Replies

1. 
   dgreen | Dec 10, 2007 11:37pm | #1

   I have a Tempest and my customer service experience with Penn State was first class. Parts arrived damaged in shipping, no claim to file, no hassle, a nice apology for my trouble and they next day aired the replacements.

   ------------------------------------

   It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore

1. 
   JohnCanfield | Dec 11, 2007 01:34am | #2

   I don't want to get off on too much of a DC tangent, but what model do you have and did they help with duct design? If they did help with design, how did they do?

1. 
   dgreen | Dec 11, 2007 02:26am | #3

   I have the 3 HP Tempest with the cannister filters. They offer duct design but I didn't take advantage of it. I don't own the building I'm in so I went with flex hose throughout. If I remember right the design is $50, refundable with purchase.------------------------------------

   It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore

2. 
   BilljustBill | Dec 11, 2007 03:07am | #4

   Great Space for lots of workshop interests.

   What's a shop like yours built for a sq. ft?

   Thanks,

   Bill

1. 
   JohnCanfield | Dec 11, 2007 06:43am | #7

   Bill - it is a 50x50 slab with the motorhome occupying the other 20x50 part of the slab. The concrete is 5" with 1/2" rebar on 16" centers and 4,000 psi as I recall. The slab was designed to stand the weight of my 32,000 pound motorhome. The building and additional fill was about $50K. I did the plumbing rough-in and the final plumbing. Construction pix here: http://gallery.janeandjohn.org/main.php?g2_itemId=1226

3. 
   mapleman | Dec 11, 2007 06:06am | #5

   John,

   I respect dgreen's opinions about the customer service at Penn State, but I had what I would call poor service and I won't be a returning customer.

   I also had parts damaged in shipping, called and talked to a guy named Cliff. He asked me to email pictures, I did. He said they would get the part out "in a couple of days".  I said no way, I need it yesterday (run a cabinet shop out of my home). I said why not next day air it to me and bill UPS. He said it doesn't work that way - I can sell you the part, you can pay next day air charges, and then I can credit you for the part but not the next day charges.

   So I  got my part 8 days later and my next dust collector (a cyclone) will be purchased from Oneida, even though they are more expensive.

   Just my $.02

   Lee

1. 
   dgreen | Dec 11, 2007 06:27am | #6

   Boy that would have ticked me off too. I think the woman I spoke to was Barbara, but having been 5 years ago I sure wouldn't swear to it. I've never heard anything bad about Oneida.

   Is there a history of bad service from Penn? Did I get lucky? Usually if there's a bay leaf in 5 gallons of stew I get it in my first spoonful!------------------------------------

   It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore

1. 
   mapleman | Dec 11, 2007 07:34am | #8

   I'm not sure if it's a bad history thing or not - I have heard a few complaints here or there - but you know as well as I do you have to take them with a grain of salt.

   I bought the DC2000 w/ cartridge filters. I desperately wanted a cyclone and after Sarge posted about his Penn State cyclone I thought I might give them a whirl. Well, long story short the cyclone was out of budget for the time being so I spent a little less on a 2hp roll around unit and set it up centrally between the most used machines.

   I'm sure the cyclones are in another class, but this thing is way cheap! The diameter of the metal ring the cartridge mounts to is like 20" and the filter diameter is about 22". The "seal" is 1" wide weather stripping foam. Needless to say the thing shoots dust out of the bottom of the cartridge randomly. Just not a well thought out design I guess.

   I've heard plenty of good things about Oneida. I have the dust deputy hooked up to my ROS - absolutely love it. I have dealt with their customer service on the phone and my experience was like you described yours was with Penn State - wrong part was sent and they shipped out a new one overnight.

   Anyway, enough of my rant - I just wanted to give the OP a "worst case scenario". If I wasn't doing this for a living I probably would have been fine waiting a week for the parts from Penn State. But as you well know - time is money;)

   Lee

1. 
   dgreen | Dec 11, 2007 08:04am | #9

   Yowch, that doesn't sound good. The customer service is a horror story on it's own for a guy trying to make a living but the fit sounds unacceptable.

   My cyclone came in several sub-assemblys and had to be assembled with nuts, bolts and sealant. They sent a tube of sealant but I went to the store and bought another 5 tubes and used all of them. I have no doubt that carefully and painstakingly done one would be enough, but as usual for these types of undertakings I was working alone and had to build a frame in the rafters to use a chain hoist to get it into position. No way in hell I was going to take it down for lack of sealant! I can run a utility knife as well as the next person to cut off the excess!

   Anyway no leaks and flawless performance, I'm sorry to hear you had trouble and more sorry to hear of the shoddy design on your unit.------------------------------------

   It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore

1. 
   Taigert | Dec 11, 2007 11:13pm | #10

   I wonder if if any of the tool manufactures ever bother reading these sites.

   If I ever had one of my guys say something so stupid to a customer, piss him off enough to end up on a forum. My wife would have to tie me up in instalation backyard till I cooled down enough to only fire his ####. 

   I go through a punch list before anything leaves my shop, and go over the delivery and instaltion with my customer to make sure thier happy.

   I any of us small guys treated our customers like the big companies treat, we would be sitting on the street.

2. 
   mapleman | Dec 12, 2007 05:02am | #11

   I any of us small guys treated our customers like the big companies treat, we would be sitting on the street.

