I had a shop put a new cord on my Cyclo

S

Scottwax

New member
Paid $28.52, about twice what it would have cost me to send it back to Cyclo...again. For the extra $14, I had it fixed in less than 30 minutes and the cord is definitely better. It doesn't try to twist like both cords (the original and a replacement) did that Cyclo put on. Plus he left some slack on the wiring in the handle so even if I step on the cord or catch it on something, there is enough play it shouldn't mess up the connections.



The guy works out of a shop at his house, worked for Black and Decker for 30 years. Says the main repairs he makes on power tools is the cord...and he had a trash can from just this week full of them!



:)
 
Don't tell anyone, but I treat all my power tools cords to 303 Aerospace Protectant about once a year. I could swear it makes them more supple and likely to last longer. :)
 
My cyclo is sitting on the workbench, awaiting a new cord. The third plug prong (ground) is missing. Since we've relegated the Cyclo to carpet duty, it works in a wet environment.



It is about the only tool we use that is not double insulated. Go Figure.



Yes, I got a bit of a shock from it the other day...



We'll also double the length of the cord.



Jim
 
Seems like there's a rash of cord issues with Cyclos these days.



ScottWax- Remember the (still OK) cord on the loaner you used? Just think, that was 20-some years old and had suffered greatly under employee abuse..I wonder if they've started cutting a corner there.



How long is your replacement cord?
 
Jim-the first cord I had did the same thing. First I had to wrap it around the handle to get it to work, which was kind of a PITA but liveable. When I unplugged it one day and the ground plug pulled out, that is when I sent it back.



Accumulator-No problems with the one my Optimum distributor loaned me either, although that cord would twist up too.



I really like my Cyclo, I'd hate for something silly like cord issues to keep me from using it.



I am also going to take my first PC to this guy to see if he can fix it. Totally dead. I bought a new one but having an extra would be nice, especially if it doesn't cost too much to repair it.
 
Scottwax said:
I am also going to take my first PC to this guy to see if he can fix it. Totally dead. I bought a new one but having an extra would be nice, especially if it doesn't cost too much to repair it.
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Yeah, having spares is nice, not that you need to go overboard the way I tend to ;)



I'll be interested to hear what's wrong with the PC, none of mine have completely died yet.
 
Probably the cord, when I first bought it, I tended to step on the cord pretty regularly. I repaired it a few times, couldn't get this one to work the last time it died. I went out and bought another one, it isn't like they are that expensive.
 
Well, my cyclo is brand new. The cord is definitely cheap with a (appears to be) piece of shrink wrap around the cord where it go's into the case. This small piece is not shrunk, does not fit properly and is "WAY" to flimsy to be of any value as a strain relief what soever!!

If you take it apart you "Must" have a piece (Big) that they have used to go around the handle, this serves as a non slip surface and possibly to hold the handle together.



Shrink tubing is not and should not be used as a material for a strain relief or as a handle material in my opinion.It is used to basically protect unstressed wire connections but somehow has ended up as cheap material for other uses. It's basic construction is not ment for heavy duty use.



Accumulator is the handle on your older cyclo as I described above or different?



Getting shocked scares the hell out of me. A little shock today could be a big shock tomorrow that leaves you looking at the roots of flowers instead of the bloom, I hope you get my drift!!

Changeling
 
I do not think the shrink wrapping is meant to be strain relief for the cord. Rather it insulates and provides grip for the handle of the machine. The strain relief for the cord is the two inch foam rubber piece right where the cord enters the handle. It is not very stiff, so it does little to reduce bending of the cord. Hopefully me newly replaced cord holds up better than the first one. The failure may have been partly my fault because I was storing the Cyclo in a container that caused the cord to bend sharply near the stress relief part of the plug. I will not be storing the cyclo in that box anymore.
 
[quote name='brwill2005']I do not think the shrink wrapping is meant to be strain relief for the cord. Rather it insulates and provides grip for the handle of the machine.



"The strain relief for the cord is the two inch foam rubber piece right where the cord enters the handle. It is not very stiff, so it does little to reduce bending of the cord."



