SIP Surface Planer

[Fred Page]

Am I the only idiot on this forum to have put my trust in the SIP 6 inch surface planer?
After only one month of perfect performance my prize machine gave up the ghost. The cutter block refuses to budge although the motor runs okay and the belts are intact. So what has happened?
I have to return the machine to my local supplier tomorrow - is it too much to expect in this instance a replacement machine or immediate repair of the failed one?
Perhaps I shall test out the SIP guarantee claim or money-back offer.
I'll let the forum know the outcome.
This has not been a good day.
Fred.

 

[Bean]

Sorry to hear that Fred. Let us know how it goes


Bean

 

[Anonymous]

Fred

I would expect the dealer to replace it if you have owned it for 30 days or less but they will probably take it in for repair after that

Why so down? You state that it worked perfectly for a month and you were happy with it. Why should a fault after 30 days use change it from a good piece of equipment to something to return for a refund?

I think you are over reacting in your dissapointment and hope that the dealer sees good sense and provides a replacement machine.

Machines break down occasionally - that's why we have to maintain them over a long period - what matters is the manufacturers/dealers response to the problem

Good luck

 

[ike]

Why should a fault after 30 days use change it from a good piece of equipment to something to return for a refund?

Maybe it's just a one off lemon, maybe some design aspect is sh**t*. It's not exactly an encouraging sign of overall quality though.

Ike

 

[Anonymous]

Why should a fault after 30 days use change it from a good piece of equipment to something to return for a refund?

Maybe it's just a one off lemon, maybe some design aspect is sh**t*. It's not exactly an encouraging sign of overall quality though.

Ike

As a design engineer of 20+ years experience I can tell you that one fault on one piece of kit does not reflect the overall quality or reliability of the brand/product. If we all turned our back on product ranges due to one 'lemon' then nobody would be in business any more!!! :lol:

Anyone not use micrsoft products at all - they are generally very buggy :lol: :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

Maybe it's just a one off lemon, maybe some design aspect is sh**t*. It's not exactly an encouraging sign of overall quality though.

To be fair, I have looked at the SIP and the overall quality is very high, especially when you consider the selling price.
It does boil down to what goes inside them though.
I have been told on a few occasions about factories in China where all the components are laid out in rank of value, so you choose your budget, then pick motor, gear box etc and they all fit is specific casings, so if you only have 50pence left to put the gear box into your £10 drill, you have a choice of a 30p, 40p or 50p one etc to choose from, or you can downgrade the motor and spec the gearbox up (this is an example, not exact)
The jointer from SIP we had on test was used on a reasonably regular basis for about a month after it was tested, so equivelent to what would be expected of a diy/budget type product and it was great little machine. It performed equally as well as a surfacing bed of a high quality planer.
My own opinion on the stuff coming in from China and the like is that quality control isn't as rigourous (if at all) as a branded company like Dewalt Makita etc employ. This means more rogue machines will get through.
My own slant on it is that in a chinese factory where container shifting relates to wages, a machine that accidently gets dropped etc is likely to get chucked in the box and shipped out as the production line worker will be penalised.
The badged companies wouldn't be happy if their machines were subject to this, as they have a reputation to uphold so the quality control aspect is far better. Even so, even big companies have a 'friday afternoon' machine occasionally.

Just a personal opinion you understand!
cheers,
Andy

 

[Alf]

Fred,

Bad luck, but don't despair yet. Maybe the supplier will come up trumps - it's not totally unknown.

Cheers, Alf

 

[ike]

The cutter block refuses to budge although the motor runs okay and the belts are intact. So what has happened?

When you say 'refuses to budge, do you mean it's physically locked up?

Couple thoughts: If the drive pulley is secured onto the shaft (in this case the cutter block shaft) with a grubscrew tightening onto a milled flat on the shaft end, it could be just the grubscrew vibrated out.

If however it is a seized bearing, its probably well knackered the drive end.


Ike

 

[Fred Page]

Couple thoughts: If the drive pulley is secured onto the shaft (in this case the cutter block shaft) with a grubscrew tightening onto a milled flat on the shaft end, it could be just the grubscrew vibrated out.
Ike

Ike,
You got it in one. That is exactly what had happened. I've had good repair service from the retailer (Carpenter & Goodwin in Leominster) and all is forgiven. However, I've written to SIP co. and suggested they fix this grub screw by some means or at least warn the user that it can become loose.
Not only had the pulley broken free but in so doing it allowed the cutter block to move into a position in which it was never intended - fortunately no damage resulted. I do feel however that this episode should not have happened with such a new machine. I'm back in woodwork production and thanks to all who replied.
Fred.

 

[Johnboy]

Loctite thread lock on the grub screw should stop this happening again.

John

 

[Fred Page]

Loctite thread lock on the grub screw should stop this happening again.

John

Thanks John,
That's exactly what the repairer did yesterday.
Fred at Kington in awful weather.