    

   Amen, brother!

   I had a lady call me the other day with a drawer in her kitchen that was sticking. I told her I could be out in a few days to look at it and I would fix it no problem, no charge. Her husband heard her on the phone with me and said don't worry about it, he'd take a look at it. I told her if he couldn't get it right give me a call. I built her cabinets about 4 years ago. I feel like I get a good price for my work, I want people to feel like they got a good deal.

   Lee

3. 
   JohnCanfield | Dec 15, 2007 06:46am | #12

   What a surprise! I was in my shop gluing the bottom on my new catch box for off-cuts when I heard a loud horn. Heard it again and then again. My shop is about 800 feet from our gate so the sound was somewhat muffled.I walked out to where I could see the gate and there was a tractor-trailer containing I assumed my new Ingersoll-Rand air compressor which I ordered from Northern Tools about 10-12 days ago.Used my loader to grab the prize from the truck and slowly moved it to the shop. Unpacked it and it was in perfect condition. Now I have another shop project :-)(It is the single stage SSL5 model - 18 cfm @ 90 psi)Edit: Here are a couple pictures of the 'blessed event'..Unloading from truck:
   http://gallery.janeandjohn.org/main.php?g2_itemId=1860Sitting pretty in the shop:
   http://gallery.janeandjohn.org/main.php?g2_itemId=1863

   Edited 12/15/2007 12:35 pm ET by JohnCanfield

4. 
   JohnCanfield | Dec 22, 2007 03:06am | #13

   YeeHaw! The compressor is installed :-) It took me four days and about four trips to the Lowe's (and also Tractor Supply and HD, and a plumbing supply house.) I was originally intending to use black iron pipe but after having a nice and unhurried conversation with an obviously well-informed plumbing guy at Lowe's (some of their help are really quite knowledgeable), I went with type L copper and 95/5 solder. I used about 80 feet of the copper pipe and had to buy some of the annealed (soft) type L to jump an I-beam. The annealed type L is about twice as expensive as the hard copper. BTW, the 10 foot sticks of type L was $15 and change here in central Texas (Kerrville.)For some reason air regulators were in short supply around here and I acquired the four I needed at the previously mentioned three stores.I pretty much followed the design as presented at http://www.tptools.com/. Based on other's recommendations, I used Teflon based pipe dope and not my usual Teflon tape and I was amazed that no fitting seems to be leaking, at least it passes the "ear test" and I noticed no compressor tank pressure loss after an overnight with the system pressurized.I am no novice at soldering - when I was going to college I had a summer job in an aircraft radio factory on the assembly line where we did point-to-point wiring for the ground part of the communications radios and have soldered (non-plumbing) for years. Even at that, a professional plumber would probably laugh at my soldering - I wanted to err on the side of too much and not enough because I didn't want to re-solder any fittings. I carefully inspected every joint after soldering. If I couldn't rotate the joint for observation I used a portable inspection mirror to see the backside. Apparently I was successful based on the overnight test.Oh - at our Tractor Supply, I found a tank drain kit which extended the bottom drain to where it was easily accessed. It consisted of a 1/4" Ell, 5" 1/4" nipple and a 1/4" ball valve. I will not ignore draining this tank like I did my last stationary compressor (in the old shop.).. John ..Edited 12/21/2007 7:07 pm ET by JohnCanfield

   Edited 12/21/2007 7:09 pm ET by JohnCanfield

5. 
   WillGeorge | Dec 23, 2007 04:34pm | #14

   Getting my new 30x50 shop set up ..DAMN.. You will NOT get any symphony from me! Or was that I was crying a song at your shop?

6. 
   JohnCanfield | Dec 23, 2007 05:06pm | #15

   We all have our burdens to bear ;-)

4. 
   | Dec 24, 2007 09:19pm | #16

   Hello John,

   Looks like you have the makings of a real fine shop. I am concerned about the placement of the DC power supply though! I would get it out of the bathroom or, at least off of the shelf above the large deep basin sink! They don't call you Sparky do they?:)

   Nice job.

   Bob, Tupper Lake, NY

1. 
   JohnCanfield | Dec 25, 2007 12:22am | #17

   Hey Bob - that's my old amateur radio 30 amp PS. Until I get the RC/electronic/general purpose workbench built on the other side of the shop, I charge my RC batteries in the head. Not to worry, I'm trying to do electric mostly to code and that's a 20 amp GFCI it's plugged into :-)The shop is getting to the point to where I can start cranking out some bookcases/cabinets for our little house. Anxious to get DC installed because it's a huge pain in the rear to move my portable shop vac around.Merry Christmas.. John

1. 
   | Dec 25, 2007 01:28am | #18

   O.K. John,

   I have an Astron here also, but without the meters.

   Merry Christmas

   Bob, KB20EV

   Tupper Lake, NY

   Edited 12/24/2007 5:28 pm ET by salamfam

1. 
   JohnCanfield | Jan 02, 2008 02:41am | #19

   I just uploaded several pictures of the air compressor installation to my gallery - the link is in the first post. Called Oneida last week and discussed my DC requirements and since I am running only one tool at a time, they suggested the 2HP Super Gorilla as I originally was thinking about. Since I have lots of vertical height available, I ordered the 55 gallon fiber drum along with the Gorilla.More pictures coming when the Gorilla invades my shop!-=John=-