new WM BMS250MU, won't operate (my issue solved, others still have problems)

[Old Greenhorn]

Anybody care to share or pm me a link? I found an auction with a few WM mils, but no sharpeners.

[SawyerTed]

Here is the link to the auction.

https://bid.brightstarauctions.com/ui/auctions/78270

[jimbarry]

....So @jimbarry it's been several days, have you heard back from WM with a new plan yet?

Often times when I read about equipment issues on the forum, I am amazed at the tolerance sawmill guys have for manufacturers problems. In my last job I can tell you that most of my customers wouldn't have put up with us shipping a machine that didn't work. They would have demanded we either replace it pronto, or send someone out to fix it. Has Woodmizer offered any of those options? They should. They obviously have a quality issue with this model that they are ignoring to address.

There's an assumption here that the manufacturer even has machines to exchange of to drop ship.  I believe there's a flaw in that thinking.  

We are in uncharted territory with the supply chain crisis.  

No word from WM other than they are waiting to hear back from the Indy techs.
I made an attempt today to put jumpers in. I was using 16G wire. Figured it looked about the same size. There is not enough room in the terminal space to fit the factory wire and a jumper wire. At least not 16G. My guess, the factory wire pin and the jumper wire would have to be crimped into a male connector that is small enough to fit in the terminal block.
They have about a dozen machines in stock. They are not shipping no more machines or parts until they figure out the problem.
That's the latest news I have.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, very sorry to hear that Jim. Sounds like the WM guys you are dealing with are right in the world I lived in for decades, except that they have not the skills to figure things out, nor the feeling of urgency at a 'dead in the water' customer. That's a shame (for WM). I would never just sit and wait for a call over a period of a week. I would be calling them every 4 hours for updates and reminding them (the IN techs) the WE had a GOOD customer with a brand new DEAD machine. But that's just me, and why I have no patience with the 'current generation'.
 Keep the faith man and hang in there. Those kids will figure it out eventually. But I am sorry you are going through this, they owe you something.

[fluidpowerpro]

My thoughts exactly. In my day guys didnt go home at night until we got things figured out. Especially if we had a customer down. They have machines sitting there. Someone needs to sit down and get one working. Its all a matter of priorities. They already have their money for the machine so....

[Old Greenhorn]

BINGO FPP! I cringed when I read 'in my day' but I guess we have come to that point. I remember a lot of crazy running around in the plant, working very late hours, and ad-hoc meetings with the best folks to solve problems "TODAY, right now" because we took a dead customer machine as a failure on our part and it also served as a representation to our customer that we cared 'a lot' about whether we kept our promises. Frankly I never understood anyone who thought otherwise.

[Stephen1]

My thoughts exactly. In my day guys didnt go home at night until we got things figured out. Especially if we had a customer down. They have machines sitting there. Someone needs to sit down and get one working. Its all a matter of priorities. They already have their money for the machine so....

My son has a small IT buisness. he will have a project due date, his employees go home at 4, he stays till 2-3 am finnishing the project. His employees want to know when they get a share in his company. His comment is when you learn how to work. He has a few quite because of his work ethic. 
My favourite comment from him to me..... 'am I ever glad you gave me such a good work ethic'

[jimbarry]

Just a little update. 
Still no word from WM on a solution. 
So I sent them an email with three options to choose from or this unit is going back for a full refund. They have until May 30th.

[Old Greenhorn]

Good on YOU! You have been much more than patient. If it were me, one of those options I offered them would be to place that piece of equipment in an orifice it will never normally fit in.
 I'll repeat my earlier thought to make it clear I am still a WM fan and user, but the service you are getting from the particular folks you are dealing with is below 3rd rate and does not reflect what we have all come to know and expect from WM.

[barbender]

I agree. I hope you can get through to the right person at WM to let them know how unacceptable the service has been here. A total lack of communication is a real black eye.

[Southside]

I would suggest reaching out to the President of WM directly.  When I had a very aggravating and repeating failure on my 70 I went that route when it seemed nobody would address the issue.  He was very responsive and went above and beyond to make things right.  

