An old man and a New Vevor mini lathe

dabear3428 said:
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My advice if i were in your shoes is start squawking and see if they just send you a replacement with you keeping the original you may end up with what you originally ordered and a lot of free spare parts.
I would not volunteer to fix it or install parts, it is their responsibility to get you a working item. I originally did not catch that you had purchased this thru Amazon, that being the case it just got easier for you just just start asking for a return on their dime and see what happens, i bet that they can then look up the batch codes for themself
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This is what I would do… Have them send you a replacement lathe. The cost of returning it is on them. If they do and do not require you to return it, great! You will have one for spare parts.

I will be first to admit that I would also try to fix it…but this is a product where a lot of folks have suffered through a bad experience…some with no knowledge on how to go about working on them… so I would feel no emotion or frustration giving them some hell to get a replacement…
 
Old Everything Tech said:
I am in a pickle. If I return the lathe, handling it is difficult.
First, I have to get a sheet of plywood. $30.00
I have to get help lifting it to put it onto a plywood base.
Then build the box around it.
Get help getting it out of the shop.
Then comes the fun part...
Do I take it to UPS? or have Amazon pick it up?
This brings on more lifting help.
So, I might as well just keep it and use a weight to keep the machine running.
$300.00 is not going to break the bank, and it does run, and I can make it work.
See picture and my weight to hold the start PB.
Sooner or later, I will devise a hold in circuit to keep it running.
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For me- like you- it would be more than $300 of 'hassle' to return something like a lathe. So - also like you - I'd keep it and fix it. I had a very similar-looking Vevor lathe, and it worked fine after some tune-up and tweaks. I was lucky that there weren't problems with the electrical/electronic parts.
Is the motor on your lathe brushless or the more common DC motor with brushes?
If you like electrical work, there are probably ways to get that lathe working without a weight on the switch. I put together a quick controller that worked OK after I blew the stock controller on my 7x14 Micromark lathe. Even after I got the repaired board back from 'OldUHFGuy', I kept using the DIY controller for quite a while.
 
This morning, I got a reply.
The solenoid switch will be sent, but the tracking number will be out two weeks.
I ordered a four-jaw chuck two weeks ago from them and it has been sitting in Indianna for several days.
And one thing for sure, FedEx is not my favorite shipper.
They offered a $15 credit for that delay.

I have never been a fan of three jaw chucks and the new lathe has one that has .008 runout.

On another note....
I took the solenoid switch out of the lathe, marked the wires with tags.
When I removed the switch, it came apart. The two tiny springs went flying.
I could see why the solenoid was not holding the contacts in enough to energize the solenoid.
The lever lacked just tiny bit of bend.
Well, I had to put a drop of glue on the springs to hold them in place in order to put the sw. back together.
Last night I ordered one of the switches from Amazon. but today I will put the switch back together and see if it works.
I bet it is ruined but time will tell.

So, it seems that this escapade is going to work out.
 
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Old Everything Tech said:
Yep! It is nothing but a DPDT switch. Any DPDT toggle switch will work with slip on lugs.
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that switch is actually a seal-in safety circuit when you push the green it seals a contactor in and that is what is malfunctioning, but you are right it is slip on lugs and would not be difficult to modify but those (if yours is bad and not just a lose wire) are easy to get.
Good luck with your new toy.
 
Old Everything Tech said:
Well, the switch did not work out.
I will wait for the new one to arrive.
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Old Everything Tech said:
On another note:
To my surprise the gears are all metal.
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Metal gear are a good thing.
I did a few upgrades to my mini lathe a 5" 4 jaw chuck, Aloris tool post , extra range on cross slide and Temperature gauge on the motor.
The biggest improvement was tool post.

Dave
 
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