PM 3520A Replacement Parts?

[Mike Sooley]

Hi Folks - I am about to buy a PM 3520A 2004 vintage. It seems to be running fine and not abused. My question(s) are: 1) What kind of things tend to fail on this 16 year old lathe?; and 2) How available are the necessary replacement parts? I looked at eReplacementparts.com and seemed to se emany of the 3520A parts no longer available. I am most concerned about failing electronics in a lathe this old: and 3) I have attached a photo of the original 2 HP motor on the lathe. Can you tell from the photo who makes this motor and if a replacement motor us available? Thanks, Mike

 

[john lucas]

I think I answered most of your questions in your other post. There have been few problems with these machines. Probably the 2 most often are bearings (easily purchased locally) The Spindle lock ring breaking ( which happens very little and it's possible those machines were abused) The VFD. As far as I know Powermatic still sells them although you can get aftermarket VFD for about half their price. Other than those I have heard of almost no issues.

 

[William Rogers]

Mike, I would look at the Powermatic/Jet site for replacement parts. When I owned my PM 90 I was surprised at how many parts were still available for that lathe on the Powermatic site. The motor is made in Taiwan and there isn’t a specific mfg. like Baldor or Lessons. I have had and still have several Jet machines with motors made in Taiwan and never a problem with any of them.

 

[Jeff Jackson]

Mine was made on the same year, and the only thing I've had to replace are the bearings about a month ago. Ordered them directly from vxb, way way way cheaper than the manufacturer replacements.

 

[Dean Center]

My 3520A is the same vintage as John's and hasn't had any major replacements. The switches can be found anywhere, the bearings are ordinary, the belt can be ordered online, and the VFD can be replaced by dozens of different brands of 2hp VFD. If you crack the bed, it's toast, but otherwise, everything is readily fixable, in the rare event something needs it.

 

[robo hippy]

I had a very early 3520A years ago. I wore out the headstock bearings, mostly from turning without the tailstock engaged. It cost less to buy the bearings and a new belt and get it repaired at a local shop than I could buy the parts for when getting them from PM. If you need to get the bearings replaced, and I couldn't do that myself, you can remove the motor from the lathe first, which makes it easier to lift up and move around.

robo hippy