definitely looks used to me. You either got taken for, or someone in the shipping chain swapped the spindle out, which happens more than we would hope. - John Z

[Mark H]

This is the response i got from the seller, smells like BS to me.

Dear Mark,
The spindle is complete New and never used. Many of our customers asked us to make some special treatment on the surface before shipping and let the item look like "Used". Only in this way Can the items be pass the customs inspection easily..
We always do so before shipping like this according to our experience.
Regarding 10 02 09 , this is serial number but not date.
The spindle with 3 bearings to keep the life span.
Some other ebayers sell the spindle with only 2 bearings. This kind of spindle's life span is shorter. I never sell this kind of spindle motor. Because I know, quality is above everything else.The quality is surely guaranteed.
Thanks
Chai

[JavaCnC]

This is the response i got from the seller, smells like BS to me.

Man that guy should be selling used cars. Glad he turned down my best offer and got a PC 7519 instead.

It looks like it was used for sure to me. But used as a hammer rather then a spindle.

[Mark H]

I've lodged a dispute with PayPal for the item, requesting a refund for the cost of a new spindle through the cheapest competitor.

[gio666]

i don't think it is used ,they all look like that , i have seen 3 of them that look the same, it is just their workmanship ,and to think what it looks like inside with 220v going through it

[jsheerin]

Looks used to me. I bought a spindle from Chai a few years ago and it looked like all the other ones you see pics of here - shiny body and black painted end caps.

[mactec54]

Mark H

I would say it is new, somebody had it & returned it, They rebuilt it in a hack shop & sold it to you

I agree with one thing he has said his spindles are better with the 3 bearings most have only 2 that is why you payed a little more

But the Hack rebuild part is bad, someone used a punch on the endcap instead of the correct wrench

[RomanLini]

It's an old one, that definitely looks like a date code!

And as for; "asked us to make some special treatment on the surface before shipping and let the item look like "Used"...

That's just adding insult, they must think people are stupid.

[JerryBurks]

I would agree with the "used" judgement. But the Chinese sellers have some unusual business practices anyway.
I bought a 0.8kW spindle from the Happyloveshopping.com eBay outfit and against expectation received it well packaged with a printed manual from San Jose, CA. Since I had a question about the collet I called the shipping person and found it was another customer who did not get what he ordered. Instead of return to China they just had him forward it to the next customer.
Oh well, spindle and VFD were at least new and work well (however with an undesirable runout and collet thread that needed some lapping). And since it is not 160 (as advertised) but 215 mm long I suspect this is a 1.5kW spindle anyway.

[acondit]

So, let me see if I understand this. The seller's position is that he wasn't trying to defraud you, he was merely trying to defraud the US government.

Is that what he was saying?

[jasminder]

hello friend,
I have bought some ballscrews from chai a year before and they are still in good shape. The quality was awsome when they were new.
Your post about the spindle made me worried about another purchase i am going to make in a couple of days.
I am surprised if chai has started selling surplus on the name of new. (he should not forget that his quality of work and support made him popular here on cnczone)
well, well, buyer protection is there so .....don't worry. i guess you can ask for a partial refund from him (if the spindle is running at least)

jasminder singh

[mactec54]

Mark H

Take the collet out & look at the taper,Take a photo of the taper, this will show if it has been used or not

[ftkalcevic]

I've been screwed by LMB too.

I originally bought a spindle from Love Happy. It was well balanced, but its runout didn't match the spec. I eventually returned it and got a full refund, even return shipping was refunded.

I had bought ballscrews from LMB before, so I guessed he new about CNC and machinery and would sell me something matching the spec. The spindle I got was the biggest PoS I have ever received. The collet nut was on so tight I needed two people to loosen it. The nut was full of drill holes - this is how the spindle was balanced, because once I removed the nut, the spindle started shaking my machine to pieces.

And stupidly, I bought it outside of ebay. Having bought from LMB before I thought he could be trusted. From these posts, it appears not.

So, can anyone recommend a reliable seller of 2.2kW water cooled spindles?

Alternatively, does anyone know how to balance spindles, and I'm guessing I'll need to correct the run out? I remember seeing someone doing a DIY project to build a device to balance slot car motor armatures, but can't find it anymore. Is it as simple as hooking up an rotary encoder and accelerometer to the spindle and measuring the G forces and position?

Frank

[ftkalcevic]

And what's with the scratching out of the text on the name plate. Did someone suggest a date code? Or could it be a serial number? Or maybe a "failed quality assurance test" stamp.

Does anyone know where these spindles come from and where are they destined? I'd be surprised if they make them specifically for the DIY cnc market? Are we just getting rejects form another market?

[louieatienza]

I've been screwed by LMB too.

I originally bought a spindle from Love Happy. It was well balanced, but its runout didn't match the spec. I eventually returned it and got a full refund, even return shipping was refunded.

I had bought ballscrews from LMB before, so I guessed he new about CNC and machinery and would sell me something matching the spec. The spindle I got was the biggest PoS I have ever received. The collet nut was on so tight I needed two people to loosen it. The nut was full of drill holes - this is how the spindle was balanced, because once I removed the nut, the spindle started shaking my machine to pieces.

And stupidly, I bought it outside of ebay. Having bought from LMB before I thought he could be trusted. From these posts, it appears not.

So, can anyone recommend a reliable seller of 2.2kW water cooled spindles?

Alternatively, does anyone know how to balance spindles, and I'm guessing I'll need to correct the run out? I remember seeing someone doing a DIY project to build a device to balance slot car motor armatures, but can't find it anymore. Is it as simple as hooking up an rotary encoder and accelerometer to the spindle and measuring the G forces and position?

Frank

You could probably do it the old fashioned way with a pair of parallel and level beams; let the spindle settle, the bottom would be the heavy side. Then grind or drill a little off and repeat...

[mlabruyere]

So, let me see if I understand this. The seller's position is that he wasn't trying to defraud you, he was merely trying to defraud the US government.

Is that what he was saying?

That's what I read as well....nice....:nono:

[rowbare]

Alternatively, does anyone know how to balance spindles, and I'm guessing I'll need to correct the run out? I remember seeing someone doing a DIY project to build a device to balance slot car motor armatures, but can't find it anymore. Is it as simple as hooking up an rotary encoder and accelerometer to the spindle and measuring the G forces and position?

Frank

Perhaps this is what you had seen? Balancing Tool

bob

[RomanLini]

It's not easy to balance a small armature suitable for 24000 RPM!

I once worked in a motor shop, they had small U shaped air bearings, attached to exhausting compressed air (on the shaft where the bearings normally go) the little armatures would float on the air and balancing could be done reasonably well. Unfortunately I worked in rewinding and didn't get any experience balancing, on the small motors anyway.

The worst problem is if the top mass of the armature is a different balance to the bottom area, it might balance perfect at low to zero speeds but still shake itself silly at high RPM...

[ftkalcevic]

Perhaps this is what you had seen? Balancing Tool

bob

Thanks for the post. I hadn't seen that. It looks like a good little project to try. I have another spindle I tried to build that needs balancing.