So I went out and bought the cheapest 9" grinder I could find, a Clarke one from Machine Mart. £32 iirc. Used it for the first time today. It cut, or, not really cut, scored, around half inch deep, 15 slabs. Then it stopped. And wouldnt restart. It is going back when I go past there - any idea if they are OK with returns? I've got the receipt and whatever it came with, but no box.
I wouldnt mind if I was ramming it into the slabs, but I wasnt, I was very lightly running it along, doing multiple runs to cut down. maybe that was the problem, the motor running 'too' long. Anyway, Screwfix will be getting a visit soon to get the Dewalt one on offer at £70. Alan.
Doesn't matter. The thing isn't fit for purpose. This equates to a total refund plus some compensation for the cost of doing the return. On a £35 transaction, something like £5 in cash or vouchers would be reasonable.
That would be a much better proposition. There is a wide range of choice in quality 230mm angle grinders in the £70-80 bracket.
Any 9" grinder should sail through 15 slabs. Sounds like it's naff but, if it's your first grinder, check there isn't a reset button, and that the disc hadn't worked loose
No, I've just been out to the van, and it stinks of burnt electrics from the grinder. It was doing quite well before it stopped, it vibrated a lot at first, but after 3 or 4 slabs it seemed to smooth out a lot, and was doing OK. Even by cheap tool standards, this one is pretty shit - I was taking it easy with it, no cutting so hard that it was slowing the motor down. Alan.
Got a feeling that was Ferm rather than a Clarke, but same principle....
Angle grinders can get quite hot mind you - especially when you fill them with masonry dust, so if you have not got one with a motor rated for continuous running then you probably don't want to be cutting for more than 10 mins at a time without a rest to let it cool.
So it's back to the crappy motors issue then isn't it.....
The poor mechanical performance of cheap routers in terms of results out vs. electric power in is well known - e.g. the 2000W models that deliver substantally less than a 1600W quality product.
All of that lost energy has to go somewhere. I'm surprised that the suppliers haven't claimed that the products keep the user's hands warm in winter.
I would say that a 230mm that can't deliver continuous operation or close to it isn't fit for purpose.
One might buy a 115-125mm model to do small work that likely is in short bursts, but a 230mm one is pretty much going to be destined for heavy work like paving and the like and implicit in that is longer periods of running.
Angle grinders are one of the few tools where the motor runs near full speed all the time so a fan should be able to keep it cool. My cheap angle grinder has been going for years but I don't think I would run it for long without checking how hot it was.
A drill would need a separate fan to cool it if it were being used to drive screws all the time, which some may have? I see some models as saying fan cooled..
probably not, I think Ferm are manufactured in Holland,
Well either that, or cooling arrangements, or probably (in this case) a defective grinder in the first place.
The mechanical output of even decent tools will often be a little over half the electrical input power, so a 2kW grinder will probably need to dissipate at about 1kW in order to keep cool. That is quite a rate of loss.
DeWalt usually publish both figures for their tools which makes for interesting reading sometimes:
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All of that lost energy has to go somewhere. I'm surprised that the
It could at least make the tea!
Much depends on the nature of the work. Cutting most masonry items will usually by its nature be an intermittent operation, unless you are cutting a long run of slabs in situ. You are probably at most risk of overheating it when grinding or wire brushing etc.
It is probably worth mentioning that the grinder in this case was probably just faulty in the first place. Another example of the same might well cope fine, since the endurance of this one seems unrealistically poor even for a budget one. Grinders do have the advantage of getting fan cooling at near full speed for all of their operation.
If you look at the Axminster budget (white) grinders, they get designated as "trade" (as opposed to "industrial" for the branded ones) which suggests reasonably intensive use ought to be acceptable.
You make an interesting point there, now I've been using angle grinders for many years but the one thing I refuse to do is wear gloves when doing so (I don't consider I have full grip and thus control if I do so, also many on/off switches are not easily operable), I've often had the motors get rather hot but I've never burnt-out any but colleagues who do wear gloves have burnt out angle grinders...
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