Reman
Member
- Messages
- 250
- Location
- Bristol, UK.
Hi all, Just thought I should mention these. I bought one yesterday at Lidl's because..... Well, 100 quid portable bandsaw!!!! It's hard to say no to that
Anyway, The first one was DOA with a duff speed selector switch, So that one went back and I got another. That one seemed OK until I tried to cut some 3mm angle iron and it instantly started grinding gears. I had a quick look and found that the drive pinion was only JUST touching the tips of the crown gears teeth. As soon as I put a little bit of load on it the last millimetre or so of the gears teeth rounded off and it was toast. I had a slightly deeper prod and found that there doesn't seem to be any way designed in to allow adjustment of the gear mesh on these things I've got the idea that I could shim one of the gears, but as it was brand new I shouldn't have to......... so I carefully reassembled it and took it back to the shop.
I was in two minds about trying for a "Third time lucky", But as I'd already ordered some spare blades for it online I decided to give them one last try. I grabbed the last one and got the manager to let me check that it powered up OK in their stock room. Then when I got home I gave it absolute hell for a bit because if this one's going to fail I wanted it to fail here and now so I can take it back straight away for a refund before anyone could say it had failed from excessive use or some such rubbish. So far this one seems to be OK. I used it to chop the end off a solid 2" square bar (Eventually) and the motor only got slightly warm. I also lopped a rouge 3" branch off one of the trees, and it buzzed through that like nobody's business ! I'm starting to think I may have just been REALLY unlucky with the first two of these.
The actual unit seems reasonably well thought out and quite solidly put together (For the price). It's definatly a light duty DIY tool rather than something you'd use at work, but it's got a 3 year warrantee on it, so it can't be TOO bad. I'm going to have a poke inside this ones gearbox when I get chance, and check where the witness marks are on the gears, But it does seem to be a reasonable tool for the miniscule price, Just from a company (Parkside) with SHOCKING quality control !!!!
BTW, Lidl was great throughout this. Both times they jumped straight in with the offer of a replacement or a refund without any aggro. Top marks go to them for that.
Anyway, The first one was DOA with a duff speed selector switch, So that one went back and I got another. That one seemed OK until I tried to cut some 3mm angle iron and it instantly started grinding gears. I had a quick look and found that the drive pinion was only JUST touching the tips of the crown gears teeth. As soon as I put a little bit of load on it the last millimetre or so of the gears teeth rounded off and it was toast. I had a slightly deeper prod and found that there doesn't seem to be any way designed in to allow adjustment of the gear mesh on these things I've got the idea that I could shim one of the gears, but as it was brand new I shouldn't have to......... so I carefully reassembled it and took it back to the shop.
I was in two minds about trying for a "Third time lucky", But as I'd already ordered some spare blades for it online I decided to give them one last try. I grabbed the last one and got the manager to let me check that it powered up OK in their stock room. Then when I got home I gave it absolute hell for a bit because if this one's going to fail I wanted it to fail here and now so I can take it back straight away for a refund before anyone could say it had failed from excessive use or some such rubbish. So far this one seems to be OK. I used it to chop the end off a solid 2" square bar (Eventually) and the motor only got slightly warm. I also lopped a rouge 3" branch off one of the trees, and it buzzed through that like nobody's business ! I'm starting to think I may have just been REALLY unlucky with the first two of these.
The actual unit seems reasonably well thought out and quite solidly put together (For the price). It's definatly a light duty DIY tool rather than something you'd use at work, but it's got a 3 year warrantee on it, so it can't be TOO bad. I'm going to have a poke inside this ones gearbox when I get chance, and check where the witness marks are on the gears, But it does seem to be a reasonable tool for the miniscule price, Just from a company (Parkside) with SHOCKING quality control !!!!
BTW, Lidl was great throughout this. Both times they jumped straight in with the offer of a replacement or a refund without any aggro. Top marks go to them for that.