Dirty Secrets of Chinese Spindles For CNC Routers (400W DC Spindle Teardown)

In my previous video I mentioned that my 400W DC spindle had died leading to me picking up an upgrade. In this video I tear that spindle down to see what went wrong and to try and address the problem.
Unfortunately, I didn't tear down the spindle soon enough! The poorly manufactured spindle ruined the motor controller that came installed with my system.
For other videos about DIY cnc mill/router upgrades check out the rest of my channel and consider subscribing as I am currently working on a few new upgrades!
previous video:
110V 1.5kW Spindle With VFD Setup Guide and Testing
• 110V 1.5kW Spindle Wit...
cnc 3018
diy cnc router
diy cnc machine
cnc router machine
wood cnc machine
wood carving machine
hobby cnc router

[@vasyapupken]

it is built like that because it is not a spindle. it's just a regular DC motor with a collet attachment )

[@quelixfenzer5108]

I have a selfbuilt CNC with the 500W version of your spindle. I don´t know if you saw the pricing on those since you probably bought it as a kit but you get these for 15€ plus another 15 for shipping to Germany on Ali Express. I think it´s crazy that they can even sell anything usable at this price even though it has many flaws. Your teardown helped me a lot since I needed to change the bearings on mine since it was packed with dust and i didn´t want to wait for a new spindle from China. Thank you!

[@MD-hu3il]

Wow, I knew it would be inexpensive but not that cheap! The spindle i swapped to costs a couple hundred (with the vfd) but for me it was worth being able to take more aggressive cuts. Anyway I'm glad I could help!

[@reaper060670]

I think these spindles are basic as heck for engraving bro. I just had opmne delivered in the post and I k ow by the lack of manual or any information booklet it's going to become a nightmare. I have a cheap as chips "alleged" 800W palm router as well which I might try. It's just another cheap TOPSHAK router that cost 30 euros. I tried using it last night to test it out by hand and it was having huge difficulty making any form of cut deeper than 3mm.. LMAO.. I think the moral of my story is stop buying cheap shit from China.. haha! oh and believe me I've bought a terrible amount of shit from there over the last few years.. \o/ weh hey! Laters my bro and best of luck with it all in 2023

[@reaper060670]

@@MD-hu3il I meant HAPPY NEW YEAR bro..

[@Teklectic]

This is great! I just bought a similar spindle for my homemade CNC and I can see some improvements I'd like to do right off the hop, thanks for sharing!

[@MD-hu3il]

Thanks for the comment man, im glad I could help!

[@basaal]

What do you expect from a 400 watt spindle, costing maybe 30 dollars, and using a large router bit like that large? Have you ever tried to pull a 6 ton truck on a hill?

[@reaper060670]

Brilliant job mate.. I just bought one of these generic alleged 500W spindles for my own home built CNC. Ok so I haven't built it yet but this is a bit of a downer tbh. I know iI'm going to have the same issues as u have had but my trouble is I wouldn't know where tyo begin to try and fix any issues. The upside to all of this is I get to mess about with these cheap ass spindles and most likely learn a few new skills, LMAO, maybe!?! Thanks for the information my bro.. Appreciate these types of videos bcos they help guys like me hugely. I'm basically a dummie when it comes to this stuff but YT is a great platform for learning new skills.. Click and play and do if u have anything about u as a man.. Tanks bro. Have a great Xmas and all the best for 2023.. Please God no new issues with the new spindle and VFD.. I have one question if u don't mind me asking please mate??? Q. What is the difference between 1 phase and 3 phase VFD's??? The reason I ask is bcos I bought a cheap TOPSHAK 800W Palm Router and I want to use it as my CNC Router but somebody told me to get a VFD.. Do i need a VFD for a small home built CNC of about 600mm in width and 1000mm in length? I picked up a 3 phase VFD before I knew there were other types like the 1 phase. Dumb I k ow but I got it for a great price and took it. It's brand new and all that stuff but why do I really need one? What does a VFD actually do bro? I guess I could google it but it#s much better for me that I see a video of one being set up. I'm that type of learner. I wrote my 1st ever program at 04:00 this morning.. I'm in the process of learning from YT about that too.. LMAO.. YT is a brilliant place to learn from.... That is provided the guy ur learning from actually knows and understands the information he's putting out there.. LOL tHANKS AGAIN FOR THIS VIDEO PAL.. BTW Also my apologies for such a stupidly long comment.. Take it easy bro

