As I a new owner of a CarveWright (CompuCarve ?) machine from Sears, I have experienced a phenomenal number of problems with the machines. I also realize that I may not be as skilled in their repair as many other members – but I am becoming more skilled with each new problem.
The first machine lasted approximately 20 minutes of use before I started receiving an error that instructed me to “close the cover and press continue”. While it was very obvious that the cover was not open, I opened it, cleaned the interior, and closed it several times with the same result. I could never progress past that point and could not determine how to deactivate the sensor. Since the machine was under a 90-day warranty from Sears, it was more prudent for me to box it up and return it to Sears for replacement.
The second machine logged 2:44 of usage before it began to give problems with the Edge Sensor. Basically it required me to “Clear Edge Sensor”. I had previously discovered a small piece of plastic that with a little investigative work discovered it had come off the edge sensor. I would clean the sensor and could make some progress until the sensor went out permanently. During the process, the right-side head became stuck in the up position and would not release according to the suggested procedure in the operators manual. This, in turn, caused a problem when I boxed this machine for return to Sears.
The third machine was used yesterday. It ran for approximately 20 minutes before I discovered that the bit was not touching the board. Again, investigation lead to the edge sensor. After aborting the project, I found that the plastic cover had come off again. I cannot determine any flaw in the work piece that would have caused this. It had carved a drawing and was starting to work on the text.
I really want this machine to work, but I am becoming very discouraged and may return it and get a refund from Sears. Am I the only one that has had these problems? Is this another disaster with a product assembled in China?
My first question is can the edge sensor plastic cover be glued back on and what suggestions does anyone offer to accomplish this? If the cover breaks up, what can be done to fix this without returning the machine for repair.
Secondly, the forum, at times, alludes to a place that specialized machine repair procedures can be downloaded. Is there an actual website or have I misinterpreted something?
Thirdly, is there any “quick and good” way to restart a project when something like the above happens? I can only logically assume that I would have to do some redesign work and eliminate the parts that had been completed. Any other suggestions?