Grizzly warranty

["Felix Marti"]

Hello all.
I suggest, based on my recent experience, that you carefully check Grizzly's warranty.
I bought a Grizzly 24 bandsaw from a reseller (Max Tools).
I used the saw 5 minutes, shut it off to rethink my next step; bandsaw wouldn't start.
Lots of phone calls (endless wait time), many emails, and learned that Grizzly does not have tech service people in the field, That I have to determine what is wrong with the tool, and then if a part is needed it will be sent to me.
Unfortunately I lack the knowledge or equipment to to determine what is wrong, and any expense I undertake to learn what is wrong, is mine; Grizzly doesn't recompense.
Grizzly tells me that my only real recourse is to contact Max Tools (Grizzly is avoiding its responsibility in my opinion) but Max Tools phone number doesn't work, and they've not responded to email.
Grizzly tells me I can ship the tool to them for repair (crating is my responsibility. they'll pay for shipping), but 900 pounds is a bit of a challenge in this regard.
Oh, I didn't mention that the bandsaw base (sheet metal) is sufficiently out of true that I had a welder make a true channel iron base to which he welded the tool, to give me something I could shim level; this basically voided Grizzly's warranty according to them.
During the 5 minutes I used the saw it cut fine (though the factory blade is pretty poor). I bought a Lennox carbide tipped TriMaster blade for the saw (fabulous blades!) but haven't mounted it since the saw doesn't run.
I'm probably going to be looking for an alternate saw based on Grizzly's non-support.
Anybody want a 900 pound saw and excellent blade for $1500? Oh, some "assembly" may be needed......................
The Grizzly replaced my 20" Powermatic bandsaw that required the motor be pulled twice for TLC (of course after warranty), hence no more PM bandsaw for me.
All in all, a really rotten experience.
Stay well you all.
Felix

[Jim Becker]

Aside from some larger industrial brands (and for a hefty charge), there is generally no on-site service available for woodworking tools and hasn't been for a VERY long time. So it's normal for parts to be shipped during the warranty period for user install. The same will be true for pretty much any brand you opt to buy.

[Mike Kees]

Pretty common knowledge that you have to put together and trouble shoot/fix machines yourself. The only companies who fix or set up/adjust machines on site have techs that you pay for . Also modding machines almost always voids a warranty. So your options are either fix it or pay to get it fixed or sell it. Sounds like you have not had much luck in getting a machine that works well. These sort of situations are one of the reasons I like to buy used stuff. I get to try stuff out and examine it before I pay. Good luck whatever you decide.

[Richard Coers]

Could be as simple as the blade guide side bearings are too tight and the motor won't move the blade. I'd start with dropping off the v-belt off the motor and hit the button then. Maybe list where you live and someone close will come over and help. Or maybe you list where you live and someone will take you up on buying it from you.

[Paul Haus]

To the OP, "Won't start" can mean a lot of things to different people. Is it completely dead? Does the motor hum but not move the blade? Does the motor start but not turn the blade?
I have a 20+ year old Grizzly shaper I've had for about 15 years and not put a penny into. I have a 7-10 year old Grizzly Cabinet saw that other than some upgrades I've made to it I haven't put a penny into it. Grizzly also has the Shopfox brand that's sold through retailers, who may or may not have support people.
I've had some Delta equipment that was good and some that wasn't so it's not brand specific.
You need to learn to do some basic equipment checking if you aren't buying something that comes with on-site support. Things like is there power to the outlet (you did check that - right?). How to check a switch with an ohm meter to see if the switch is good or not. If you take the belt off the motor, does the motor run? That's the first 3 things I'd check in a situation like this.

[Mikail Khan]

Is emergency stop still depressed?

We may be able to help troubleshoot if you provide more info.

MK

[Curt Harms]

I wouldn't give up yet. It helps if you have some familiarity with electricity and have a multimeter - Harbor Freight has 'em for about $5 that will work for your purposes. Figure out where there's power and where there isn't. Perhaps a switch that for instance prevents starting with a door open or a switch that stops the motor when the brake pedal is depressed is slightly out of adjustment or suffered a failure. That failed or misadjusted switch thinks the door is open or the brake pedal is pushed when in fact it isn't. New components will occasionally do that.

[Bob McBreen]

Unfortunately being a woodworker requires being a mechanic, electrician & machinist at times. I don't know of a consumer level brand that does anything different than Grizzly.

[Larry Frank]

That is frustrating that a brand new , expensive machine runs 5 minutes and then dead. The company says to just figure it out and they will send parts.

I would crate it up and send if back.

[Jim Becker]

I would crate it up and send if back.

The OP can't do that because it was physically modified by welding.

