A new Milwaukee 5625-20 router shuts down as soon as it gets to speed. It worked fine for about 1 minute. While taking a very thin, partial roundover cut it made a squeal then shut down. I attempted to reset it by turning the s/w off and restarting it. It starts fine, but immediately shuts down.
Greg
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From everything I have read the router you have has had very good reviews and should be a solid performer. If it is a new router I would take it back and try to get a replacement one, it sounds like it is an electronic issue, good luck.
Mike
I don't doubt this is just a case of poor luck. Milwaukee said to take it back to the vendor where I purchased it. We have no local distributors for Milwaukee so I bought it online at Amazon. I hope the return/exchange goes smoothly.
The noise it made indicates a possible bearing failure.
I will ship it back to Amazon tomorrow.
Greg
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Edited 5/18/2009 5:00 pm by Cincinnati
I have not heard to much complaining about Milwaukee customer service, so it must be good. You usually you don't here people praise customer service for no reason, but if it is poor you always here about that, so I think theres must be good.
Mike
I've had my issues with Amazon, but ease of returns sure isn't one of them. They make it extremely easy! You print the return label out right at your computer, stick it on a box, and off it goes!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
You're right; the return sure was easy. I hope they credit me with the same ease and speed.However they sent me a nice letter telling me the replacement would be 1-3 months, but I could buy it from one of their merchandisers for $30 more than I paid last Thursday. I'm sure Milwaukee has them to ship out now. I will buy from another distributer at a 10% or higher cost.
Greg
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I have the Milwaukee 3 1/2 HP and the 2 1/4 HP combo kit and have not had one problem with them. I simply love both as they are both extremely well made and both hoss'es so to speak. I did drop by the Milwaukee service center here in Atlanta to purchase a set of brushes after the larger table router had been run to death on a table producing moldings over the course of 4 years.
Very pleasant service there and he ask if I had the router with me which I did have in my pick-up. He ask me to go get it and when I put it on the counter he took off the cover and changed the brushes on the spot to make sure it was the brushes which is was. Can't say enough about my Milwaukee routers and their ROS for that matter.
Sarge..
Sarge,The latest issue is Milwaukee Customer Service told me Amazon is one of their distributers. I had to buy online because there are no local distributers. The 5625 failed with in one minute of use. Pretty sure it's bearing failure. Milwaukee's policy is to return it to the dealer where I bought it for an immediate exchange. Amazon tells me I will have to wait 1 to 4 months for a replacement because they are on back order at Milwaukee. says they are not on back order and although they could ship one to Amazon today, I will have to work this out with Amazon. They will only replace it under warranty if I go through Amazon. Most of my aggravation stems from having two routers fail under warranty in a week. This is not all Milwaukee's issue. The first is a new Triton which failed after maybe 20 minutes of use. Triton said to expect two months for parts delivery before repair. I needed a router now, so I bought the Milwaukee. Now at best, I am facing 4 or more weeks of wait time for credit from Amazon. At best, I will be without the router for 4-6 more weeks or I will have to shell out another $300. That would make $900 invested in routers in two weeks just to get one that works. In the end I'll have two routers but I only need one.I know I'm just whining. It's not that the router failed — I expect equipment to fail. My frustration is fueld by the lack of concern and action when I know they could help me if they wanted to. Triton couldn't do anything about not having inventory in the USA. But Milwaukee has inventory. They have a policy that a vendor must replace any defective product within the first 30 days after purchase. Milwaukee could take care of a customer in a situation like this if they were a great customer service company. They could have arranged for Amazon to get one tomorrow. They could have done the exchange with me directly. They could have let me exchange it through a local warranty repair shop. SO I will be buying another one next week from someone else.Here we go again!Greg
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Explain to the retailer what happened and ask if you can test it in the store. Keep in mind you don't have to go with Milwaukee since you can get a refund eventually.
Good luck...
Sarge...
Since there are no local retailers, an in store test is out of the question. And I know I will eventually get my money back. Of course I need it now. This is a cost of dealing with an online dealer as well as the lowest price retailer.I know I don't have to go with Milwaukee, but that is a sweet router. I believe I had dumb luck and got a 1 in a million bad one.Greg••••••• Exo 35:30-35
Edited 5/19/2009 11:12 pm by Cincinnati
I agree it is a sweet router. Sorry you don't have any local dealers as you wouldn't have to travel far here in Atlanta to find one and that includes a factory service center. So.. wanna trade over-populated.. traffic congestion and a host of other throw-in's to get the privilege of being able to pick up another in the morning?
Trade ya even... :>)
Unfortunately with the economy.. I think you will see the best of the best cutting inventory... longer lead times.. etc. It's just a matter of cutting cost in an effort to survive what I call "the big one". I am not sure that the "now" we have been used to will ever be quite the same.
