Palm Electric Motors

I dropped off a 5ph 3ph Westinghouse motor I was having problems with. They tested it right in front of me, and explained what was going on and what options I had as far as repair or replacement. I went with the repair option, and was contacted the next day that it was done on budget with the price that was discussed. When I picked it up, they even showed me pictures from when it was apart and the repairs that were made. Nothing is cheap anymore, and they did save me quite a bit from buying new. I would use the services here again as needed.

I really wish I wasn't leaving this review but feel it's important to share my experience such that no one else goes through the same thing with Palm. Perhaps they are capable of satisfying certain requests but they really dropped the ball with me and, after reading other reviews here, I can see they have done similar by other customers. With no further adieu....

I brought them an 600V 100L IEC frame electric motor asking to either replace or rewind for 240V. Simple enough, right? They specialize in electric motors after all and advertise rewinding as a standard service as well new motor sales in both IEC and NEMA frames! Unfortunately this was not the case.

Ken proceeded to have difficulty reading the tag on the old motor (despite me making it clear to him the specifications of the equipment and what I needed). After some back and forth of me helping him determine the specifications of the motor, he provided verbal quotes for what I was after ($1200 to rewind or approx. $1k for a new motor).

Naturally my first instinct was to go for a new motor following his guidance in selecting an equivalent to the IEC frame motor that I brought to them. He found a 184T frame 5hp replacement (uh oh) but didn't check any of the other specifications against the motor that I brought in (and was right in front of him) and instead allowed me (the customer) to make mistakes on my own dime. Nice job! Good business practice!

I thought I was in good hands, gave him my credit card, and waited for the motor to arrive in a couple days. Big mistake - motor arrives, it doesn't fit the motor mount on our equipment (I modify this to make it work) however, one major aspect of replacing old motors (that Ken should know but perhaps neglected to share with me) is that newer motors, by law, must be more efficient and therefore are *significantly* larger than their decades old counterparts. The original 5hp, 100L IEC frame motor was approx. 4" smaller in diameter. This was a deal breaker. Brought both motors back to Palm (again), pay a hefty 25% restocking fee for the new motor, and tell Ken I want to rewind the old motor per his initial quote. At this point I'm down about $250 and have nothing to show for myself.

This is where things really go south. I DO NOT RECOMMEND HAVING PALM ELECTRIC REWIND YOUR MOTOR!!! Perhaps in moment of returning the new motor and dropping the existing motor for rewinding Ken failed to mention that rewinding requires an inspection of the motor which incurs a non-negotiable fee of approx. $500. I find this out later...

So, I drop the old motor for rewinding and take my claim check. A few days later Ken calls me to say it needs a "redesign" (never says what that entails) and will cost double (now $2600 - WAY more than what was verbally quoted and the cost of a new motor) and to make things even better - he can't say for sure if it will work once completed due to the fact that a 600V motor requires less copper than a 240V motor to produce 3500rpm. They just don't know if the copper can physically be forced into the motor housing. Nice - I asked this question when dropping it off but he didn't have an answer then... seems like this should have been mentioned at the get go...

I tell Ken there's no way I am going to pay that much for a potentially unusable motor and ask if he can use his sales network to find a new 100L IEC frame motor to replace the old one. He calls back in another day or so to say, "We can't find any motor that will work." Great - so I've been entrapped into this rewind scheme where he can charge whatever he wants and give me a potentially unusable motor back.

At this point, I begin searching for a new motor supplier and found Electric Motor Wholesale online (highly recommend). In a matter of a few hours I am able to find several contenders for new motors and land on a new 4HP 100L Brook Crompton motor with help from the EMW technical service team. I really wanted to find a local shop who could help us with our electric motor needs (Palm is a block from our shop) and even gave them the option of pricing out the motors I found on EMW to see if they could compete. They couldn't...

To make their reputation worse in my eyes, Palm refuses to hand over our old motor unless we pay a $500 invoice for unmentioned rewinding inspection fees. I told them they weren't upfront with me about this and refuse to pay them anything else. To put things in perspective, I paid $825 for the new motor (including shipping) from EMW. Meanwhile, Palm would have $750 of my money and I would still be out of luck with my motor problem. Needless to say, we argued. Ken gets nasty. I don't pay. They still have the 600V motor (my property).

Don't do business with Palm. Look elsewhere.

EDIT:
A bit after posting this, Ken calls back and apologizes for swearing at me over the phone and hanging up. Tells me to come get my motor and we're done. Ok thanks see ya later

Ken, is the owner of Palm Electric is an unprofessional bold face liar and a scam. We brought our table saw to him to have the motor replaced and he initially quoted us $180 max to remove and replace the motor. He said he would order the motor and install it. The motor was going to be $650. Then he called and said that the initial motor wouldn't work, and he would have to have a special motor made for $1200, so I got online and found a motor for $700 on Amazon and had it shipped to him.

All was fine until it was time to pick up the table saw. When it was finished, He called and told me that he is now charging $360 for taking the motor out and replacing it instead of the initial $180 that he quoted.

Also, he disappeared when I arrived to pick up the table saw. The clerk there was waiting and made me go to the front, pay first, and only then allowed me to pick up my table saw. In essence, I had to pay the amount or leave a $2000.00 table saw with them as ransom.

I disputed with the credit card company and he lied to them too. I called him and instead of being professional and discussing his ethics and remedying the situation, he hung up in my face. This is not a professional place by any means and will price gouge/ change a price on you after a maximum quote.

Unfortunately he will never receive my business nor will Palm Electric be recommended to anyone in my industry.

I came into Palm Electric after the motor on the fan in my furnace went out. I first went to the big box store and couldn't find what I was looking for. I went into Palm with the motor with me and Sue (the woman who works at the counter) was able to help me.

Even though the sticker on the motor was worn off and I didn't have the furnace information, they were able to figure out what kind of motor it was. Since my house is old (and my furnace) this was special manufacturer motor with a short shaft. Sue was able to locate a similar motor in their shop and they were able to modify that motor on the spot (instead of ordering a new (more expensive) one from the manufacturer.) That worked out well since I wanted to get the heat back up and running ASAP at home.

Overall, a good experience. Nice, knowledgeable people, quick service, and fair pricing.

Parking was easy (parked on the side street by the building.)

Their rewind/repair pricing is erratic for obsolete motors. Seems the manager prices out this work based on the cost of a new replacement - what? I guess this should have been my first clue. Logic would dictate that the price is based on the cost of the materials and labor plus overhead plus profit. And if a new motor can't be secured? It appears he takes a stab in the dark. I don't know how else to explain the crazy pricing.

In contrast, the shop I've used for years charges less than 1/3 the price of a rewind regardless of the motor's pedigree. Case in point: $950 VS $250 to rewind an obsolete 1ph 2-pole Baldor (yes, this is an apples to apples comparison).

Moreover, Palm doesn't even rewind in-shop, but rather subs it out, further extending turnaround time. Finally, every repair at Palm Electric - yes, EVERY repair - includes cap and bearing replacement, whether it needs it or not. At first glance this is all fine and dandy but they charge a hefty premium for this service.

I will say they were pleasant and are knowledgeable, but they've lost any future business from me. Too bad since my shop is sooo close to them.

Awesome customer service. Kent was very helpful and friendly. I was going to try and bargain for the motor i bought but i pricematched their first quote and it was already lower. Plus kent was already so helpful and i was in a hurry. Five stars. We need more fair and customer service oriented mechanics here in the u.s... Most of them are just pickpocketers...