The only woodworking machine I regretted buying.
-1 star for poor fit and finish
-1 star for constant sensor failure
-1 star for poor customer service
I’m usually very happy with all the major woodworking machines I’ve bought, with the exception of my dust collector. It has been the biggest regretted/mistake I’ve made to date. The pictures speak more then words. Before anyone says anything, Yes I did assemble the unit correctly and spent a lot of time doing so making sure it was correct. All connections either have silicone sealant or foam gasket on them according to the manual.
This according to Oneida is due to a “bin sensor failure” and my “lack of maintenance”. Before I go any further, I wipe down the sensor and blow the filter with compressed air after every time I empty the bin. This isn’t the first time they try to pin their unit failure on operator error before I lost it with them and started being less friendly with how I phrase my words before they would admit it’s due to unit failure.
I’ll start from the beginning. When I received the unit, the assembly went together pretty well at first and everything seems to flow pretty smoothly. Half way through, things started getting rocking due to poor installation manual. The manual started calling out wrong bolts, nuts and washers to go at in places where it would be impossible. I know this is wrong because the bolt and washer they call out where smaller then the hole it’s trying to bolt to. The bolts, washers, nut and all hardware came in (1) ONE zip lock bag. When I said one, I really do mean just 1 bag. They were all packed in there and you had to sort them all out before starting the assembly.
Fit and finish:
Once I finally got the unit assembled and checked everything over again, I tried to slip a fitting over the inlet and to my surprise, it doesn’t fit. The fitting I tried to use was a 6” split into (2) 4” port. I didn’t have any duct work up at the moment so I had planned to use flex hose on each machine until I was able to get everything in my shop worked out for duct work. I called Oneida about it and they asked for a picture. I snapped a picture for them showing how the inlet was more of an elongated circle being over 1/4” off at some points. They replied by saying that it was within specs and tried to sell me some adapters to make it work. I declined and continue to tell them about how the cone body had a lot of waves at the top where it connects to the motor housing. They again said it was within spec’s and that the gasket will fill in the gaps and it shouldn’t be a problem. In the manual, it stated to drill a hole 3” from where the cone body connects to the bin lid. Mine was pre-drilled from the factory and it was only 1” from the cone body. They again replied it was within specs and that this was something new and hasn’t yet been changed in the manual. I was very disappointed in the fit and finish to say the least.
Constant Unit failure:
This is the 5th time that the unit has filled up on me like this. Wood chips would fill the bin, the entire filter along with the cyclone body itself.
The first time this happened was due to an air leak at the bin sensor. I was jointing and planning a good amount of wood but never noticed the bin sensor go off on me. It was until I heard the motor making a weird noise that I stopped working to inspect the DC. When I removed the bin, it was only half full but the entire cone body along with the filter were packed with wood chips and dust. I spent hours cleaning out the unit and tried my best to clean the filter but will never get it back to the way it was. The gaskets they send you with the unit isn’t enough to make a proper seal but the air leak is so small that it’s extremely hard to even tell. After I finished cleaning the unit as much as I could, I started it back up and started blowing smoke at it to see if there was a spot that drew in the smoke. Sure enough, the bin sensor was drawing in smoke. I e-mailed Oneida about it and it took them almost 2 weeks to reply to me after I sent them 4 e-mails. At first they tried to blame it was me for not assembling the unit properly until I told them about be blowing smoke at the unit and the bin sensor was drawing it in. They then sent me an extra set of gasket so I can put it inside and outside of the sensor. This resolved the problem. I was able to finish my work and went a few weeks before starting another project.
The next 4 times this happened was due to the bin sensor failure where it wouldn’t alert me once the bin was full. Every time this happens, my cone body, filter and bin would be jam packed with dust and chips like in the picture. After the 2nd time the sensor failed on me, I tried e-mailing them again. I believe I sent a total of 10 e-mails over the course of 2 months with no reply. I called twice within that time frame and was told someone would look into my e-mails and respond to my issues. Nothing happened within the 2 month time frame until I left them an ugly review/comment on their facebook page. After I did that, someone was on the phone with me within the next day or 2. I spoke with their product engineer and they believed it was due to a defective bin sensor and offered to send me a new one. They asked that I send back my old bin sensor so they can check it and see what the issue with it was. They said they would send me a returning mailing label along with my new sensor so I can send my old one back. After about 2 weeks, I got my new sensor but no return label. I sent them 2 e-mails concerning that with no reply so I said screw it and went about life. I installed the new sensor and but never had to put it to the test since I didn’t have any projects going on.
A few months later, I start a new project and started using the DC again. I noticed the sensor would go off as soon as I turn the DC on but I know for a fact the bin was empty. I’d shut the unit down and check the sensor by waving my hand under the sensor with the DC on but bin off. It would go off at about 3-4” from the sensor which is where I have it set. I replace the bin and turn the DC back on and the sensor goes off again. Not wanting to spend all day messing with the DC I just started working. After the bin is about 1/4 way full, the sensor would stop alarming. I continued to work and after about an hour or so, I still didn’t see the sensor alert me so I stopped to check. Surprise surprise, the bin was full and the filter was about 1/4 full of wood dust and chips. I spent the next 2 hours cleaning the filter and cyclone body before calling it a night. The next few times, I had no faith in the sensor so I started to stop and check the bin every half hour or so. This proved to be a pain in the rear end.
About 3 weeks ago I started on another project and was again on the jointer and planer. I was zoned out while working and didn’t think to stop and check the bin this time. After about an hr I stopped for a break and shut down my planer and removed my ear protection. That’s when I heard the motor making that weird noise again and knew exactly what it was. That’s when I snapped the pictures I attached in this review. Fed up, I e-mailed Oneida about it again and sent them these pictures. 4 e-mails in 2 weeks with no reply. I sent a final e-mail telling them my patients was wearing thin and they need to get their stuff together and figure this out. 2 days ago their sales manager replied to my e-mail asking me for a good time to talk so he could call me. We spoke on the phone the same day I received that e-mail.
He started to say they sell thousands of these units and never had a problem like mine and they wonder if I’m doing something wrong. We go back and forth about how I keep all my machines in tip top condition and I take care of my stuff. He than says that well, I can’t rely on the sensor 100% of the time and that I need to check the bin every hr or less to make sure it’s not full. I ask him what was the point of a $200 sensor when I can’t rely on it? He couldn’t give me a solid answer for that and just said that I need to make it a good habit to check the bin and not rely on the sensor. I thought that was the biggest load of donkey doo doo I’ve ever heard. I told him the point of having the sensor is so I DON’T have to stop working to check the bin every 15 minutes. He than tried to sell me a larger bin so I wouldn’t have to stop to check as often. I told him I’m on the phone with him so he can try and figure out their broken system and not to buy more broken stuff. At the end of the day, nothing was resolved other then the fact they tried to offer another sensor replacement. I said what good is another sensor when I “can’t rely on it” quoting the sales manager. Again, no good or solid answer on that.
I told him that I’m giving up on their system and it’s nothing more then a $2000 paper weight. He said he’ll send me a new sensor anyways in case I want to sell the unit, I could say that it’s got a new sensor. Mind you, my system is still under warranty and told them I’d rather them just come and take this piece of junk out of my shop and give me my money back. That wasn’t going to happen.
Summary, biggest waste of money and mistaken I’ve made. I should have gone with clearvue like I had wanted from the beginning. I went with Oneida because a lot of people had nothing but good things to say about them and I’m all for buying American made. One of those time that buying American screwed me so hard my kids will feel it.