Eight years ago I purchased several Baileigh units including their 24 inch bead roller for the metal work on my 51 Merc. and have been satisfied with the equipment. However, the other day the bead roller stopped working while running a bead and after checking breakers etc. I called Baileigh for help and reached a technician promptly who helped with diagnosing the problem and determining the mother board was bad. I was surprised that a board would go bad after maybe 50 uses but realizing it was 8 years old I understood it was out of warranty and ready to get a new board until the technician told me it would cost $500+ . Saying I was shell shocked would put it mildly so I started looking for a replacement board when I ran across an entire drive replacement from Woodward at Summit for less than $500. This is a heavy duty drive, 1/2 hp motor instead of Baileigh's 1/6 HP., etc. Installation involved drilling a couple of holes in the frame of the Woodward unit to mate to the Baileigh roller, using the Baileigh coupling to mate drive to roller and making a guard. . Roller works fine, I do wish I would have looked at the Woodward units 8 years ago as at least the drive is better than the Baileigh. The only thing I don't like is the location of the direction switch as it's hard to reach when rolling a 2' piece so when I get time I will relocate it. If you ever find you have to replace the motherboard on a Baileigh roller I would recommend the Woodward unit.
The sad thing is that it was probably a component that cost less than 50 cents that went bad on the motherboard.
That’s kind of disappointing to hear about Baileigh but at the same point doesn’t surprise me. Did you try searching the drive unit or get numbers off the motherboard to see if it was available elsewhere. Like @J.A Miller said it probably cost 50 cents. There’s a place called surplus supply that has surplus’s stuff like that and I’ve gotten lucky with them. My wood stove needed a blower that was well over $300.00 and they had something that was just about perfect for $18. I bought 3.
I've been in contact with a Baileigh "Sales Specialist" over the last few days asking for a quote, and if Shane Henderson was still there, and asking about the Alliance discount. They wouldn't answer me about Shane, didn't give me a quote, and only said they are not offering any discounts. I've worked in sales, and when you have a customer that is interested in making a large purchase, you do everything you can to close that deal, regardless of any discounts. This guy didn't seem to care. I'll start looking at other brands now. I wonder how many other vendors on the Alliance list are no longer affiliated?
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