another reason not to purchase a warranty

[smeggy345o]

Just spoke to melco. I purchased my machine the end of last may. I need this little wire that fits inside where you screw your arms in. My machine is under warranty. The part needed is called a heli-coil. $110 and guess what - it is not covered by warranty. Even though it is called a machine part, they tell me it is considered a consumable. How ridiculous? Why bother to buy a warranty? And who do they think we are - the us government who will pay too much for items? Talk about overcharging! This is crazy. I was considering purchasing the warranty at the end of the month, but not now! - mary

[Debbie Garifi]

Is it for an XT? Is it the insert that the screws for the arms go into on the X carriage. First when I described it to the Tech via Melco they told me it was the Helicoil and I ordered 10. They came and that was not the correct part. If it is part #32514 they are $1.20 each.
Mine ended up to be part 33722 and they didn't charge me any more for those instead.

Debbie Garifi

[smeggy345o]

No - it is for a 2004 Big Red. They gave me no part number, just told me it was $110.00 which I think is crazy for a little piece of wire. It is the insert for the hole that the screw screws into. Without it the screw just drops in without being able to be screwed in. I tried to find it in the parts cd and couldn't find it. I know it is not listed in melcomart.com. I am searching the parts cd to see it but can't find it yet. What do you call the part of the machine that the the screws screw into? Anyone know? - mary

[smeggy345o]

OK - I found what the part goes into - It is the x-carriage machined. But the parts manual doesn't even show a coil that fits inside the holes for the thumbscrews. I finally found it on Melco-mart. And there are 2 parts, one is the helicoil insert and the other is the helicoil assembly. Do you think they told me the wrong part? When I spoke to her on the phone and she told me it was $110.00 she spelled it for me and I told her that I could not find it on the web site and she agreed that it wasn't there. So now I go and find it myself. Does not give you much confidence in them. So I ownder which I really need? - mary

[Debbie Garifi]

Is it part#32514? If so I have 10 of them that do not go to my XT that you can have.
Rod or Sharon Springer can help answer this if he is available..........

[Rod or Sharon]

There was a transition from the "Heli-coil" to a steel insert in the X carriage. I cannot remember exactly when this transition took place.

The heli-coil become damaged from over-tightening of the thumb screws. Tighten them too tight and the heli-coil compresses, kind of like a Chinese finger trap and then when trying to unscrew the thumb screw it just gets tighter and usually results in stripped threads and damaged heli-coils.

The Heli-coil takes a special tool that is included in the price of the kit so the tool and several heli-coils goes for $110.00. It would be nye impossible to replace a heli-coil without the aid of this little tool. When techs take their training and we are required to buy all of our little gadjets to work on the machines, we get a sizeable sum wrapped up in tools....just another reason why it seems a tech call can be expensive. You just got a small taste of it with this little gadjet.

A person could replace the X-carriage with the new improved steel insert one for not a great deal more, altho you need to be mechanically inclined to do this as there are important adjustments to get the roller guides set right.

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer

[smeggy345o]

Thanks to everyone that helped me out with my problem. Just an update on my heli-coil problem. After reading the tech bulletin stating that there should be a free replacement of the helicoil and kit, I emailed and then called melco. They still insisted that it was a consumable part. I asked why I did not receive the tool to replace it when I purchased the machine like I received all the other tools if it was a consumable part. No reason was given except that we did not receive ALL the tools. I was told that purchasing a refurbished machine is like buying a used car. But a refurbished machine is supposed to be "refurbished" unlike buying a car that is "as is". I also mentioned to them that obviously they had problems with the helicoil and x-carriage since they developed the kit and also since they changed the design of the x-carriage to prevent this problem. They said this had nothing to do with my problem - that they did not need to fix this problem when they refurbished the machine. I asked why they replaced the thread sensor and one other thing when they refurbished it but did not replace the x-carriage. He told me that I would not know if the thread sensor was replaced, but I do know just by looking at it that it was the new sensor. The end result was that I agreed with myself and he agreed with himself and Melco. Of course no reason was given as to why there was a Melco bulletin telling tech support to send a free heli-coil kit to anyone with this problem but I was told I needed to pay $110. But they did end up sending me one at no cost. Whew! I am happy this is over. One suggestion to everyone with an older Big Red ....make sure that the thumbs screw is going into the x-carriage perfectly straight when you put your WACF driver on and that you do not tighten the thumb screws too tight into the x-carriage.- mary