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So, I took my new snowblower out yesterday during an all-day Michigan snowstorm that resulted in 7-8" total of heavy wet snow. Did two passes at 2 smaller suburban houses, including driveways, as well as about 175-200 feet of city walk at several neighbor's. That's it. No hard ice, no rocks, just plain old concrete sidewalks and driveways (and some street at the foot of the driveway).
My scraper blade is chewed up/chipped pretty badly, but more concerning is the metal sides of the blower - they're all scraped up and gouged! I can see this rusting/wearing pretty quickly.
I hope EGO gets the scrape blades up on HD.com pretty soon, as I doubt this will last the season let alone the next few months. I'm also really concerned about the metal being gouged and scraped so badly on the sides.
@EGO: thoughts?
@Everyone else: post your pics of your scrape blades and metal side housing in the front in this thread. Let's compare! Please include estimated "mileage" on your new EGO snowblowers...
Mine:
My scraper blade is chewed up/chipped pretty badly, but more concerning is the metal sides of the blower - they're all scraped up and gouged! I can see this rusting/wearing pretty quickly.
I hope EGO gets the scrape blades up on HD.com pretty soon, as I doubt this will last the season let alone the next few months. I'm also really concerned about the metal being gouged and scraped so badly on the sides.
@EGO: thoughts?
@Everyone else: post your pics of your scrape blades and metal side housing in the front in this thread. Let's compare! Please include estimated "mileage" on your new EGO snowblowers...
Mine:
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9,440 Points
Posted 3 years ago
Blue Angel, Champion
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179,988 Points
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5,422 Points
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10,608 Points
My scraper bar has some dings going on used on newly installed sidewalk and asphault driveway. My edges of the metal housing. As I said in a post before I bought this maybe it should have had some kind of small replaceable skid shoes on each round corner.
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9,440 Points
Agreed about the skid shoe. The damage to the steel sides could easily have been avoided with skid shoes. It couldn't have added that much in cost, so it's perplexing that it was omitted.
Oh well, perhaps in next year's version? ;)
Oh well, perhaps in next year's version? ;)
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4,108 Points
Anyone willing to try adding weather stripping to the edges as an experiment? Matter of fact I havn't got a chance to use mine so its still brand new....maybe a trip to the homeless despot for some weather stripping is in order...
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10,608 Points
Or the edge trim you see on car doors edges to protect against chips. Dunno how long it would hold up to scraping though.
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4,108 Points
That's the direction i was heading towards...think a two pack is like $3 at autozone....deff worth a try
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120 Points
I noticed that this snow blower "caught" every crack and expansion joint on my sidewalk/drive (not uneven either). It was very jarring. I rarley had seen the same thing on my gas snow blower but not to this extent. I mean like every joint in the concrete it caught. I had to push down on the back to get over the joint. This is a problem for me. Did anyone else notice this?
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10,608 Points
Spark Lawns if it's that cheap and I can remember I'll pick up some black trim and try it.
Mpshaffer1 mine only caught on the 2 cracks in my asphault. I have a brand new sidewalk and it didn't catch at all.
Mpshaffer1 mine only caught on the 2 cracks in my asphault. I have a brand new sidewalk and it didn't catch at all.
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4,108 Points
The skid plate is fairly sharp I wouldn't doubt it would catch even small rocks until it starts to wear out somewhere....my concern is the rust on the metal housing though.... I wonder if rust is covered under the 5 year warranty period....cause if so to heck with all these issues im going to run these blowers till they can't blow no more lol
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10,608 Points
Spark Lawns I expect wear and tear on it. But for 640$ I expect the auger housing to last past the warranty.
(Edited)
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4,108 Points
Now I am not saying I am expecting them to replace the unit every winter because of rust, but the unit DOES get exposed to harsh conditions including water and rain (if they count snow rain mix as "rain"). So far I have no complaints with the ego customer support but it is good to know what you're entitled to in the warranty and what they may use as a loop hole in the future. Straight from the manual
"e) This warranty only covers defects arising under normal usage and does not cover any malfunction, failure or defect resulting from misuse, abuse (including overloading of the product beyond capacity and exposure to water or rain), accidents, neglect or lack of proper installation, and improper maintenance or storage. f) This warranty does not cover normal deterioration of the exterior finish, including but not limited to scratches, dents, paint chips, or to any corrosion or discoloring by heat, abrasive and chemical cleaners."
"e) This warranty only covers defects arising under normal usage and does not cover any malfunction, failure or defect resulting from misuse, abuse (including overloading of the product beyond capacity and exposure to water or rain), accidents, neglect or lack of proper installation, and improper maintenance or storage. f) This warranty does not cover normal deterioration of the exterior finish, including but not limited to scratches, dents, paint chips, or to any corrosion or discoloring by heat, abrasive and chemical cleaners."
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5,422 Points
It's as if they knew it was comming. But this fast??? I mean after 2 uses I already see the rust on the bottom side of the metal housing and I really am carefull when operating it as I like to keep my Ego products as new as possible. Clearly it wont be possible with the snow blower....
Note that my snow blower sleeps in my heated garage as well....
Note that my snow blower sleeps in my heated garage as well....
(Edited)
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4,108 Points
Again I have had nothing but good things to say about ego's support team. But whose to say two years from now when the unit suddenly stops and I put in a warranty claim, that I don't get some kind of "looks as if this unit was exposed to water/rain and that's what we have determined is the cause for the unit to stop working. Unfortunately this claim can no longer be serviced under warranty." I used to get those all the time when I used to sell cell phones, the phones would be scratchless in a 60 dollar otterbox case, suddenly stopped working. We would be required to check the water mark sticker, any signs of pink or red would void the warranty. And I would feel bad for my customers because it would be located (for example on the iphone) near the charge port where it is open. Obviously humidity from being in your pocket for a year or so would be able to change the watermark from white to pink...but even knowing that, there was nothing I could do. Gotta love technicalities.
