Nova Customer Support

[Thomas Heck]

Any of you had to deal with nova customer support. I started a ticket with them before Christmas. They have sent emails and called once, but no help. My Dvr upgrade just quit and is still under warranty . They were suppose to have a technician call yesterday. But no call and they’re not responding to emails. I’ve called back several times, but can’t get the people I’ve talked to.

[David Bolson]

I happen to be dealing with them on something now on a problem with my Nova DVR. I've gotten them on the phone multiple times and so far they've been very patient and helpful. They also seem to be very busy. I found that they're not so good at calling me, so I call until I catch someone. So far, I've been very satisfied with how they're treating me.

[Thomas Heck]

They finally sent an email and said they were on skeleton crew because of holidays. He said he’d get the technician to call ASAP. He apologized for the delay. But still would like to get moving toward getting it fixed.

[Randy Heinemann]

I have found the Nova customer support less than adequate and satisfying. My experience was that they made ever effort to absolve themselves of blame.

[David Bolson]

I’ll let you know the final result, but so far I have had ongoing conversations with two people for the past week who have emailed and called me. I feel that they’ve paid a lot of attention to my issues. Especially since they’re short handed right now. I had a couple of issues a couple of years ago and they resolved both issues for me.

[Dueane Hicks]

I had a Titan chuck that was machined poorly and wobbled. They said it was how I was using it, it wasn't.

[Thomas Heck]

Talked to Teknatool today. They were very apologetic for the long time it’s taken for any response. I was wrong on my warranty. I was thinking 5 yrs, but that’s mechanical. It’s 2 years on electronics. So, I guess my only option is to buy a new control box for $400. I’ve been using the old motor and belts. No too bad. But miss the variable speed. Would any other type of control box work on dvr? I hate to spend $400 more on this lathe. I’d rather save and buy a new one probably a jet unless I could use a different control box.

[Guy Donham]

Not sure what model you have but why not sell it and get the model you want. My only issue with all the modern lathes is the electronics. They sell old Powermatic, Delta, Powercraft and Sears lathe all the time on Craigslist that are up to 70 years old. So in 70 years we may not be here but our grand children might inherit your lathe and how will they get parts for the electronics. For use today I know that the variable speed lathes have a lot of torque at low RPM and it is convenient to just turn a dial for speed but what about even 5 years from now when all warranties are out and they dont make your model any more.

I suggest you keep it simple stupid (KISS). Leave your mechanical pulley and motor on and live without the fancy and breakable electronics.

[David Walser]

Not sure what model you have but why not sell it and get the model you want. My only issue with all the modern lathes is the electronics. They sell old Powermatic, Delta, Powercraft and Sears lathe all the time on Craigslist that are up to 70 years old. So in 70 years we may not be here but our grand children might inherit your lathe and how will they get parts for the electronics. For use today I know that the variable speed lathes have a lot of torque at low RPM and it is convenient to just turn a dial for speed but what about even 5 years from now when all warranties are out and they dont make your model any more.

I suggest you keep it simple stupid (KISS). Leave your mechanical pulley and motor on and live without the fancy and breakable electronics.

Which is why I still ride a horse everywhere I go. If Ma wants to go with me, I just hitch up the buggy. Simple and reliable. Hundred years from now, my great-grandkids can fight over who'll get the buggy. Pretty sure they'll need a different horse.

[John Keeton]

Which is why I still ride a horse everywhere I go. If Ma wants to go with me, I just hitch up the buggy. Simple and reliable. Hundred years from now, my great-grandkids can fight over who'll get the buggy. Pretty sure they'll need a different horse.:D

Simple is good. One could just go with a pole lathe. All repairs can be done in house with available material. But, I sure enjoy my Laguna Revo 1836 with all those convenient electronics, as well as the two electronic variable speed lathes that preceded the Laguna, both of which were in excellent shape when they were sold.

I also enjoy my planes, drawknives and spokeshaves. Some tools are therapeutic to use, some like a pole lathe, are just plain hard work! I guess it comes down to one's preferences and personal experiences.

[John K Jordan]

.... I know that the variable speed lathes have a lot of torque at low RPM and it is convenient to just turn a dial for speed but what about even 5 years from now when all warranties are out and they dont make your model any more.


One thing may help with the worry of future obsolescence. Most of today's better variable-speed lathes use 3-phase motors and VFD/inverters to make them work. VFDs are readily available and are getting cheaper all the time. They are widely used in industry. Fortunately, a VFD is a generic thing and it's not difficult to replace a failed one with a different one, available from many manufacturers. i did this when the VFD failed on one of my Jet 1642 lathes and was up and running after about $100 and a little time programming. (Jet wanted an exorbitant price for a replacement.)

The rest of the electronics in this type of lathe is trivial and easily replaced or repaired - some simple wiring to low-voltage controls such as switches and a simple potentiometer. (Doc Green has a good description of the control system in the PM3520. Here is one of his articles: https://www.docgreenwoodturner.com/pmcontrol1.html)

Whether to make the effort to convert a manual-change lathe to a variable speed lathe, of course, is a personal decision. After using both, I would hate to give up the instant ability to vary the speed and to reverse the direction that comes with a VFD. I often change speed from 3000 rpm to a much lower speed when going between turning and sanding, often reversing the direction as well.

To me, what is more worrying is the potential obsolescence of the mechanical parts in an older lathe, for example the custom castings and machined parts in the tailstock. I know someone who could not buy parts to fix the quill in his lathe - fortunately a local machine shop was able to make a repair.

JKJ