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Thread: Help! Grizzly GO566 frustration and disappointment-long

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Russell Corner, Ky
    Posts
    15

    Help! Grizzly GO566 frustration and disappointment-long

    I recently purchased a Griz GO566 21" Bandsaw. Tool of a lifetime for me. I've been a professional/hobbist woodworker for nearly 40 of my 62 years. I learned early on to save my money and buy the best and have worked very hard to purchase what I consider a fine group of woodworking machines-PM cabinet saw and lathe, 14" Jet BS, 6" Rigid Jointer and Delta Planner, etc. All required some assembly, set up and tuning and everyone worked perfectly from the get go. So, understandably I was stoked to get this new machine...nearly $2000 of my hard earned savings and 700 pounds. I wired up the plug, connected it to the machine and after following all preliminary procedures turned it on. The motor hummed, nothing turned. I rewired the plug-same thing. I called Griz Technical Assistance and in the course of talking to 5 different technicians and one of their electritions over a period of 6 days (and exlpaining the same situation to each of them) I have (under their guidance) removed the motor cover and fan, adjusted the electromagnetic switch so the contact points are touching properly, removed and replaced both the motor starting and motor running capacitors. Same problem, motor hums when I press the starter button and stops when release, no heat, no smoke, no moving parts. I missed work this morning so I could speak with one of their electrical specialists only to find out he's off today. The TA I spoke with this morning now says I need to disconnect the motor and remove it from the machine. This entails removing the lower fly wheel, two belts, two pulleys, and 4 bolts. He also pointed out that when he attempted this procedure he had to heat the pullys with a torch to above 212F to free them up. Then I am to return the motor to them, receive another and install and restore my machine by myself. Perhaps the manufacturers of my other tools would have required the same thing of me. Point is NONE of those tools failed to preform flawlessly.

    I have tried to be understanding throughout this process and the folks at Griz have been cordial but this pisses me off. While the above may seem simple tasks to some, I'm a woodworker, not an electrican. I'm at a loss. Perhaps my next step should be to contact a local electrician and have them look at the darn thing. Right now I have a $2000 dollar, 700 pound paperweight in the middle of my shop that has never cut a stick of wood. I was thinking about purchasing their 8" jointer but I don't think I'll ever buy another Grizzly tool.

    ANY comment, guidance and/or advice is appreciated. And, thanks for the opportunity to express my frustration. tom
    Tom Peterson

  2. #2
    Tom,
    My condolances. You have every right to be Upset. $2000 is a lot to spend and get a boat anchor. Thats why I only buy machines I can take back to the place I bought them from. I guess that will leave Griz off of my list of suppliers.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Prescott, AZ
    Posts
    120
    Sorry to hear of your frustrations with a new saw.

    If it was me I would try to get hold of someone higher in the Grizzly customer service chain first. You may well have to return the motor to Grizzly. If the motor pulleys will not come off without the use of a torch I would leave them on the motor and let Grizzly worry about that problem. They certainly can ship new pulleys when they ship a new motor.

    Just my two cents.

    Howard

  4. #4

    they ask too much of you.

    Hello t peterson,

    I too expect things to work when you pay for them. A small, readily corrected assembly error is one thing, but you should not have to rebuild this machine before you get to use it. Grizzly should have it picked up at your convenience and supply you with a properly functioning machine, immediately.

    tom

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Anywhere it snows....
    Posts
    1,458
    Ummmm Hmmmmm, Girlfriend!!!! This statement says it all in context except for the fact we are both boys. Nonetheless, the context of this phase says it all!

    At any rate Tom, I am sincerely sorry about your issues here. Realisticly, I shouldn't even be sticking my nose into this problem as I normally dont DOOO Grizzly.

    O.K. Not being there on the spot makes this difficult to debug and forces me to ask stupid questions and may cause you to repeat yourself. So bear with me.

    1). Calm Down. Lets get the specs on the table. Who made the motor? What does the motor nametag say? Voltages, phase, horsepower, full load amps, etc.

    2). How did you order the machine? Single phase, three phase, 110 volts, 220 volts, 440 volts, etc. What type of starting switch do you have? Regular switch or magnetic starter? Was there a plug or wire extension attached to the machine when you got it?

    3). Is this machine by any chance a dual voltage machine?

    4). With the saw blade detensioned or off, can you easily rotate the lower saw wheel? Also, how many speeds to you have with this machine? Just one?

    5). Can you post any relevent photos? Not of the whole machine silly... but of the starter, the motor, the sheeves, etc. Something to tell us if its safe to cut the blue wire or the red wire as they do in hollywood.

    6). Is there a junction box on the side of the motor?

    This should help to get us started. From here, we can begin clicking off a few theories. As for using the blue wrench (propane torch), I would warn you to be extremely cautious. Its very easy to harm the item your working on with the blue wrench!!!
    Had the dog not stopped to go to the bathroom, he would have caught the rabbit.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    South West Flroida
    Posts
    312
    sorry to hear you are having so much trouble....
    When you said you wired the plug I'm assuming it is a 220 setup...
    Did Grizzly TA's have you check the wiring on the motor to assure it is wired for 220V?? My experience is that the motors can be wired for either 110 or 220..For instance I have a Grizzly G0555 band saw that came wired for 110 and inculded (under the switch cover) the 220 wiring diagram..

    Rich

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Grantham, New Hampshire
    Posts
    1,128

    Contact Papa Grizz Directly!!!

    Small adjustments are one thing, rebuilding a brand new machine are another. If I buy used, I expect to do some work, when I buy new, expect it to work out of the box with only the only corrections necessary due to shipping. THIS IS NOT RIGHT AND YOU SHOULD DEMAND A NEW MACHINE AND COMPENSATION FOR YOUR WASTED TIME!!!!!!

    CPeter

  8. #8
    Yep, only way to solve this is a new machine, their expense. Come pick up the old and replace with the new.

    The woodnet forums (Google it) have a member named Papa Griz, if you PM him or email him, you may get a better response. He is a higher up of grizzly.
    Jeff Sudmeier

    "It's not the quality of the tool being used, it's the skills of the craftsman using the tool that really matter. Unfortunately, I don't have high quality in either"

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Anywhere it snows....
    Posts
    1,458
    Quote Originally Posted by Jeff Sudmeier
    Yep, only way to solve this is a new machine, their expense. Come pick up the old and replace with the new.

    The woodnet forums (Google it) have a member named Papa Griz, if you PM him or email him, you may get a better response. He is a higher up of grizzly.
    Good Morning Jeff!
    Yah, Papa Griz lives here too. But SMC requires open komona regarding names. So the prez has to use his real name and not papa grizz.
    Had the dog not stopped to go to the bathroom, he would have caught the rabbit.

  10. #10
    Tom...you absolutely have a right to be disappointed with your purchase. You have done a great deal of work with Grizzley techs in an attempt to get up and running with no positive results.

    Next step, go beyond tech support. Let the sales manager of that branch know that you are unhappy (keep your cool) and that you expect a replacement shipped out asap and a pickup tag for the defective one.

    You should not have to go the efforts that you have.

    That said, in my opinion, what you have done wrong is to bring it to this forum in such a way. We can't do anything, and you have not really given Grizzley sales dept an opportunity to take care of business. It is this type of rant that will turn folks off and it may not even be warranted.

    I'm sure Shiarz will see your post sometime in the next day or two and respond, and resolve the issue...but you probably could have done so yourself...today.

    Doug

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Russell Corner, Ky
    Posts
    15
    I'm glad to see that some of my colleagues are as disappointed as I am about this. The specs on the motor are:

    Type-TEFC Capacitor-STart Iduction, 3 HP, SIngle-phase/220 V, 15 Amp, 60 Hertz/1725 RPM, magnetic switch with thermal overload protection.

    All parts rotate smoothly when turned by hand.

    This is not a dual voltage machine.

    There is a junction box on the side of the motor below the strip of contact points. I removed the cover, jiggled all 30+ wires and checked the amperage setting. It's set for about 18-20 AMPTP
    Tom Peterson

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Russell Corner, Ky
    Posts
    15
    Mr. Jones..I apologize if I have violated a protocal of the website. My intent was not to rant but use the same calm approach I did with the TAs. Looks like I went over board. I have not had this kind of experience with a new tool and my intention was to seek guidance from this group. Your advice is appreciated. TP
    Tom Peterson

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Currently in Mexico
    Posts
    356
    Tom,

    I dont see anything wrong with you original post and you have no reason to apologize. On the contrary, we should thank you for posting this, because customer service can be just as important as the tool itself when problems occur.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Northern New Jersey
    Posts
    1,958
    I'm not sure if you should be doing this since you don't want to deal with electrical issues (which is absolutely fine). Assuming the motor spins when moved by hand. Three things come to my mind: you are wired for the wrong voltage (110 vs 220), or they gave you the wrong phase motor (3 phase vs single phase), or the start capacitor, or centrifugal clutch that disengages the capacitor, is defective. The voltage problem can be addressed by looking at the wiring diagram on the motor's electrical box. The phase issue should be apparant on the motor's data plate. The capactor can be checked with a special meter, or simply swapped out (they are cheap), but this is where I suggest an electrician.

    -Jeff

  15. #15

    566

    Tom,
    I have quit a few Grizzly machines along with other brands.
    I have the 566 and two other band saws.
    I have fond that Grizzly tech to be very helpful but when they start telling you that you have to use a blow torch to fix your NEW machine it is time to get in touch with Papa G.
    On one of my large saws the tech had me remove band saw wheel and send it back to have the shaft cut, I did it with out thinking.
    Once I thought about I knew it wouldn't solve the problem.
    It came back and the saw still had the same problem.
    I contacted Papa G and he put a good man on it and we had the problem worked out in no time with a satisfactory solution.
    They upgraded me to a better saw since the saw I had the problem with was a older model they didn't make any more.
    I am sure if you can get away from dealing with the techs and get to Papa G he will make things right.
    By the way that is the only real problem I have had with all of my Grizzly Tools (about $10,000 worth) and I am getting ready to buy another major tool from them.
    Last edited by John sexton; 01-27-2006 at 1:23 PM.

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