Blue Angel, Champion
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179,988 Points
A snow blower is the highest "abuse" tool they've released yet. These things are going to be soaking wet after use, stored in garages cold and wet and covered in road salt, banged into curbs and stairs, fed rocks and ice, newspapers hidden in the snow...
I would think they know that and have designed it accordingly.
I would think they know that and have designed it accordingly.
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5,422 Points
I sure hope so....
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9,440 Points
@mpshaffer1 - yeah, my scrape blade caught every single crack and edge of uneven flagstone sections of my walk. And let me tell you, as I had to put some force into pushing 5-6" of heavy wet stuff, a few times I took it right in the groin - OUCH!
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5,422 Points
Jennifer VandeWater, Community Manager
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81,048 Points
Hi DJ, sorry to hear about your scraper bar. However, have no fear. We have replacement scraper bars with our customer service team right now (while they are being added to homedepot.com). Please give us a call at 1-855-346-5656 so we can get that replacement ordered for you.
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9,440 Points
Thanks @Jennifer VandeWater - I'll call. Reading my post, is the wear on the metal sides normal?
*EDIT - just spoke to customer service. I've been assured that this sort of wear is normal, especially if you're doing uneven walks like I was. It doesn't compromise the 5-year warranty.
Sidenote: every 21" single-stage snow blower I've had has exhibited some sort of scraped up wear on the metal housing, and lasted just fine. In retrospect I'm not too concerned about it, though I may spray it with Rustoleum occasionally! ;)
*EDIT - just spoke to customer service. I've been assured that this sort of wear is normal, especially if you're doing uneven walks like I was. It doesn't compromise the 5-year warranty.
Sidenote: every 21" single-stage snow blower I've had has exhibited some sort of scraped up wear on the metal housing, and lasted just fine. In retrospect I'm not too concerned about it, though I may spray it with Rustoleum occasionally! ;)
(Edited)
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5,422 Points
Thats good news DJDDay. I will call customer service tomorrow as well for the scrapper bar replacement.
On a side note anyone know how to register the 2 batteries when registering my 5.0Ah kit. Theres only one serial number I can write for one battery.... What about the other?
On a side note anyone know how to register the 2 batteries when registering my 5.0Ah kit. Theres only one serial number I can write for one battery.... What about the other?
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9,440 Points
@Mcklain - you'll likely need to call support and register the other battery manually. There's a glitch in the website registration, me thinks...
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2,832 Points
I think they addressed this in another thread. The batteries should be a pair - one ends with A and the other B. I think they said put in the number, minus the A/B, and then it's known on their end that you have the A/B pair with your kit.
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5,422 Points
Thanks!! Youre right I see A and B on my batteries and the rest of the serial numer is identical!
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2,832 Points
Here's the thread where Jennifer addressed the serial number registration, look for her comments from 9/8/16.
https://community.egopowerplus.com/ego/topics/where-is-the-serial-number-on-the-snow-blower
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5,422 Points
@DJDDay Can you point me to the right Rust-Oleum product to put on the side of the metal housing? I dont really know this product and see different kinds on homedepot's website. Does this product cover in black or is it transparent?
A direct link to the product would be great!
Thanks.
A direct link to the product would be great!
Thanks.
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5,422 Points
@DJDDay Can you point me to the right Rust-Oleum product to put on the side of the metal housing? I dont really know this product and see different kinds on homedepot's website. Does this product cover in black or is it transparent?
A direct link to the product would be great!
Thanks.
A direct link to the product would be great!
Thanks.
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9,440 Points
@Mcklain - to be clear, I'm entertaining the idea of treating the gouged steel edges with Rustoleum, but I haven't decided yet. I don't want to muck up the aesthetics of the sides with overspray, so if I do it - I'll probably mask the area around it and paint it with a brush as opposed to spray. But this could prove horribly laborious if I need to treat it after every freak'n use - LOL!
I would just use a black gloss Rustoleum formulated specifically to stop rust to match the already high-gloss enamel paint that's on there. If would need to be lightly wire brushed before painting, though (especially, as others have pointed out, they already have rust on the metal):
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Oleum-Stops-Rust-32-oz-Black-Gloss-Protective-Enamel-Paint-7779504/1...
That said, you could use the automotive version that bonds to existing rust to stop it. Might be quicker/easier:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Oleum-Automotive-10-25-oz-Rust-Reformer-Spray-Paint-248658/202623091
I would just use a black gloss Rustoleum formulated specifically to stop rust to match the already high-gloss enamel paint that's on there. If would need to be lightly wire brushed before painting, though (especially, as others have pointed out, they already have rust on the metal):
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Oleum-Stops-Rust-32-oz-Black-Gloss-Protective-Enamel-Paint-7779504/1...
That said, you could use the automotive version that bonds to existing rust to stop it. Might be quicker/easier:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Oleum-Automotive-10-25-oz-Rust-Reformer-Spray-Paint-248658/202623091
(Edited)
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2,832 Points
Maybe something of the Rhinoliner variety would be a good preventative.
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5,476 Points
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4,108 Points
DJDDay
Blue Angel, Champion
This is just a guess, mind you, I don't have the Ego to see for myself... :-(
Blue Angel, Champion