Yep, it is me-the long-lost blog!
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Yep, it is me-the long-lost blog!
I did a class with Frank Kroupa with the NWFA just for the floor contractor. It was a little service class, if you will-more of a how-to-keep-your-unit running-and-find-out-what-is-wrong-if-anything-is-wrong class. We got the hands-on thing going, not a sit-down-look -at-photo-on-the-big-screen class ... we took the units apart.
I have got to thank a few folks: Dave E. with UFloor was a HUGE plus, Clarke American Sanders gave the class free parts for the big machines and edgers, and Palo Duro sent in parts at a reduced price so we could round off a good class. We went for a one-day class but soon found out this needs to be a two-day class.
I have got to be open about a few things ... One of the guys just had his unit in to two dealers for service-it was just over $900 of service he had done to the unit-but it had chatter so bad that you would trip over it. We (the class) found seven or eight more things wrong with the unit, plus the contractor said he has not done any work on the unit in many years. His bearings were the same ones from the day it was made five years ago; he was told that the bearings should not go bad because they were sealed. Wrong! They are sealed, but they will not hold up to the heat and hard task forever. His drum was new but not dressed for his machine, and his unit was so dirty that the dust was like a blanket keeping the heat in.
I think Frank wants to do more training, and it is my goal to get great people like Dave E. to come and share their knowledge at each one. My years with Clarke American Sanders have helped me understand the need to keep the units going, but not just going ... we need to make sure the service center has the right tools to do it right. I see folks hammer/tap on bearings and that is a BIG no! If the repair shop does not have a press for the bearings, then do not use that shop. If they cannot test the units for shorts with a hipot tester, then go someplace where they can. I hate to be ugly, but shady techs only replace parts.
The hardest things to find in a repair shop are things like what makes chatter and wave. One more thing that bugs me: Wave is not new, and it is not just one machine that does it. You can get wave from any unit, and it is not 100% the machine. That is a blog for a later day … so much can be said, so I will address that with help from some friends.
I'll update you on our jobs later this week, but for now, here are a couple pics from the service class: