So I've got a cheapass ($20) angle grinder that I've had for 5 years now - I don't even remember the brand, but it's still going strong. It sounds like hell, but it works just fine.
A few months back I was away from home, and needed to do some grinding. I went to Home Depot and got an $89 Dewalt angle grinder. I used it to grind some welds on my trailer (about a 30 minute job, probably 5 minutes of that was run time). It's next use was to remove the spring perches on a 14BFF. Halfway through that job the damn motor burned up.
Home Depot won't take it back past 90 days, and the nearest warranty repair center is 100 miles away. I dropped it off at the repair center cuz I was down there on other business, and they told me it'd be at least 2 weeks, at which point I can either pick it up or pay to have it shipped to me.
I fully understand that lemons exist despite the manufacturer, and that any mechnical device can break at any time. It's very hard to avoid a bitter taste on this one, however, given 1) the price I paid initially 2) the fact that I couldn't just get a new grinder swapped (it will certainly cost Dewalt more than [$89-markup] to fix this one) and 3) the additional cost of fuel or shipping to get the damn thing back.
I guess we'll see how it does post-refurb...
A few months back I was away from home, and needed to do some grinding. I went to Home Depot and got an $89 Dewalt angle grinder. I used it to grind some welds on my trailer (about a 30 minute job, probably 5 minutes of that was run time). It's next use was to remove the spring perches on a 14BFF. Halfway through that job the damn motor burned up.
Home Depot won't take it back past 90 days, and the nearest warranty repair center is 100 miles away. I dropped it off at the repair center cuz I was down there on other business, and they told me it'd be at least 2 weeks, at which point I can either pick it up or pay to have it shipped to me.
I fully understand that lemons exist despite the manufacturer, and that any mechnical device can break at any time. It's very hard to avoid a bitter taste on this one, however, given 1) the price I paid initially 2) the fact that I couldn't just get a new grinder swapped (it will certainly cost Dewalt more than [$89-markup] to fix this one) and 3) the additional cost of fuel or shipping to get the damn thing back.
I guess we'll see how it does post-refurb...
I abuse the hell out of it and my friends say im a master of the cut off wheel.. i even left it in the rain for the week. 