[Erik Loza]

No dog in this fight, but will add as someone who has sold a million bandsaws to home ww'ers:

-There is no company that warranties labor on this level of machine. Unless you pay for it.
-In my opinion, it is fair for the manufacturer to ask you to contact the dealer for service if you bought it from that dealer. This is standard in the industry. Whether or not a dealer has good customer support is a different conversation.
-9/10 issues like what the OP are experiencing are rarely something that can't be fixed by the owner, on site. Usually a loose micro-switch, loose wire, etc. The fact that the machine did start the first time is an indicator that's it's most likely something simple like this. I feel pretty confident that with phone support, the OP could trace it down pretty quickly.

Hope the OP gets it resolved quickly.

Erik

[glenn bradley]

These threads are always tough to respond to in a valuable way. Returning the tool is certainly an option but one that would require more effort than the troubleshooting which already sounds like too much trouble for the OP (no offense intended). We may have a level of expectation between the seller and the buyer that is pretty far apart. The value of doing your research and being an informed consumer is only getting more necessary as time goes on. Gone are the days of a helpful and knowledgeable sales person eagerly waiting to help us as we (figuratively or literally) walk through the door.

One stumbling block I see when folks interact with Grizzly is the expectation that a retailer selling an item at 40% or more below their competition will have the same business model as that competitor. That's just unrealistic. The customer service experience is also variable based on the interaction of those involved. We have all read plenty of stories about fantastic Laguna, Powermatic, and Grizzly service and we have all read plenty of stories about terrible Laguna, Powermatic, and Grizzly service. I would guess that generally most of the CS experiences are good with most brands since folks tend to post more bad than good :).

To the case at hand, Felix only drops in every now and again (7 posts in the last 15 years including this one) so I don't know that he is looking for assistance so much as simply wanting to state his case. I hope he checks back and can give us some more specific details. In my experience, with the aid of the brain trust here, most problems can be solved.

There is certainly enough history posted on Grizzly tools arriving with a need for a fence, handle, table section, or some other substandard part needing to be swapped out before the machine is fully setup and ready to go. When spending $3600 for something that the competitor sells for $6600 I tend to expect to have to put in a little TLC to get setup. As others here have posted, once setup to run, my Grizzly tools have done nothing but work . . . correction . . . there was that centrifugal switch in my cyclone that went out but, I am pretty sure that was caused by my too-frequent cycling of the machine versus its intended use. Once replaced and my operating habits were adjusted it has performed every time ever since.

Back to how to help . . . As Jim noted, there is no "geek squad" of machine techs waiting somewhere to drive to your location and perform repairs. My last experience with that was back when Delta was still king and even then it was a pretty sloppy operation. Kudos to Delta though for trying to keep that era of customer support alive :). Where we go from here will depend on what Felix wants to do. If he wants to return the machine that can probably be arranged. If he wants to find the problem the manual has 80-odd troubleshooting items, SMC has a lot of smart folks, and Grizzly tech support can be very helpful. If the goal is to have someone else to handle the problem I would expect this to be very expensive at best and completely unavailable at worst.

I vote for a small expenditure of time and effort in exchange for a large money savings and many years of trouble free use. I totally understand your frustration and would like to help.

[Edward Weber]

I would also first check the outlet and then check the power switch.
I have a few pieces of Grizzly and in my personal experience, they have no more "common" issues than any other brand.

[Alex Zeller]

My Grizzly BS stopped working shortly after I got it as well. It turns out that a woodchip had gotten in the switch for the foot brake so the contactor wouldn't energize. Simply removing it was all that was needed but I also adjusted the switch so it was less sensitive (since you have to push the brake pedal a good inch or so before the brake pads hits the drum) since barely touching it would shut the motor off. Hopefully Felix does come back and post as even a Grizzly 24" BS is expensive. No matter what brand you buy sooner or later it'll be up to you to repair it as warranties only last so long. For example my neighbor has a 20" jointer, classic old iron, that wouldn't turn on in the middle of a job. Over the years dust got into the switch for the starting cap. 3 screws and a quick shot of compressed air and it was running. Having a problem and then selling it cheap on Craig's list will get very expensive. Chances are with a little more information we could help and Felix could get a lesson on how to troubleshoot.

[Rick Potter]

This reminds me of my yesterday. We have an antique table lamp that didn't work, so I started to fix it. I took it completely apart to check everything out. The three way switch was pretty loose, so I bought and installed a new one, and reassembled it.

After getting it all together it still didn't work, so I did what I should have done in the first place and started checking for power at various places. Long story short, it had an old clip on plug which had failed.

Moral of the story: I took apart an antique lamp, peeled off the cork pad on the bottom, used a Dremel to soften edges on the pot metal base where the cord went through, and replaced an antique three way switch which was probably better than the new one I installed, and spent a couple hours putting it all back together. All because I neglected checking the basics first.

Hope you checked the basics.