On mine, the piece you are talking about "Cord enters handle" is "NOT" foam rubber, just a piece of thin tubing that appears to be shrink wrap that has not been shrunk, as I said. The whole cord just flops around loose where it go's into handle.

I agree with you, I don't think it was meant to be a "strain relief either", just look like one! This is Not a cord designed for commercial use by any stretch of the imagination.

Sorry I wasn't clear in my description before, sometimes I get excited and ramble without properly thinking. For what it's worth, all the cord and handle material is "Black". I add this because I have noticed some seem to be of a clear substance.



The piece around the handle has been shrunk. This is probably for a grip which it does rather well, but it can't be pulled off and reapplied, so, you must have this piece if you intend to take the cyclo apart and put a new cord in it. Mine is on there tight as heck!

Changeling
 
Changeling said:
Accumulator is the handle on your older cyclo as I described above or different?
Click to expand...



Both of mine are now the same, as Steve replaced the cord of my old one when it was in for service (not that it ever gave me any trouble over ~20 years even though it looked kinda bad). The shrink wrap on mine is pretty snug though. I can't remember how the older one was before the rebuild.



The guys who sold me my BMW had problems with their Cyclo shocking them..they were living with it (!) the last time I checked, not that *that* would be much consolation to me.



I'd call the vendor. I'm pretty sure that TOL, for instance, would replace it as it was bad right out of the box.
 
The old Cyclos had the clear shrink wrapping. I know what you are talking about with the shrink wrapping not being completely shrunk around the cord. When I replaced my cord and had to replace the shrink wrapping, I noticed that it can not shrink enough to be completely tight on the cord. There is, however, about a two inch piece of foam rubber the actually is contained within the handle and protrudes outside of the handle about two inches. This piece is actually the stress relief piece of the cord. The shrink wrapping does not serve this purpose at all. As far as the shock, either the machine is not grounded properly or the outlet you are using is not ground properly. Seems as if there is lots of issues lately with the Cyclo. Too bad because it is an awesome polisher.
 
brwill2005 said:
The old Cyclos had the clear shrink wrapping. I know what you are talking about with the shrink wrapping not being completely shrunk around the cord. When I replaced my cord and had to replace the shrink wrapping, I noticed that it can not shrink enough to be completely tight on the cord. There is, however, about a two inch piece of foam rubber the actually is contained within the handle and protrudes outside of the handle about two inches. This piece is actually the stress relief piece of the cord. The shrink wrapping does not serve this purpose at all. As far as the shock, either the machine is not grounded properly or the outlet you are using is not ground properly. Seems as if there is lots of issues lately with the Cyclo. Too bad because it is an awesome polisher.
Click to expand...





Wonder why mine doesn't have the foam rubber? Anyway I am going to keep the cyclo, but I am going to have a first class cord put on it with a "working" strain relief.



Changeling
 
Scottwax said:
Paid $28.52, about twice what it would have cost me to send it back to Cyclo...again. For the extra $14, I had it fixed in less than 30 minutes and the cord is definitely better. It doesn't try to twist like both cords (the original and a replacement) did that Cyclo put on. Plus he left some slack on the wiring in the handle so even if I step on the cord or catch it on something, there is enough play it shouldn't mess up the connections.



The guy works out of a shop at his house, worked for Black and Decker for 30 years. Says the main repairs he makes on power tools is the cord...and he had a trash can from just this week full of them!



:)
Click to expand...



Scottwax This is what I want to do, for safety sake if nothing else. What did the guy do about the piece of shrink tubing around the handle, or did you order it and give it to him?

Change
 
I just got my Cyclo in as well and do see what all your postings are about now as well.

Mine is exactly described as brwill with the shrink/insulating part of the handle not having enough *shrink* properties to cover the strain relief. This would be my only design flaw complaint itself as it just looks cheap-underlooked design ;-)



I took a quick browse on the book and there a blurb about how the heads need to be in a certain position when you open/close/adjust the casing as that is what keeps the machine balanced.





Heh....maybe when it get's warmer, I'll do a DIY mod and add one of those Milwaukee quick connects ------if I could finaggle how it could be done ;-)
 
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