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Thread: Hot flex cable

  1. #1

    Cool Hot flex cable

    This is purely for your information as my problem has been resolved. Within 2 days of getting my machine and after only a few carves my flex cable was getting uncomfortably hot to the touch. I stopped the machine went to the trouble shooting guide which told me to lube the cable with a chain lube containing moly. The maintenance section told me to lube it only with a special lube available on their website or I would void the warranty. After 1 day operation the heating problem was back.. I then called tech support and talked extensively with a tech who eventually decided that the cable was probably bad and I would have to PURCHASE a new one (so much for voiding the warranty). I was obviously very upset as I had only un-boxed the machine 2 days prior. An obvious senior tech then came on the line and told me the other tech had used a poor choice of words. He then told me to literally soak the cable for 12 hours or more, then hang it up, let it dry for 5 or more hours, wipe it off and put it back in the machine. I followed his instruction, and have 225 hours currently on my machine and the flex cable barely gets warm. Just thought that my experience could be helpful to anyone having a similar problem. I have found other discrepancies in the manual and think this fix should be added.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Dana Point, CA
    Posts
    192

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    I use a 1/2inch pipe, just long enough to hold the flex core. It is filled with lube and I drop the core into the tube, cap it off, and let it sit for a day or two. Then hang to dry for a day or two. When done, the pipe can be capped off to keep the lube from evaporating and/or spilling out.

    It's also a good idea to use a rifle cleaner and clean the inside of the the sheath (after carefully taking the spring out). I've gotten brand new flexshafts that were full of gunk.

    Kenny

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    North Hills, CA
    Posts
    267

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    I use Honda's chain lube on mine and on a carve that lasts 4+ hours, the cable doesn't even get warm. I didn't soak it, I just sprayed the lube on the flex cable, squirted some in the housing and put it back together. That was over a year ago and it still doesn't get hot. Just my two cents worth.
    Mike Schnitzius
    North Hills, CA
    SAA.3840@verizon.net

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Suffern, NY
    Posts
    367

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    Not sure what the lube is CW sells but I got my chain lube from a local motorcycle dealer. Anytime I had to lube a flex shaft ( 2x's so far on 2 flex shafts ) it was simply a matter of spraying it on, letting is sit for about 15-30 minutes and then wiping it down before inserting it back into the sheath. Never had a problem after lubing and I run a lot of vector carves which are harder on the shaft than raster carves. Not sure if the lube they sell requires such a long soak in period but you are correct that over the years, this subject has been difficult to obtain a solid answer on. CW has posted a few different notes on this over the years and there are literally at least a dozen different lubes mentioned in all these threads. Once you find something that works, stick with it.

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