[David M Peters]

I have a story like Rick's... my Grizzly 0700 baby slider was my first "real" piece of woodworking equipment, i.e. with a proper contactor switch and emergency stops. The saw would not start, messed with it for an hour before calling Grizzly... and yes, I had not released the stop button on the main switch :p

My contribution to this thread would be to warn people to not modify a machine like the OP did... an out of square base would have been reason enough to get the that part replaced.

[Stewart Lang]

So you started it once and pushed the red stop button and it no longer turns on?

You have to rotate the stop button so it pops out, to allow you to start it again. It's a safety feature. Seems like a pretty basic thing.



Unfortunately I lack the knowledge or equipment to to determine what is wrong, and any expense I undertake to learn what is wrong, is mine; Grizzly doesn't recompense.


Being somewhat capable at figuring out how to use machinery and diagnose issues is kind of a prerequisite in woodworking, since most of it revolves around machinery. I'd highly recommend that YOU DO take this time to learn what is wrong and what is going on. It will be far more valuable to you than you seem to realize. If you don't want to learn how to work with machinery, you might have difficulties continuing in woodworking.. Unless of course you want to stick exclusively to hand tools :)

[Micah Puscheck]

So you started it once and pushed the red stop button and it no longer turns on?

You have to rotate the stop button so it pops out, to allow you to start it again. It's a safety feature. Seems like a pretty basic thing.



Good point. I get the feeling that if that IS the problem, we may never get the report back that it was the case :)

Either way, hope it's an easy fix.

[Ronald Blue]

Most everything has been covered already. More information would be helpful indeed. If you use a machine enough to wear out two motors you obviously you use a bandsaw a lot. To me it seems like and it's already been said that you "own" it now after modifying the base. To be truthful without proper trouble shooting you don't even know if the machine has a defect. Good luck either way and hopefully it is something simple. Just curious did you have someone do the wiring? I'm pretty certain it wouldn't have came with a cord on it because there are so many variables in supplying power. Cord length etc.

[Robert London]

About all you can do is get a friend who's savvy with electronics and ask for some help locally. An electrician is not cheap but you have to start somewhere.

It's too late now, but you're always better off buying direct from Grizzly. There is no benefit from many internet resellers as they don't have help or support. Grizzly already gives direct pricing to the public and cuts out the middleman. That's been a key to their success.

It could be a bad switch or something simple, so don't give up. Grizzly is not going to take back a machine that's been modified. I have a personal experience with returning a jointer from Grizzly, and they refunded the entire purchase plus shipping. I've since bought other items from them after that. But you taking a welder to that machine has put you in a bad spot with trying to return it.

[David Buchhauser]

You would also want to be careful as to which location the "welder" placed his ground clamp, unless he removed the base from the machine first before welding. There is always the risk with a miss-placed ground passing the welding current thru some of the wires and/or electronics and causing some damage. Most "welders" would know this and place the ground clamp very close to the area being welded. My guess is this is something as simple as releasing the E-stop switch. I will look forward to hearing the resolution to this dilemma. By the way, I owns may of the larger Grizzly power tools and over the last 15 years the Grizzly customer service and support I have received has been first rate. I do agree it is usually better to purchase directly from Grizzly as opposed to an independent reseller.
David

[Frederick Skelly]

So you started it once and pushed the red stop button and it no longer turns on?

You have to rotate the stop button so it pops out, to allow you to start it again. It's a safety feature. Seems like a pretty basic thing.

OMG. I just went to Grizzly's site and downloaded the manual. LINK. (https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-24-5-hp-industrial-bandsaw/g0568) On page 28 it shows how to test the saw and clearly shows the lockout you mention. I sure hope he figured it out. Unfortunately, I see that he hasnt been back since he made his post. So this is starting to seem like it was really an attempt to use the internet as a weapon, not to get help. Bummer.

[jeff oldham]

i bought the grizzly t27417 sander about a year ago and i waited about 2 months before setting it up and i could not keep the belt tracking to hold reguardless of what i did,,i called grizzly and the rep told me a few things to do that would take care of the problem,,,needless to say none worked,,,so he told me to box it up and he would send me a return label so it would not cost anything to send it back,,so i did,,i was expecting the same sander except for it being fixed,,,but when the sander came back it was a brand new one and never been opened,,with that being said grizzly treated me good,,and i will have to admit i do like their tools,,but i honestly dont know about buying a large bandsaw or table saw from them,,and to be truthfull before this experience i said i never would buy from grizzly,,,,but like i said,,they do have good tools,,,and i have no regrets,,,

[Alex Zeller]

I personally would have put 4 leveling feet onto the saw before welding something to the bottom. Just throwing that out there in case someone reads this and thinks that adding steel is the only answer.

[Jim Barstow]

I had the same problem with a big Grizzly jointer. Called customer service and they noted that they had added an interlock safety switch but the manual hadn’t been updated yet. Nothing on the panel indicated that the switch had an interlock. A quick twist later, it started right up and has worked flawlessly for 13 years. Live and learn.