[@jpa3141]

Late comment, but for me it was the spindle control FET in power supply that burned out.

[@gerhardbotha7336]

I’d say 1500W is a bit more than “a little bit more power” compared to the 400W! Nice contribution. Thanks

[@agrippa2k469]

Best to use a fly cutter. In fact you can use a 1/4 shank 1-1/2 spoilboard tool. Just cut off three of the teeth (yes dremel them off so you only have one tooth). Or you could cut a slot in it and attach a lathe arm to get a 3" diy fly cutter. I can walk you through it, would love to see you do a video and it would be helpful for a lot of CNC hobbyists.

[@MD-hu3il]

What kind of tool would you start with to make the fly cutter? Sounds cool

[@omsingharjit]

Is brushed universal motor good for Cnc Operation?

[@omsingharjit]

This is my copy paste comment from others video ----- Help me to Figure it out ..! I have my new router of cazar 550 watt 30000 rpm router with similar metallic body but the problem is its body heats up very quickly to uncomfortable temperature even in just 2 minutes of without any load run , i measured while running it for 2 minutes without any load i noted it's heat star coming from the location of its spindle body sides and in 2 min it was 55 C + and in 15 minutes it around somewhere 63 C of temperature ! Can you tell me if it's Normal or not ! Or may be it's because of aluminum Boody conducting heat inside out efficiently ! But i am not sure can you tell by comparing with yours ?

[@markshort9098]

Good info on the brushes problem, I'm just wiring up one of these to use as an I.d grinder to repair crappy set of Chinese r8 collets and now it looks like I need to repair Chinese crap before I can repair other Chinese crap.. at least the spindle runout is better than the Chinese r8 collets that I got, they have over 10 times the runout

[@aniketlandge3826]

I get actually one idea for spindal alternative I thin I can use angle grinder as alternative for spindal motor With some modifications With more HP power

[@MD-hu3il]

The right angle kind? I wonder if they put out more power than the routers some guys use

[@JohnHoranzy]

I hope my 2.2KW water cooled spindle is built better than this. Thank you for this well done tear down video.

[@mattivirta]

have lot better, and different better bearing, but spindle cost too lot more.

[@marutiroma6295]

Hi, can you tell me how to remove the ER 11, not just the collet, from my Spindle 500? A thousand thanks.

[@arsyadtech]

Like spindle in my home. Nice job

[@MD-hu3il]

Thanks!

[@billgilbride7972]

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, design and market a chinese spindle upgrade solution, hopefully it involves having to turn something or route something. A crappy motor on good bearings will do what it will do, but a good motor on crappy bearing will always cut like crap. Nicely done wth the internal internals investigation. Seriously, an upgrade for the high end spindle, if they have shit parts, wld be a welcome sight or site or psyite!?!?

[@digitaldave7406]

I usually don't watch Autopsies... but I made it through this one...

[@MD-hu3il]

🤣

[@MariusHeier1]

Great content. Subscribed.

[@overbuiltautomotive1299]

epoxy the windings and rebalance redoing it all skf or koyo bearings

[@lords2112]

I'm sure by now you know anything you buy from China is rebuildable a d cheaper then USA.... Anyway.. thanks for the invite...) Side note... It looks like they put that rubber around the bearings, as a dual purpose thing... The higher the spin the more that bearing shakes... The rubber also tames that down . Besides holding the bearing in place ... Remember metal to metal always has noise and friction....Peace.i4i.