I remember ordering something from Sears back in the 50's and not thinking twice about waiting 1-4 weeks for delivery. And just happy to get it as you had to save up to get it back then as credit cards didn't exist and if you didn't have the cash.. you just did without.
Things have changed but just maybe we are going to see a step back in many faucets? Hard to say at this point.
Sarge..
Yea Instant gratification has spoiled me!It's so easy to place an order online and get it in one or two days. The closest dealers where I can buy tools is 45-50 miles away. Many times, before I make a 100 mile round trip, kill a half a day and spend $58 on my suburban, I will order online.Like in this case, I got a better price (10% less). Shipping was $3.99 for overnight delivery of the Milwaukee to my front door by noon. Fortunately, most tools work fine and never need warranty work.I went to debit cards several years ago. I had a great job, but in mid 80's was laid off in a plant closing and my consumer debt buried me. It took several years to recover. When I got married, I switched back to the way grandpap did it — cash only. He bought cars with cash and never had a checking account. He used postal money orders for the occassional mail order item. We have a couple of mortgages, but no unsecured consumer debt.Doing cash-only debit card transactions, it becomes frustrating in a hurry when people tie up my bank accounts with long delays in crediting back returns. If they can take it out within seconds after placing an order, why does it take weeks to credit it back?I'm a firm believer in not buying until you can afford it. I ran a photography business for 20 years on that principle. When given an $8000 line of credit, I only used it for the convenience of not having to wait for the check to go through the mail and clear before I could get my goods shipped. It's a beautiful, peaceful way to sleep at night. And in lean times I never got into trouble.Greg
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Couldn't agree more about if they can take it out instantly... why can't they give it back instantly? Perhaps because they make money off of your money while in their hands during the delay?
Good luck with however you handle it and BTW.. I want to be clear that I was not jumping your case personally ... simply stating how "we" have transitioned as a whole over the past 30 years or so with the inter-net and other modern electronic devices.
I would be a bit upset at Milwaukee's policy of having to go through the retailer also but... I won't go into my thoughts on the issue.
Regards...
Sarge..
No offense taken. I was agreeing with you not attempting to defend my position.Greg
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Amazon has typically been very good about returns and exchanges for problems. Even if you can't get satisfaction from them, I'm sure MW will make things right. Good luck!
Milwaukee customer service is awsome. They don't care where you got it from, just the fact thet you've got one. At least that's the case in Texas. Milwaukee really does stand behind their products and they are inexpensive to maintain when you need parts.
Mr. Kramer,No doubt you are right. But I did get two customer service reps who were unsympathetic to my delima. I hope I prove you right if my next Milwaukee fails. BTW: I am not ordering another Triton after my first Triton failed. I am ordering another Milwaukee after my first Milwaukee failed.Greg
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I Thought it just to post this update:AMAZON quoted 1-4 weeks to credit my return. I'm guessing ground shipping took 2 or 3 days. So The Amazon processed the credit in 1 day. I handed the package back to UPS on Tuesday. Money was in my checking account on Friday. My new router will be here on Wednesday.Greg
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Several ways to skin a cat. We pay too much for first class tools that don't perform. Good luck to ya.
JUST A NOTE; Milwaukee has had trouble with China manufacturing their products to Milwaukee specs and have even closed some Chinese plants because of it. The rep also stated that the closed Chinese plants were still open, but not by Milwaukee. He believes they are producing knock offs seeing as they have all the info on how to from Milwaukee.
Yep! The problem with going overseas for mfg. So many machinery manufacturers find competitors with the exact same castings, electronics, switches, and even label styles and label positions. Germans, English, Americans were typically masters at innovation. Used to be Japan, but now China, Taiwan, (basically the orient) are masters at copying the innovators. Perhaps it's a cultural thing.Greg
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The saga continues. My second Milwaukee router is performing flawlessly! It purrs like a kitten.I bought the 1/4 inch collet with the router. It came assembled in the nut in reverse. I got it out and reversed it, but the first time I put it into the router, it locked up tight. Had to take it 45 miles to nearest service center where they spent 15 minutes getting it out. They declared it defective and said to return it.The Authorized Milwaukee service tech actually informed me the problem was I over tightened it. He said "don't use a wrench, just tighten the collet 'finger tight'!" I wonder if he actually realizes the router spins a bit at 23,000 RPM. As an aside, he said they had never worked on a router. This testifies to the reliability of the 5625. His "finger tight" comment also testifies to his intelligence on power tools.SO:I sent the collet back to Amazon. They promptly exchanged it for another. The second one was assembled bass ackwards too!I called the Milwaukee technical assistance number. When I told him I had a
collet assembled in reverse, he immediately said "You bought it from Amazon." YEP! He thought that problem was worked out, but they were getting truckloads in from the factory assembled in reverse. Darned Chinese Factory.Greg••••••• Exo 35:30-35
Edited 6/15/2009 10:11 pm by Cincinnati
Greg,
The problem is not in the factory in China it's back here in the states. The engineer who designed the collet doesn't know how to draw in Chinese. They will end up having to just have the Chinese come over here and do the designing too. We've given them everything else! Lets see they have screwed up dog food, toys, plywood, drywall, now there working on Routers. Pretty good track record! Lets hope they don't screw up Steele City Tools as well. Oh I forgot they also control our economy now, can't forget that.