 

[Losos]

Fred - Glad you've got it sorted
Tony - I accept what you say about 'one rogue' and statistically a manufacturer might see this as 0.001% failure which is well within his quality control parameter. However, IMHO the hassle, time lost, frustration, and feeling of anger, that a user experiences MUST be addressed by firms that claim to be producing quality kit. I'm not specifically targeting SIP in this, what does annoy me is when a DIY shed sells you something, it goes wrong, and they say "Oh just bring it back & we'll replace it" That might be a round trip of 40 miles, traffic jams & petrol etc., if it was Sat. you might not get there by the time they closed, Sun. might find the necesary staff with authorisation to replace are not in, Monday might be a bank holiday - Ditto Sun., and guess what, when you finally get it replaced (On Tue.) the replacement packs up two days latter. Yes this all happened to me - The moral is never, ever, buy from a DOY shed anything that involves motors, electronics, pneumatics, etc. etc.

 

[tx2man]

Ike wrote

its probably well knackered

I don't think i saw that in the ''fault finding section''
of the manual :shock:

TX

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry Losos. I don't agree.

 

[PitBull]

Losos,

Why stop at machinery - I've pretty much given up on the sheds (local B&Q in my case) for most things.

Case in point...I'm putting a new bath in our bathroom: I need some 2x2 for the frame, and some brass ball catches to attach the bath panels to the frame (don't want permanent fittings). Should be simple, so off to the relatively close Buggerit&Queue (Newbury branch) I trot. this is about 3pm Friday...

Wood aisle is completely closed off whilst some spotty bodger sits staring cluelessly at a few bits of wood on the floor wondering what to do with them. Bright yellow tape blocking the isles says "danger - electrical cable" - but I can't see any. Bodger shouts at me when I attempt to enter the aisle to survey the 2x2s, refuses to even pick any 2x2s for me, and cannot tell me how long the aisle will be closed off. Not a good start.

I then decamp to the hardware section for ball catches. They have 3 on the rack - I need 8. After 5 minutes walking up and down the many aisles I eventually find an employee and ask him to check whether they have any in the stockroom - only to be told rather curtly that they don't hold any stock before he scurried away.

F*ck it. Down to my local (albeit slightly further away) Travis Perkins. 2x2 is available - and is kindly cut down to the rough lengths I need by a friendly lad who was perfectly keen to talk to a customer. Ball catches were in stock. Total bill was about 60% what I would have paid in B&Q, but wood was straight (as opposed to B&Qs normal banana-wood) and brass fittings were better quality.

If the likes of T&P, PlumbBase etc were open the same hours as the sheds, I would never ever need to visit a shed. If only :-(

 

[Losos]

Pit Bull - Oh, how that brings back memories It's quite a while since I was in UK but it seems like nothing has changed, at least in the DIY shed business. One tip which was suggested to me was to write to the MD (which in those days meant time & posting a letter). Now you could possibly do it on their 'corporate' web site, that's the one customers are not supposed to look at :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

I couldn't agree more.

This is disgraceful and the shop manager should be shot for not carrying the exact stock that everyone (even you pitbull) needs!!!!

Who wants to go to a place that stocks an absolutley HUGE range of bits 'n' bobs and stays open 7 days a week 12 hours a day? Certainly not me, far too convenient.

I would much rather ask someone to courier (at cost to me) the item I want and then wait in all day for it to be delivered a week later!!!

Come on guys GET REAL. No shop can carry everything all of the time. Remember that B&Q and the likes see literaly tens of thousands of customers a day.

In my opinion they do OK most of the time

 

[mudman]

Tony,
I would be pretty miffed as well.
Sounds like Pitbull was treated rather badly. B&Q does cater for thousands of people every week and I'd expect a bit more curtesy than he was shown. He should be able to find out how long it would be before he can expect his bananas. It is also not unreasonable to expect the stock control systems to replenish things regularly and to keep stock at a reasonable levels. If they only hold stock on the shelves, then they need to monitor it much more closely. I'd also expect an 'I'm sorry but' when asking if there are any more.

I too was in B&Q at the weekend looking at wood and was surprised at how much smaller the range is since the last time I was there. Also the quality was terrible. No need to worry about steam bending anything to shape, go to B&Q, you're sure to find a piece that will match the shape you need.

Pitbull,
If you feel the need to complain, then it is best to go straight to the top. One technique for doing this is to discover the names of high up managers (website will have them somewhere). Check out the format of the companies e-mail addresses then blast out a load of messages to different e-mails for the same person. E.g. [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. One of them will get through and he will be reading your message then and not some minion in a complaints department in Bombay.

 

[Alf]

Bombay.

Mumbai these days...

Cheers, A Pedant

 

[mudman]

Bombay.

Mumbai these days...

Cheers, A Pedant

So long as it was pedantry and not podiatry. I tried to be a podiatrist but kept putting my foot in it. :?

Thanks for that Alf, I knew it was somewhere else, but couldn't for the life of me remember where it was. Had a HELLUVA weekend, just don't ask me about the window or the bunkbeds. :evil: