Log splitters

[stdsch40]

Anyone interested in a true story about log splitter repair?
First person that says yes I'm interested wins and the story gets posted.

 

[RedMF40]

Yes, I’m interested.

 

[stdsch40]

I'm having some difficulty with the moderators not allowing some words o-mine.
Trying again...
Hydraulic-Electric log splitter repair

So my son’s father in-law gave me a non-working log splitter a few years ago.

I thought I could get it working again since I consider myself a bit clever (at times).

I could get the motor to turn only if I first spun it by hand at the electric motor fan.

I also had a bunch of logs sitting that I wanted split. Always done by splitting axe previously.

Looked the model up on line and found that many people complained about the same exact problem. They all said it was the starting capacitor. And, ‘that world famous on line retailer’ that sells everything had the exact replacement for the ‘burnt out’ starting capacitor.

All the comments said...’works great, problem solved’. After a few attempts at replacing the capacitor with other ones of similar capacitance I had laying around, but not exactly the same capacitance, it was still a no go. So I bought one of the exact type from the on line retailer.

It came a week later and I put it in place...NO GO, again. $25 wasted because it was listed as ‘no refunds’.

The logs were still sitting ready for me with the axe. But I had a ‘log splitter’ sitting in my shop too.

Well, after careful consideration, I figured I had nothing to lose on the hydraulic-electric splitter and tore it apart, motor first. I read what ever I could find on line regarding this very common model log splitter, found nothing helpful at all. Lots of info on how to use it, precautions, warnings, where not to operate it, but nothing on how to repair it.

When I opened up the motor I found that the wires going to the motor ‘starting windings’ were broken, that's why the motor would start if I manually spun it first. Actually the wires were corroded through. Easy fix I thought...got the soldering iron out and proceeded to repair the broken wires. NO GO. The wires were not made of copper so the solder wouldn’t stick. Electrical solder does not stick to steel.

The cheap @ss manufacturer used steel wire for the motor windings instead of copper. They must have saved at least $5 on each unit sold. Scratched my head on that for a while but eventually used a mechanical crimp to reconnect the winding wires. It worked. I split all the logs I had over 2 weeks and never looked back at the axe. This log splitter retails for $450 to $600 new. Now for me that’s kinda steep, considering I could burn nat gas for 2 months for that price.

What did I learn from all this?

- manufacturer says log splitters are dangerous and should never be used for splitting logs

- manufacturer says never use log splitter outside/outdoors, they are dangerous and you could get injured or killed

- manufacturer says do not use the device if the temperature is below 20C or humidity less than 50%

- manufacturer says there is a risk of electrical shock if you plug it in to use it

- manufacturer says the device is not intended for splitting logs

- manufacturer says it might split logs so be careful

- on line retailers like to sell parts and have a lot of ‘bots’ saying the right things to make you buy repair parts and stuff that don’t work but make tons of $ for the on line retailer

- manufactures will use the cheapest most inappropriate materials possible to save a buck

- consumers are gullible idiots and will gladly overpay for ‘labor’ saving devices.

- lead solder doesn’t ‘stick’ to steel

- 20 ton log splitters with gas driven hydraulics are insane

- a log splitter with more than 16” of stroke is insane too, cut the wood to 16” or less first

 

[Duner Wi]

You are fortunate it does not cause cancer in the state of California. Prop65 warning

 

[wore out]

I'm having some difficulty with the moderators not allowing some words o-mine.
Trying again...
Hydraulic-Electric log splitter repair

So my son’s father in-law gave me a non-working log splitter a few years ago.

I thought I could get it working again since I consider myself a bit clever (at times).

I could get the motor to turn only if I first spun it by hand at the electric motor fan.

I also had a bunch of logs sitting that I wanted split. Always done by splitting axe previously.

Looked the model up on line and found that many people complained about the same exact problem. They all said it was the starting capacitor. And, ‘that world famous on line retailer’ that sells everything had the exact replacement for the ‘burnt out’ starting capacitor.

All the comments said...’works great, problem solved’. After a few attempts at replacing the capacitor with other ones of similar capacitance I had laying around, but not exactly the same capacitance, it was still a no go. So I bought one of the exact type from the on line retailer.

It came a week later and I put it in place...NO GO, again. $25 wasted because it was listed as ‘no refunds’.

The logs were still sitting ready for me with the axe. But I had a ‘log splitter’ sitting in my shop too.

Well, after careful consideration, I figured I had nothing to lose on the hydraulic-electric splitter and tore it apart, motor first. I read what ever I could find on line regarding this very common model log splitter, found nothing helpful at all. Lots of info on how to use it, precautions, warnings, where not to operate it, but nothing on how to repair it.

When I opened up the motor I found that the wires going to the motor ‘starting windings’ were broken, that's why the motor would start if I manually spun it first. Actually the wires were corroded through. Easy fix I thought...got the soldering iron out and proceeded to repair the broken wires. NO GO. The wires were not made of copper so the solder wouldn’t stick. Electrical solder does not stick to steel.

The cheap @ss manufacturer used steel wire for the motor windings instead of copper. They must have saved at least $5 on each unit sold. Scratched my head on that for a while but eventually used a mechanical crimp to reconnect the winding wires. It worked. I split all the logs I had over 2 weeks and never looked back at the axe. This log splitter retails for $450 to $600 new. Now for me that’s kinda steep, considering I could burn nat gas for 2 months for that price.

What did I learn from all this?

- manufacturer says log splitters are dangerous and should never be used for splitting logs

- manufacturer says never use log splitter outside/outdoors, they are dangerous and you could get injured or killed

- manufacturer says do not use the device if the temperature is below 20C or humidity less than 50%

- manufacturer says there is a risk of electrical shock if you plug it in to use it

- manufacturer says the device is not intended for splitting logs

- manufacturer says it might split logs so be careful

- on line retailers like to sell parts and have a lot of ‘bots’ saying the right things to make you buy repair parts and stuff that don’t work but make tons of $ for the on line retailer

- manufactures will use the cheapest most inappropriate materials possible to save a buck

- consumers are gullible idiots and will gladly overpay for ‘labor’ saving devices.

- lead solder doesn’t ‘stick’ to steel

- 20 ton log splitters with gas driven hydraulics are insane

- a log splitter with more than 16” of stroke is insane too, cut the wood to 16” or less first


View attachment 101322View attachment 101323

1.) The motor windings are almost certainly aluminum. (Which explains them being "corroded".)

2.) Common solder DOES "stick to steel".

 

[stdsch40]

1.) The motor windings are almost certainly aluminum. (Which explains them being "corroded".)

2.) Common solder DOES "stick to steel".

You are fortunate it does not cause cancer in the state of California. Prop65 warning

I know the difference between aluminum and steel. The windings were/are steel. They rusted because the previous owner stored the log splitter in a damp shed, against the manufacturers recommendations...
If you want to argue about lead based solder 'sticking' to steel go ahead. I'd be inclined to label it as 'mal-information'. You are just plain wrong.

 

[wore out]

I know the difference between aluminum and steel. The windings were/are steel. They rusted because the previous owner stored the log splitter in a damp shed, against the manufacturers recommendations...
If you want to argue about lead based solder 'sticking' to steel go ahead. I'd be inclined to label it as 'mal-information'. You are just plain wrong.

LOL!

 

[zuhnc]

Were the wires actually stripped from the stator and a magnet applied?

 

[Duner Wi]

LOL!

Wore Out, Hilarious, I get the blame for what I didn't do .

 

[stdsch40]

Were the wires actually stripped from the stator and a magnet applied?

Yes I scraped the coating off the steel wire leads believing I could solder them back together. When I tried to solder them (i'm pretty good at soldering copper wires) the solder just would not stick. I thought that was odd, scrapped some more and could not see any copper. I wondered wtf kind of wire is this? Motor winding wires that aren't copper? Who would do such a nefarious thing?...As I said the wires were/are steel, I could tell because the wires were harder than aluminum. I know that various types and alloys of aluminum wire exist because its lower cost than copper but these wires were/are steel. Its a cheaply built machine intended for idiots who are willing to over pay for labour saving devices.

 

[caterpillar guy]

So why not just connect it to the remote couplers on your tractor and forget about the motor. Wil work just fine that way if you have a pressure of 2000 plus.

 

[stdsch40]

I know the difference between aluminum and steel. The windings were/are steel. They rusted because the previous owner stored the log splitter in a damp shed, against the manufacturers recommendations...
If you want to argue about lead based solder 'sticking' to steel go ahead. I'd be inclined to label it as 'mal-information'. You are just plain wrong.

Sorry I didn't mean to quote you, I couldn't edit the response for some reason. They, the manufacturer did warn about causing cancer too, but I ignored that.

 

[stdsch40]

So why not just connect it to the remote couplers on your tractor and forget about the motor. Wil work just fine that way if you have a pressure of 2000 plus.

A 20 horse power Farmall C runing to split some wood where a 3/4hp unit would do the job? Kinda like using a 100hp tractor to cut some grass in my front yard. Exactly how many horse power does it take to split wood?

 

[Fixingfarmer]

A 20 horse power Farmall C runing to split some wood where a 3/4hp unit would do the job? Kinda like using a 100hp tractor to cut some grass in my front yard. Exactly how many horse power does it take to split wood?

I wish I had a hydraulic one one for the tractor instead of the inertia driven electric one I got it uses one flywheel per season.

As many ponies as I don’t have to pick up the maul is fine with me

 

[stdsch40]

I wish I had a hydraulic one one for the tractor instead of the inertia driven electric one I got it uses one flywheel per season.

As many ponies as I don’t have to pick up the maul is fine with me

I put a charlyn hydraulic unit on my Farmall C cuz I had one. Puts out 700psig, would I use it to split wood? Why oh why would I put hours on that wonderful machine (Farmall C) when a 3/4hp electric log splitter would do the job, I don't consider myself insane btw. but then? who knows, some fellow thought I was a bot or an AI in another post. Maybe, just maybe everyone on YT is an AI/bot and ...gotta go the boss is calling.

 

[Mule Meat]

Most likely Carbon Nanotubes was used for the windings. You need a silver solder and either paste flux or use an acid. Regular rosin core solder will not stick to it.

Most windings used in order are Copper, Aluminum, Silver and last Carbon Nanotubes.

 

[Russ from MN]

Steel can be soldered just fine if it's clean and you use the proper flux.

 

[stdsch40]

Most likely Carbon Nanotubes was used for the windings. You need a silver solder and either paste flux or use an acid. Regular rosin core solder will not stick to it.

Most windings used in order are Copper, Aluminum, Silver and last Carbon Nanotubes.

Yeah, I never thought it could be carbon nanotubes but now I wonder if I missed that, thanks I'll go back an d check. Plasma conduits would have been my next guess, they don't take lead solder either. I'm really behind the times in my understanding of technology. I'm getting old, and my eye sight isn't what it used to be

 

[stdsch40]

Turns out I was completely wrong as everyone has pointed out, sorry to have mislead you all. Yes, use lead solder with the proper flux and you can easily solder lead onto steel and it will last more than a life time without fail. 'Pardon me' for telling you otherwise.

 

[Russ from MN]

I put a charlyn hydraulic unit on my Farmall C cuz I had one. Puts out 700psig, would I use it to split wood? Why oh why would I put hours on that wonderful machine (Farmall C) when a 3/4hp electric log splitter would do the job, I don't consider myself insane btw. but then? who knows, some fellow thought I was a bot or an AI in another post. Maybe, just maybe everyone on YT is an AI/bot and ...gotta go the boss is calling.

I doubt if that would split much wood anyhow, most wood splitters use much more than 700psi. I built one for the 3-point of our JD 4600, yes, I'm running a 37 hp diesel to split wood! I only use it on wood I can't split by hand, ash is easier to spit with a maul than to lift it into a splitter.