I’ll keep this brief. But I’m beyond upset and disappointed.
I’ve had my machine for about 5 months - it’s been down for about half that time with different issues.
First, was a defective limit switch, the back right wasn’t being read. I was sent multiple boards and harnesses to fix, the fix was to set a ‘fake’ limit on the machine before it hit the physical limit switch.
So this issue never got fixed, but the machine can function.
Most recently, my VFD spindle wont start - I was sent a replacement board, that took around a week to arrive. I installed it today - still no change.
I bought a Makita router as a stopgap - as is what I’ve been reading on these boards.
I was under no illusions that CNC was easy - but as someone relatively new to this equipment, I find that the way this ‘Pro’ machine is advertised as ‘plug and play’ was deceptive at best. I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone having to recode and reinstall equipment as - all as instructed by Carbide.
I’m paying rent on a unit to house the 4x4 machine, I payed for every possible upgrade there was - software included - and I’m still getting nowhere.
I respect the customer services folk who I’ve been in way too much contact with, but I find a lot of their responses involve me shipping an item back or getting an item shipped to me.
I’m just frustrated, tired of calling support, broke, and I genuinely don’t trust this machine I’m using as a laptop stand to write this post.
My question is more for the community here: What would you do in this situation?
It looks like your last email ticket was in August, before we knew what was going on (we were still in debugging mode). I’m not sure of the contents of the phone call from Oscar. I’ll have someone open a new thread and get you taken care of.
My last ticket definitely shouldn’t be in August - happy to provide receipts to confirm - but I’d like to handle private business privately.
I’ve already had 2 replacement boards, 2 replacement wire chassis, a replacement VFD control board - and now the whole VFD unit is being replaced.
I’ve got the CNC of Theseus.
Please note that I don’t want all this extra kit - I want a working machine.
My principle concern this point is if I should return the machine, as my worry is when my warrenties expire, will I be SOL with ongoing support and fixes.
As there have been so many so far and I’m 5 months into a 12 month warranty period.
This is what I would like feedback on, and some sort of resolution.
Thanks Will, I’m not accusing anyone of running out the clock - I’m worried about the basic functionality of the machine - given the experience I’ve had with the 5Pro so far.
I’m currently working with support (and have been since purchase) but my issue goes deeper than that - as I hope my messages above convey.
I’m not one to complain - he says complaining in a message board - but I feel I’ve run out of options and have been fundamentally let down by the quality of this ‘pro’ product - and I feel like my messages to support haven’t gotten me any further to a resolution. It’s been months and I’m still chasing bugs - taking me away from time learning, buildings and my personal time.
I don’t want to be writing this - I want to be using this machine to fulfill my pending workorders.
This machine was - and continues to be - a disappointment, and I’m actively concerned about having it central to my ongoing daily business.
My phone number is on file, I would like someone with authority to call me with a proper, final, resolution.
As part of your community question.
Stick with it. You wont find better assistance elsewhere and youre already invested. It will get figured out and you’ll be happy.
Ditto - I came awful close to sending everything back. The save for me was that senior leadership took ownership of the issue and have remedied my situation. In my case, I squeak excessively - so that helps get the grease… I invested in this platform after much research and am too stubborn to be wrong with my choices…
To answer your question, I would stick with it. Swapping to any other machine you will end up with a different set of problems and possibly burn more time.
Carbide3D are a unique company in a variety of ways and I have not come across this blend of pros and cons in a company but overall, even as a non US customer, I feel they are worth sticking with.
They have a good startup company attitude.
You can actually get support.
Designed and built in the west.
They improve products.
Products generally built to last.
They engage with the community.
They will usually give you unpublished specs by email.
The software is pretty good.
Sometimes the customer has to lead the support conversation to get the right fix and sometimes don’t fully read, understand or resolve an issue first time (feels like the customer base is getting too big for support to handle)
Non in-house components are sometimes cheap.
Software bug reports are not transparently prioritised (having an open ticketing system with known, fixed bug and feature request status [logged, accepted, not accepted]).
