Threw $400 at a used paint booth fan and it died in 6 months

Back in 2019 I found a deal on a old paint booth exhaust fan from a shop closing down near Charlotte. Paid $400 cash thinking I was being smart and saving money. It ran fine for maybe 4 months then started making this grinding noise and finally seized up. Had to buy a new one for $900 anyway so I basically threw that $400 straight in the trash. Any of you guys ever get burned buying used shop equipment like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

drew69024d ago

Man, that stings just reading it. I did almost the exact same thing with a dust collector I grabbed off Facebook Marketplace a couple years ago. Paid $350 for it, looked clean and ran smooth when I tested it at the guy's garage. Got it home, hooked it up, and within two months the motor started overheating and smoking. Tore it apart and found the bearings were shot and the housing was cracked from a previous drop they tried to hide with paint. I ended up spending another $200 on parts just to get it sort of working again, and it never ran right after that. Learned my lesson the hard way (you know, the expensive way). Some of that used equipment is just someone else's problem passed on to you.

jamie_smith24d ago

That 'someone else's problem passed on to you' part is EXACTLY right. It's the same deal with used cars or even lawn mowers people sell right before winter, they just kick the can down the road and hope you don't notice the ticking time bomb.