Vicmarc Chuck Warranty/Recall

Re: Little Scary

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In Jersey

>Brian,

You have any info on where to send the units for correction in the US? I didn't buy mine from CS and can't find the receipt to ID who the dealer was. My slides are, in fact black on the ends.

I've e-mailed Vicmarc direct, but would like to know the cause of the recall, and how schnooks like me who loose their records get the things serviced.

Thanks

Mark

Re: Little Scary

Brian McKearney

>Unfortunately, I'm not sure as to the reason for the recall. The letter that I received came directly from Craft Supplies/Woodturner's Catalog and it appears that Vicmarc gave them the details and Craft Supplies/Woodturner's Catalog is doing the warranty/recall work directly for customers who bought their chucks from them. I'm not sure if they will service chucks bought elsewhere or not, but it may be worth a try.

Re: Vicmarc Chuck Warranty/Recall

Turnenman

>I too have sent my vicmarc in for repair.. they did not say exactly what they did but it had to do with the slids on each jaw.

Turnenman

Re: C'mon Vicmarc . . .!

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In Jersey

>I e-mailed them with just that question (who, how & when). Still waiting for a reply. Since that's my only chuck, I'm stuck |;-{

M

Re: More than Little Scary

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In Jersey

>Brian,

Found out the reason for the recall, and id'd mine as one of the "defective ones." Seems that Vicmarc changed to a harder alloy for the slides but may have gone too far as the slides can beome brittle and snap in use (I'd assume most likely when fully extended). Since I only have one chuck, guess most of my "hobby" is very much on hold 'till I can get mine repaired.

Anybody know the name / address contact info of the Vicmarc US rep? Can't hardly expect CS or Packard or someone else to service the unit if I can't establish that I bought it from them.

M

Ask

Rod Peterson -- Ormond Beach

>> Can't hardly expect CS or Packard or someone else to service the unit if I can't establish that I bought it from them.

Since it's warranty service, they're probably fully reimbursed by Vicmarc, so it shouldn't matter to them whether the chuck was sold by them or not. That's my speculation, but to end all doubt, why not contact them and ask?

Rod

Re: I Did

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In Jersey

>CS Tech, to his credit, sort of offered to do the repair on my chuck, but I didn't want to send it to a vendor who I was sure I hadn't bought it from, and have them incur the expenses for shipping, repair and such without Vicmarc's authorization. That might get my chuck fixed, but wouldn't be fair to CS.

Did, however, also call Packard (they're closer to me) and Lo & Behold, their records established that I bought the chuck from them. But, they hadn't heard about the recall yet. Brad Packard just called me back to let me know that he's contacting Vicmarc directly, and, one way or the other, my chuck will get taken care of. One more reason I continue to deal with Brad & Company.

Thanks Rod

And especially Thanks to Brian for the Heads Up!!

Mark Mandell

Re: Vicmarc Speaks - Whew!l

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In Jersey

>Looks like Brian and those who bought their chucks from CS may be only ones effected. Just got the following response from Vicmarc to my e-mail:

"Hi Mark

There was a batch of faulty backing jaws and the people who may have received these were contacted by Craft Supplies and advised of this. If your chuck jaws have not caused you any problem then they are not part of this recall.

Regards

Linda Morton

For and On behalf of Vicmarc"

Thanks Linda (if you're reading this) for the fast response.

Mark Mandell

Re: New Update

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In Jersey

>Just got a call from Brad Packard with what appears to be the final story.

It seems that a number of jaw slides in the VM-120 chucks were unevenly hardened or over-treated making the scroll gear teeth too brittle and subject to breakage when the chuck is tightened. This usually occurred when the chucks were first being used after purchase, and the result was the chuck would jam on the broken teeth.

IMPORTANT!! THIS WAS NOT A SITUATION INVOLVING WORK-PIECES DISMOUNTING or FLYING JAWS AND CHUCK PARTS or ANYTHING COMPROMISING OPERATOR SAFETY.

Thanks Brad Packard!

M

Re: New Update

Brian McKearney

>Thanks Mark for all the extra info. To the best of my knowledge, even though I got a letter from CS, I don't think that my chuck is affected as the "jaw slides" are not black. Just to be sure, I'll give CS a call tomorrow to verify.

I was a bit confused, as the letter uses the term "jaw slides", however the chuck manual doesn't mention this item. I assume that the "jaw slides" are the same as the "backing jaws"? Perhaps someone could clarify?

Anyway, mine are the same "silver" color as the rest of the chuck, and the letter claims that it will be easy to identify a faulty chuck as the "jaw slides" are be black in color.

Re: New Update

Kirk DeHeer

>I have seen the black slides and you will know theme if you have them with out a dought

Re: Vicmarc Chuck Warranty/Recall

RonZ

>I had a Mitsubishi once and was proud that it didn't have recalls like Ford and their flipovers or brakes won't work or may cause fire, etc. Then I found out what they did with their recalls....shred them. Better a recall than to not be informed.

Re: Vicmarc Chuck Warranty/Recall

Brian McKearney

>I called Craft Supplies this morning, and the recalled chucks have jaw slides ("backing jaws" in the owner's manual) that have black ends instead of the nickel color that matches the rest of the chuck and jaws.

Just wanted to pass this info along in case anyone needs to determine if their chuck is in question...

--- Brian