Wait till that tech who thinks a collet should only be finger tight see's what happens with a bit when it come out of a router running full speed. A couple of years ago my wife interrupted me as I was changing bits. I set my wrenches down to take care of what ever it was she couldn't wait for, then came back to what I was doing and forgot to tighten the collet. Luckily I had my heavy Carhart bibs on, when that bit came loose it tore through two layers of fabric and a chunk of flesh as it bounced off me. I hate to think of what would have happened had I only had a T-shirt on.
Taigert
No matter where you go, there are people who will try to game the system to get an edge. People do it here in the US, too. It's just that we have more systems in place to catch them at it. Unscrupulous producers in China added toxic melamine to pet food to make it look like it had more protein. A century ago, unscrupulous producers in the US would add toxic copper nitrate to pickles to make them greener and therefore more appealing to consumers. Those kinds of practices were the major impetuses for the establishment of the Food and Drug Administration.
Don't kid yourself into thinking that manufacturers in the US would do any better under the same social and regulatory conditions as in China. The reason you can buy lead-free toys and formaldehyde-free plywood is because of the existence of the Consumer Products Safety Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, FDA, etc. And it is estimated that OSHA has saved over 75,000 lives in its less than 40-year existence.
-Steve
Thank you, Steve, for your post above. While I will not buy food (pet or otherwise) grown/made in China, I get irritated with the "they screw everything up," paintbrush statements like the one you were responding to. China has no corner on greediness. The tool companies (WMH, Steel City, etc., etc.) dictate quality control, and it has improved considerably over the past 20 years from what I've read and seen.
You're right that nobody has a corner on greediness, just mechanisms to help prevent harm.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
FG,
It was I who took the paint brush to the products that come out of China. I have just found that there QC is not to the level we are used to here in North America. Steve and you both have valid points. It is up to to the Company who contracts the job out to the factories in China to make sure the QC is up to the level they require.
A number of years ago the company I worked for had a contract with the Chinese government and sent a number of us over there for about 6 weeks. I loved the time we were given to see there country. I seen a lot of their rich culture and some amazing feats such as The Great Wall of China. But I also seen young people who work like robots in the factories, They have a very different way of looking at life than we do here. The corporate boss's look at the people like machines, not like humans. They work them hard and harshly, if they are injured or sick they are just put aside and replaced and its without feeling. I guess in some ways this is what tainted my outlook on there way of doing business. I seen a man break his leg on a construction site where why were working and he was treated as if he had hurt himself on purpose. He was left to fend for himself. Bottom line I guess is that it is a different culture, that I find hard to understand.
I'm sure that things will change in China seen as they are trying to compete in a global economy instead of within there own borders. The government still has really has tight rules about how much the people are allowed to learn about our way of life. Everything the people see or hear is very tightly censored, to maintain control of the population. When we were there we were assigned what I call handlers, their job was to control what we seen, took pictures of and who we communicated with. You would think that with things like the Internet they would catch up fast. But even the ownership of computers and access to the Internet are very strictly regulated.
Any how if I offended anyone that was not my intent, I apologize.
Taigert
"They work them hard and harshly, if they are injured or sick they are just put aside and replaced and its without feeling."
Just like the way it used to be in the US. A century ago, nine-year-old "nipper boys" were an expendable resource in coal mines. They worked 12-hour shifts doing nothing but opening and closing airlock doors, and were not infrequently crushed to death by loaded coal cars. Other young boys in the mines lost limbs picking stones out of the coal as it moved past on conveyor belts. For girls, sweatshops--explicitly designed to ensure that the workers could never become empowered to control their own fates--were the norm.
The history of China parallels that of any other developing nation; they're further behind along the curve, but also progressing at a very rapid pace.
-Steve
Hi, Taigert. I complete understand your feelings about what you saw during your visit to China. It's comforting that at least you've actually been there, unlike the vast, vast majority of people who slam other countries without a iota of understanding of their cultures <insert sardonic grin here>.
I, too, am disconcerted by the lack of respect human beings get in many developing countries, China included. Unfortunately, in some respects, they all want what we've had for a hundred years or more in this country -- great economic success and the benefits, pitfalls and damages that come along with it. IMHO, while the government and other powerful people in China are dispicable in many respects (human rights, lack of oversight to prevent harm via products, etc.), the country is not the BoogieMan that is responsible for all the ills of the world. (US oil corporations, for instance, are far from squeaky-clean in the way the conduct business in other countries).
OK, sorry, off my soapbox now. All's well, ROFL!
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
China is the maquiladora of the current era. Previously, it was Taiwan, Mexico, Japan, you name it. Eventually (pretty quickly, probably), wages in China will rise to the point that some other country becomes the favored location for this sort of thing.
The one constant in all of this is the demand from those who have money (i.e., us). As long as we keep looking for the lowest prices, and don't look too closely at how those prices are achieved, this model of production will thrive.
-Steve
I agree.. when I was a kid my father looked a the bottom of a coffee cup my mom bought and it said... Made in Japan. Without a word he poured the coffee in the sink and threw the cup in the garbage can. And don't leave India and Indonesia off your list.
I know that some Chinese factories are already pushing for higher labor rates. What I don't know is if the worker will recieve any of that benefit if the buyer gives in. Frankly.. at my age I am not going to worry about it and leave it to the younger generation to un-ravel the mysteries. :>)
Sarge..
who is now off to the shop where thinking is not about world issues
"Eventually (pretty quickly, probably), wages in China will rise to the point that some other country becomes the favored location for this sort of thing." It's already started, saw a news segment a few months ago showing a new factory in another Asian country (memory sucks, not sure which one), located there because it was cheaper to move production of already existing line than to keep producing it in China.
Interesting segment on NPR this morning about the first summit of BRIC leaders -- countries which are "four rising stars of the global economy" -- Brazil, Russia, India and China.
"As long as we keep looking for the lowest prices, and don't look too closely at how those prices are achieved, this model of production will thrive." Yes, it's true. Strangely enough, there would be a downside to refusing to buy, for example, Chinese goods -- it would set back the advancement of the workers, even though they are repressed in many ways. On the bright side, this huge financial melt-down, which is primarily US-created, may lead to better balance as far as the Chinese economy is concerned, as it is causing them to produce more for their own population and less for foreign countries, if I'm understanding things correctly.
IMHO, if we want to be conscientious about worker's rights and ethical business practices, not to mention proliferation of cheap disposable (read: cr*ppy) goods, then look to WalMart and stop shopping there. I rarely, rarely go to WM -- only when I can't find a product elsewhere and figure there's a good chance they will have it.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Taigert,It's a blessing you or someone who might have been in the room with you were not seriously hurt. My children often want to be with me when I'm in the shop. Many if not most of us have had close calls because of our own negligence. We do have to be on our A-Game every minute. Just like a surgeon - one mistake could leave a person mangled or worse.I have no idea why that technician said to only tighten the collet finger tight. I should have been all over him for that comment. I walked away shaking my head thinking I'll never be back to this repair center.Greg
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Greg,
That happened at least ten years ago, it scared my enough that I still think about it when ever I get near a router.
Taigert
Just to let you know, they have screwed up plywood and sheetrock. I've done a lot of remodeling in the gulf coast after hurricane ike. Homes are being sheetrocked with panels that smell like fish and start to mildew after about six weeks. The good deals that were gotten on cabinet grade plywood are only glued about ten inches around the edges and if you try to cut doors out of it, the lamination comes apart. If you cut it in low light, you can see sparks. All from the great Asian world.
Strange... mine came with the 1/2 and 1/4 years ago but... it was manufactured in the U.S. at that time. Things change I suppose as I tigthen my collect and never had a problem. On the Milwaukee you can losen with the wrench.. then turn by hand and it has a second catch point you use the wrench to loosen before it frees to hand turn again. At least on the U.S. models.
Sarge..
They still have the self releasing collet design. It works well. The 5625 only comes with a 1/2" collet. The 1/4" is now an accessory.Greg
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Things change but... I would also get a second opinion on tightening that collet finger tight or.. wear a flak jacket (which I would prefer not too as I have worn one more than I care to in my life) until you know the bit won't spin or launch from the collet. Know what I mean? :>)
Sarge..
I have a second opinion ... Mine!Greg
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I'm not sure that is an opinion.. more like common sense. :>)
Sarge...
Greg, as you go through life you will discover that the world is full of dip s#*@%'s Hang in there. Everyone seems to be eat up with a lack of common sense and don't really care to change as long as their paycheck is on time.
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