[Bruno of NH]

He can be reached and talk with on the Official Woodmizer Facebook group.
He's a great guy and checks. In with folks on the group often.

[Durf700]

at this point, I would definitely run jumpers and see if that solves the issue..  you have multiple boards on hand..  worse case scenario is you return the sharpener if that doesn't work for you.  best case scenario is your 2cd sharpener is now up and running using the same wiring design as the original.

please keep us up to speed on this.  I have the BMS 250 and BMT 250 so I like to stay up on all this stuff in case I ever run into an issue.

[jimbarry]

He can be reached and talk with on the Official Woodmizer Facebook group.
He's a great guy and checks. In with folks on the group often.

I made comment on the WM FB group on May 8th to a fellow who was looking to buy on May 7th. Another person named Darryl Floyd replied. He didn't identify himself as a WM employee but another person messaged me to say he was the president. So he's known a week now and not one word. The only reply I got was from the east coast dealer (Bert) to whom I sent my 'three options' email. He replied and was understanding of the situation. He's always replied promptly to the concerns and questions, getting the answers needed. It just seems that we both are being stonewalled by WM on what to do. From what I can determine, everyone is waiting on WM USA to come up with an answer.

[Crossroads]

Well it looks like I may be in the same boat. I picked up my bms250 last week and set it up yesterday. Turned it on and everything except the pump ran for about a minute then the grinder shut off, then a short time later the advance stopped. I found the fuse just below the relays blown and replaced it. Now the advance works , but nothing else does. Yes, getting a faulty machine after a 3 month wait that turned into a 8 month wait is insult to injury. I am confident that it will all work out in the end though. 

[Crossroads]

Just went out and did a couple more checks. 1) the "finder" relay bipass is done by pushing in on the lever. Don't know if this resets anything. (2 the fuse below the relay is blown again, but the advance is still working. 3) I have power coming from the grinder and the pump toggles, but neither are working. 4) the 110v and 110vo ports are open with no jumper 4) I'm not a sparky, so this should be entertaining 🙈

[Old Greenhorn]

Looks like you will be spending some quality time with WM on the phone tomorrow, sorry. You may want to make him aware that you know there are problems with these machines and refer him/her to this thread to save time. ;D
 Given what Jim had already endured and the length of time involved, I would let too much time elapse between 'entertainment' and outrage. The can't keep shipping stuff like this, it will hurt them in the long run.

[Crossroads]

Yes, I'll definitely be on the phone in the morning. I just hope this get resolved in the fashion that has gained my trust in WM. 

[Crossroads]

Is this the jumper that's been discussed?

[jimbarry]

I don't know @Crossroads I didn't get a wiring diagram with my machine. These are the two on my machine. Left side of the panel. #5 jumps to #3. #6 jumps to #4.




 

[Old Greenhorn]

Crossroads, how did you lay your hands on that wiring diagram? It would be nice if they had put that in the manual for all their users. A schematic would be most useful also. I can't read the title block but it appears that is for 110v wiring. It does not show the jumper from 3 to 5 though.

[Crossroads]

That came with the manual, unfortunately reading wiring diagrams is not my strong point. 

[MattM]

Wish that wiring schematic was higher res and that I could see the whole thing.

From what I can see it looks like you definitely need the jumper from 4 to 6, that's the only way your getting 110v to that motor. The jumper from 3 to 5 might not be needed as the schematic shows those lines connect at the right hand relay.

Just my input for what its worth   ;D

Edit: just zoomed in as much as I could and it is possible you need that second jumper from 3 to 5. The amperage on 110v might be too much for that 2amp fuse so it might need the 1.6amp fuse in parallell....but don't quote me on that. I would need the schematic for the relay and the full high res board schematic to say for sure.

[Bruno of NH]

I just contacted Mr Floyd on FB
We will see if he can help you folks out

[Old Greenhorn]

I sure hope so. Nothing ticks off a customer more than having to call repeatedly without getting some sort of explanation and progress beyond 'we are looking into it'. That goes double for dedicated customers who feel that their trust is being taken advantage of.