Delta Service

[CPeter James]

I received this email today from a local shop teacher. Kind of discouraging!!

"Hello fellow woodturners,

I am looking for some advice. One of our 2 year old delta 46-460 type 1 midi lathes quit working. I'm almost positive it's the bearings in the motor, but of course it is a sealed motor with no way of repairing it. I called the certified repair center and they said all delta parts are "unavailable". It should be under a 5 year warrantee, but they said that delta is not honoring most repair warrantees even if they could get the part.

I found the motor online for $499, but the lathe sells for only $700. . .

Does anyone know if I can adapt a generic motor to this lathe?
What are the chances of opening it up and replacing the bearings and resealing it?(I'm told this won't work, but I refuse to believe it is impossible)
Or do you know a better delta repair center near Thetford (the closest one is either Rutland or Exiter, NH I'm told).
Or a local repair center that could fix it for less than $500.

Or any other suggestions (besides "don't buy any delta machines in the future!")"



CPeter

[Paul McGaha]

C. Peter,

If the costs of the repairs got into several hundred dollars, I think I would instead put the money towards another lathe. Maybe this from Jet:

http://www.tools-plus.com/jet-719200.html

I really hate to hear of these kinds of issues with Delta. Half of my shop is from Delta.

PHM

[Brian Kent]

I recommend calling Delta directly, asking if it is true, and then ask them to name a service center that can fulfill their warrantee. In my area I found one place that no longer services Delta (though it still shows up as an authorized dealer on google) and one that said parts take 3-4 weeks, but they come. If / when they do, I'll let you know. It has been 2 weeks out of the expected 3-4 weeks.

[david brum]

You can also buy aftermarket variable speed conversion kits with motors from Penn State (http://www.pennstateind.com/store/TCLVSKIT.html) which should fit your lathe. The price is right. I don't know how well they work, but the folks over at the turners forum could probably tell you.

[Joe Kaufman]

Just guessing, but it's probably a 90 VDC permanent magnet motor. A common use is in treadmills. Looked at one I have and it is rated 1.3 hp continuous duty and is similar in size to the Delta. The shaft is probably larger because it had an 8 lb. flywheel mounted on it. There is some truth to PM motors not being field repairable. It used to be that after assembly, a high current was discharged through an internal winding to enhance the magnetic characteristics. The story was that removal and replacement of the armature would disturb or alter the magnetic flux path and motor performance would suffer. I had to try disassembly and did find a noticeable reduction in torque, but not sure that the current output of the controller was the same before and after. Some of the reviews of the PSI retro kit are not favorable – underpowered. I believe that I read the reviews on the PSI website.
Joe