A few weeks ago, I heard a loud growling noise coming from a job on the OF. I looked to see what was going on and could find nothing. I did, though, find a screw on the floor. Had no idea where it came from. When the job finished, I pulled the piece from the wasteboard and my eye caught the top of the spindle (Automation Technology 1.5 ER16 Air Cooled). The venting slots were broken and pushed upward. The noise I had heard was the screw that holds the cooling fan unscrewing at 16,000 RPM, forcing its way through the vent slots, snapping off two of the fins on the plastic fan on the way out, and shooting out the top of the spindle. Glad I wasn’t standing in range of the projectile. I reinserted and tightened down the screw, but the missing fins created enough of an imbalance that the spindle was vibrating. Bummer.
A call to Automation Technology to see about a replacement fan drew a response that these are such cheap spindles that they don’t carry replacement parts. They just provide a new one for free during the first year and ask the customer to pay for his own replacement after that. OK!
The silver lining. I’m not up for buying a Mechatron. Browsing through replacement options, I cam across a 2.2kw ER20 unit made by JST Spindles and rebranded by Vevor. The Automation Technology unit has a runout spec of .005 or better. The JST has a runout spec of .002 or better. I broke it in and can say that even at higher speeds it is considerably quieter than the already quiet Automation Technology unit. The casing remained cold through all speeds during the break in. No vibration. With a $5 magic coupon it was $129 at Vevor. I looked again and it is now $143 on Vevor’s site. You can also get it via online order for a similar price at Home Depot (!)
Not sure of others’ experience with this brand, but for me it is so far so good. My longevity expectations for Chinese spindles are now considerably lower. Let’s see how this new unit works as time goes by. If there’s anyone on a tight budget who is good at 3D modeling and can print himself a new fan, My Automation Technology unit is available for the price of postage. If no takers, alas, it is another denizen for the landfill. That would be too bad since it runs great except for the broken fan.