Money Pit?

[cnsranch]

Does anyone here get a descent amount of carving without any breakdowns?

Yep (My answer needs to be longer) Yep.

[Ike]

Another thought in the Y motor the plastic gear may be loaded with dust. It takes 3 screws to remove and then try to move the gear by hand. The Y motor connects to the Z truck raising and lowering the QC.

I had a Z axis stall and that was the cause.

Ike

[cnsranch]

It offsets the carved image for a while then carves a line off the the board toward the panel side and BINGO it gets an error code.

I had this happen with an 8' long board - basically, the board wasn't supported well enough on the outfeed side of the machine, and caused it to "hang up" in the machine. Machine couldn't move the board, it seemed to overwork itself in order toget it to move, then it freaked out, and did exactly what you describe.

So, regardless of the length, you need to make sure your edges are perpendicular to each other, that the board isn't hanging up in the machine by being out of square, bottom of board isn't losing contact with the brass roller, or if the board isn't uniform in thickness, it'll cause an error when it begins to jam under the compression rollers.

[Frederick_P]

It is really, really important that you keep the dust out of the inside of the machine. Here is a plan for a dust collection system that removes almost (99.8%) of the dust. It is free:

http://forum.carvewright.com/showthr...erick_P&page=6

[miner4t9r]

First I want to thank everyone for their input!
Wonder if I have a problem with the y motor assy. I looked the gears over good , but my eyesight isn’t what it used to be. I noticed that sometimes when the machine is finding the surface, as the bit hits the bit plate, something sounds like a gear slipping. I think the only thing that can make that noise at that time is the Y motor assy. Any thoughts?
I have cleaned the machine very good and lubricated everything. I am only carving signs right now and the longest would be 20 inches. I have a large scrap pile now.
Like I said earlier, I haven't carved lots like the most of you. But my problems didn't start until the machine came back from the shop the last time. I can get a good carve maybe 1 out of 3 try's.

[Ike]

Another thought in the Y motor the plastic gear may be loaded with dust. It takes 3 screws to remove and then try to move the gear by hand. The Y motor connects to the Z truck raising and lowering the QC.

I had a Z axis stall and that was the cause.

Ike

I am thinking you are on the right track, that large plastic gear may need replaced, it is easy to remove the Y motor and take it out remove the plastic film and blow it out and move the gear by hand if it moves smooth then it was dust. If it skips the gear may have a chipped tooth.

The gear is easy to replace, is your machine under warranty call and ask for a new gear or Y motor.

Dust is the biggest enemy and it causes many problems! Hope you get it all worked out!

Ike

[jjack9485]

After the first 200 hours I was ready to get rid of my CW, after numerous issues, two or three QC and I don't know how many bit adapters and bits, close door and cut motor switches,sandpaper belts that were a pain in the butt, power supply and more and more. Errors for everything under the sun I decided to fix it up and sell it. I could see that all of the problems while under warranty , I could imagine what the costs would be after it was out of warranty. 206 hrs I had LHR installed the rubber belts and the Rock chuck. Well needless to say I didn't sell it because it has performed over 200 plus hrs and not even a hickup.
Now you tell me why!!! The only thing I can say is that the Rubber belts and the Rock chuck fixed all of the related issues other than those two improvements the only other thing is that I use the Goodwrench chain lube with moly on everything..My machine is purring at this moment on a 14 hr carve. I love my CW.

..Jack

[miner4t9r]

Sorry I haven’t updated everyone on my progress. The snow storm had knocked out our power for a few days. It’s been rough, but it’s back on now.

Thanks’ for all the help given me here. I received my Rock chuck. I also found that the belt for the Y motor would jump or slip when it was in a hard pull situation. The lock screw was tight, but it didn’t seem to have enough tension on it. I managed to get more tension on it and have carved 6 projects without much of a problem. I did get a cover closure error and don’t know how I cleared it. I cleaned out the cover switch and it didn’t help. I then open and closed the cover several times and it cured its self.

So again I thank you!

[Semper Fi]

Another thing that I've noticed that will cause the Y Axis error and carving off of the board, is carving too deep at once in very hard wood.

[yatrgatr]

Does anyone here get a descent amount of carving without any breakdowns?
I have had my machine for a year now and really don’t use it much. I may have done 30 signs in a year.
It’s been returned twice for repairs. I got it back the last time in October. First carving since then I stripped a flex shaft. Now that I have repaired it, I can hardly get a project carved without some error and a ruined piece of wood. Mostly y axis stall errors. Almost every time it offsets the carving or just carves a line toward the key pad side. I have a pile of wasted wood. But I do get some projects carved. It’s a hit or miss thing without any known reason. Now my carving bit came apart and has done something to the qc chuck. I can’t get another bit to seat in it. For the money I have paid, this machine is a joke.
Anyway, enough of the crying. Can anybody tell me what is wrong with this machine? I will eventually send it in for repairs again, but I desperately need to get some Christmas carvings done now. I have searched all over the forum and haven,t found anything that helps. Any ideas?
Thanks......

In simple terms, this machine is a POS!!!