Beall Tilt Box Problems

[Eddie Darby]

Hello everyone.
I just thought I would give you a heads-up warning about faulty Beall tilt boxes.

I purchased one and went to calibrate it in ABS mode, but the unit would end-up calibrating itself in REL mode instead.

I tried it on various surfaces, and even on the same surface, but just slightly tilted, and the same result kept happening. I unplugged the 9 Volt battery, to reboot the unit, and still the same result. Whatever surface I calibrated it on, no matter what the tilt, it gave the ABS reading of zero.

I shimmed one side of the box with a doubly folded piece of paper, and still the same thing. The surface with no paper reads zero in ABS, and calibrating it on the same surface, but with a piece of paper folded ( 0.30 degrees added) gave a calibration reading of zero in ABS. Once the unit is in the REL mode, it would not go back into ABS.
How can two different surfaces be calibrated the same in ABS? :confused: :eek::eek::eek:

I mention this because to some this might not be noticed.
Perhaps a check of this by present owners will turn-up other faulty units.

The second more easily noticeable problem with the unit was that the two different instructions that I was given, both failed to change modes from REL back to ABS. The only way I could achieve this was to turn the unit OFF, then turning it ON again would start it in ABS mode. Once the unit was in REL mode there was no getting back to ABS mode.

This all happened with 5 boxes so I emailed Beall but I have not heard back from them in 2 weeks, so I thought I would go this route. Hopefully this will help some of you.

[Cary Swoveland]

I'm surprised you haven't heard back from Beall. They usually provide very good service. I have several of their products and have been very satisfied. I did recently have a problem with a hinge template I bought from them. The owner, J.R. Beall ("Mr. Beall"), had me send it back. Before mailing a replacement unit, he tested the replacement for accuracy. I was given a credit for my mailing cost, even though I had not asked for it. I'd phone Beall.

Cary

[Bruce Benjamin]

Hello everyone.
I just thought I would give you a heads-up warning about faulty Beall tilt boxes.

I purchased one and went to calibrate it in ABS mode, but the unit would end-up calibrating itself in REL mode instead.

-----Snip-----

This all happened with 5 boxes so I emailed Beall but I have not heard back from them in 2 weeks, so I thought I would go this route. Hopefully this will help some of you.

I'm confused as to what steps you've taken to correct this problem with regards to contacting Beal. You bought a Tilt Box. You've had some problems with it and it sounds like it's defective. Then you jump way ahead to saying this has happened with 5 boxes.:confused::confused: So, how did you get 5 defective boxes in a row? Did you leave out the return of 4 other boxes but just left that part out of your post? What has J.R. Beal said about all of this? I'm sorry but your post just isn't making any sense to me. Have you ever spoken to J.R. on the phone? If not, why not? On this forum it seems that more often than not, when someone complains about not getting any responses to an email from a company, that company has sent out email responses and it gets sent into the customer's Spam file. Not every time but frequently. Why not just pick up the phone?

I'm a fan of the Beal Tilt Box and I did a review of it comparing it to the Wixey angle gauge. The first Tilt Box I got had a problem with the buttons being too stiff. I spoke to J.R. a few times and he was very response to my complaint. They sent me a new one and paid for return shipping of the defective unit. Getting ahold of them on the phone was easy and J.R. and his staff are very helpful and friendly. The problem I have with your post isn't that your Tilt Box(s?) may have a problem, it's that you complain about their customer service/response time while apparently leaving out big chunks of information regarding your previous contact with them. You may have done everything I would've done to contact them but nobody would know that by reading your post. They seem to be a very reputable company. It seems that they at least deserve a fair shake before public warnings are issued.

Bruce

[Eddie Darby]

I am not in any way trying to slam Beall. I emailed them and the vendor, and have not heard back from either.
I think this is important for others here at SMC.

I tried 2 boxes at home and 3 more at the store. I received a refund.
This makes me think that perhaps a bad batch came off the line.

I think that some people here might not realize this or even have tried to calibrate the box yet. Just something to keep in mind, so I am passing this on.

[Eddie Darby]

I'm a fan of the Beal Tilt Box and I did a review of it comparing it to the Wixey angle gauge. The first Tilt Box I got had a problem with the buttons being too stiff. Bruce

I remember reading your post, I want to thank you for it, as it was one of the reasons why I decided to go with the Beall, and I still want get one, just that I'll have to wait for the vendor to get a new supply.

The reason for posting this is that if someone doesn't calibrate their box or try it on several different surfaces, then it can easily get unnoticed. I would hope that this was a small bad batch, but the vendor is a major seller, so I am left wondering if this is a bigger issue than I think it is????:confused:

If everyone who has a faulty box uses it only in REL mode, then no problem.
I myself like the ABS feature.

I was ready to have to turn the unit OFF and then ON to get back to ABS mode from REL mode, as it was just a minor inconvenience.

[Bruce Benjamin]

Ed, I don't have a problem with the reporting of a potential problem with a product. I especially appreciate it when it's a product that I might be buying.:cool: My only problem with your first post was that you made a complaint about the Beall customer service, (Which had been known by me to be excellent) without giving any details. You left out huge chunks of information regarding your communication with Beall, who you bought the unit(s) from, and what they had to say about it. I just think that if you're going to post info that is potentially very damaging about a company you ought to take an extra minute of typing and tell the whole story. These forums can reach a lot of potential customer so if someone is going to report negatively I think they should do it fairly with full disclosure of the facts. Just my opinion, of course.

I really have no idea what is wrong with your Tilt Box but I'd be very surprised if after talking to J.R. Beall on the phone the problem wasn't resolved in some way to your satisfaction. This could very well be a case of a bad batch leaving a Chinese factory or it's possible that it's some sort of operator error. I dunno. I found that with mine it's very sensitive so when zeroing it I have to be very conscious of holding it steady. It actually took a little practice, (very little) but now I've found that I appreciate the sensitivity of the readings when making adjustments. This isn't necessarily related to your problem with it but it's the only thing I have to offer.

Bruce

[Eddie Darby]

My only problem with your first post was that you made a complaint about the Beall customer service, (Which had been known by me to be excellent) without giving any details.Bruce

"This all happened with 5 boxes so I emailed Beall but I have not heard back from them in 2 weeks, so I thought I would go this route. Hopefully this will help some of you." - me

I see you think this is a negative complaint that is slamming Beall. I am just stating the facts, and not an opinion. If you inferred from my statement that I thought Beall customer service was bad, then this is not my intention. I just figure that something needs to be done quick.

I have my refund from the vendor ( not Beall ) and I even had the vendor check out the boxes, and the person agreed that something was wrong. They are a big company, so I even emailed them to make sure that I wasn't getting the run around. Since this started, I suspect that a couple hundred units have been sold, and that if the problem is extensive, then this might be some benefit to someone, since the problem is a little hard to notice if someone assumes that their unit is working alright.

I did press the buttons very smoothly, and I did get the unit to calibrate every time.

Between the time I got the first box until I checked the last box was a few days, and so I figure that there is a good possibility that other people could have a faulty box as well.

At no time have I stated an opinion one way or the other regarding good or bad service, since I am not really concerned one way or the other. My only concern is that other people have a chance to see if their box is working correctly.

I have kept the vendor's name out of this because it should not matter who it was, but if I was out to slam someone then I would surely have mentioned it.
I am fairly sure that something is being done about it, but just what that is, and by who is unknown. This heads-up is hopefully going to Help someone and Not Hurt anyone.