[@mattozx6rr]

Lol and biting my cheak here. Anything you buy from china should be considered a hobbyist grade at best or a get you by until a quality part can be sourced from elsewhere. Most Chinese components are stolen engineering from other nations that has been redesigned to incorporate the cheapest components available to get by. Good quality spindles dont fail or require a rebuild for years. They also dont come from China. They come from Germany, Italy and the United States. Buyer be ware. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. Cheap in this stuff is just that.

[@jesolitojunio4074]

Hi sir how about the spindle is not rotate or work?

[@traderbareng3687]

i facing a problem with mu new spindle .. 2.2 kw with inverter .. i bought for a month ad when i started at first all fine ..i set everything corecctly ... wireng , program and etc.. i keep the spindle .. for two week cause i need to fi my contruction for my new cnc toys.. and sunndenly .. my spindle don want to spinning . ony the sound come up but nor spin ta all.. an then i try to use hand and the spindle spinning like usual ..and ide to resolve this problem .. thank you for the video

[@mattivirta]

if use VDF have possiple VDF setting have some fail.

[@aniketlandge3826]

Really nice video

[@garylarson6386]

yes this is just a dc motor with an er11 adapter heat shrunk on , instead of screwing around trying to improve junk invest in a 1.5kw 3 phase 4 bearing inverter driven spindle

[@netroy]

he already has a 1.5kw vfd spindle. see his other videos. some people simply enjoy tinkering, and that is okay.

[@MD-hu3il]

Lol scary how accurate his suggestion was!

[@mattivirta]

@@netroy but cost lot more too, chinese spindle cost good 800W lot better than this video 400W 120$ and 1,5KW VDF cost 400-600$ all hobby user not have budget waste lot money big spindle.

[@digitaldave7406]

Those brushes are areal crap out by the manufacturer. The battery in their give ashit must have gone bad..

[@lbulborama14]

Interesting to see the rubber around the bearing. I suspected all ready my 500 watt spindle has the same problem. See this video i made kzbin.info/www/bejne/h4DJi2B9gNRoeMk

[@Juan-nm4gp]

It's weird that he won't let me translate the language, my English is terrible.

[@MD-hu3il]

Lol is that a setting on my end? Let me check. I'm pretty new to making videos

[@Juan-nm4gp]

@@MD-hu3il Thank you

[@djoleat]

what is say, i dont understed really. Is it great motor, or bullshit ?

[@martinconnelly1473]

Not a good motor

[@woutmoerman711]

Reasonable but not good as a motor, but really bad as a spindle.

[@MD-hu3il]

Yep!

[@mattivirta]

@@MD-hu3il if buy spindle buy lot biggest 800W and 1,5KW -2,2KW water cool spindle all have made lot better, bearing have real spindle bearing, not worst axial bearing only, and made lto lot better used VDF speed controller, but price have lot high more too, cheap chinese buy less than 120$ and good 1,5KW water cooler whit VDF cost 400$-600$

[@tonyn9632]

Please don’t complain! If you want good products. By American!

[@MD-hu3il]

I wish I had that kind of money! I just bought a pricier Chinese one 😁

[@mattivirta]

hahaha usa not can made any good stuff, only good what i has use usa manufacture parts has american classic cars, have good engine V8 long life, strong, little weak power have / weight, same problem harley-davidson bikes, lot weight but not lot power. i working sometime in usa metal work and usa factorys used 1930 th tools, totally worst and heavy and shit tools all have. many looking my battery power drill newer not has see before, and say not can drill metal good but we test and my drill has lot lot lightweight use and lot strongest and fasten drill holes than usa old shit heavy weight drills. usa factory use 1930 old tools then all europe uses lot lot better tools ewery work.

[@swapnilmankame]

don't Americans have a history of making the most unreliable products? including Airplanes?

[@bjbaughcum03]

this sounds made up to me... :)

[@MD-hu3il]

Shhh don't tell anyone!