I'm happy to say (I didn't get a rock. This deal Rocks!!!)

[SmileyRivet]

I finally got the nerve to plug it in. No problem what so ever.

It acted like it was the first time it was started. No previous programs
I scrolled through and clicked on the hour meter.
it said 0 hours and 20 minutes. That 20 minutes may have been me just trying to figure it out.

I think I got a brand new machine.
Guess I better get some wood tomorrow.

I'm exited.:-D

[Billions]

That is awesome! I was wondering how that machine would be after seeing your other thread.

Have fun -

[gwiz]

When I received my machine in December, purchased from Lowes and shipped directly from LHR, the hour meter had 2 hours 20 minutes on it. I called LHR and they said " that all machines get a test run of about that much time on them before they are shipped, for Quality Control purposes... Now,I read this post and only 20 minutes is on it. I wonder why such a discrepancy??

Thanks
Tom

[hess]

Im glad it turned out so well. My sears unit just got here hopefully it works better than the CR and we both can go make dust today

Hess

[Hexe SA]

Sears does not test their machines. Wish they would. The first one died after 91 days and exchanged it. Still got my second one 1.5 years 300 plus hrs, one trip to LHR for a new Z-motor pack. Rest was wear or operator error. Looking for an other one and for the price you paid I may get one for spare parts.
Eva

[Ike]

When I received my machine in December, purchased from Lowes and shipped directly from LHR, the hour meter had 2 hours 20 minutes on it. I called LHR and they said " that all machines get a test run of about that much time on them before they are shipped, for Quality Control purposes... Now,I read this post and only 20 minutes is on it. I wonder why such a discrepancy??

Thanks
Tom
Tom not trying to sound like a smart guy, but you answered your own question! SmileyRivet, I am guessing has a CC, yours is a CW. The machines that are made for Sears are directly sent to Sears. They are ran for 20 minutes that may involve a carving or not? So in that 20 minutes most likely if something was incorrectly connected etc., won't show up until it is ran by the customer.

Now the CW is ran through a 2 hour test I suspect with a carve that runs it through carving to cutting. Then if something was to fail, LHR fixes the problem before the customer plugs it in!

Thus you have better quality control! If LHR is doing the test I am sure the the 200 hours starts at 2 hours and 20 minutes. So when you have 220 hours and 20 minutes the warranty is over! Unless the year warranty comes first! 200 hours or 1 year which ever occurs first!

Tom I wouldn't worry about that 2 hours, it was test on your behalf! Even if that 2 hours is taken from the 200 ( which I doubt) I rather any problems be addressed before I get the machine. It is far better then 2 weeks out of service!

Ike

[gwiz]

Ike, That makes perfect sense to me. Being as I have been in the Electro - Mechanical field for more years than I can care to count. I feel very confident in the machine I got. In fact I look forward to the day when I can start taking it part to see what makes it tick. I now have about 30 hours on it and it is working perfectly. I have found that if you keep a few areas of this machine lubed correctly, keep it somewhat clean, it will keep you happy. Geez, I love forums... Everytime I get something, I look for a forum board about it...
Tom

[oldfogey]

Yesterday I finally cranked up the CW I got from CW through LRW. Out of the box it had 2 hours 49 minutes and just a very slight haze of saw dust. Otherwise it looked like it was direct from the womb. Having experienced one complete loser rehab from Sears and then a second one that is now inop on my bench, the new CW is a completely different machine. I ran a 2 hour carve and it did a beautiful job. Today I will start logging what I do on this machine for the world to follow its performance.

I can't believe the ease with which the QC works. Now I know what they mean when they say it should "click" shut. And the new bits seem sharper than the "new" ones that came with the Sears rehabs.

I took pictures of my machine as it came off the truck and during the unpack operation. Even the box was immaculate. The two Sears boxes fell apart upon delivery. I am not trying to downgrade Sears but I think at a minimum they went through a period over the holidays where they were very slack in the Quality Control and Shipping. I think I actually got machines destined for LHR and rehab.

From now on I will deal only with LHR although I have no reservations about using non LHR bits and parts on my old set. The old one is for learning, my new one is for only the finest care and maintenance. Thanks to all in Pasadena.

[Ike]

I am not trying to be funny again....Tom and Jerry! I am so glad you are having a good time with your machines! It is fun when all goes well and when it is time to change a part take it with a grain of salt!

One thing I have learn is to never use the cover to stop the machine to check or clean during a carving. Use the stop button and enter to restart. Now this is my theory why you shouldn't and Tom I hope you will agree!

The CW is so compact that when you open the cover while motor is running either too much power goes to that micro switch or static electricity creates a reverse polarity? I too have had my horrors with New Sears CC and with my CW I have only had a couple close cover issues needing to replace the switch. I was using the cover to stop the machine to check and to be able to talk. The funny thing is I could close it fast several times and it would work for a bit. Then during a carve it would stop.

Even if I am off base I am convinced it is not good to use the cover for a stop function! You know I never even check the time on my CW when I received it! I bought mine from Amazon.com, this was before I knew about Jason LittleRedWoodshop.

Anyway enjoy your CWs Tom and Jerry and welcome to the forum. You still have time to whip up a project for the contest! It can be a simple face clock. Go to the gallery and read the guidelines for the contest. We have 3 classes beginner, intermediate and expert. It all for fun and to learn from each other and it looks like I will be buying some t-shirts for the prizes!

Ike

[gwiz]

Ike, Hmmm a little humor always goes a long way to lighten things up.

Actually as far as the cover switch is concerned, I will make this assumption without actually see the machines schematic.

The cover swith is just that a switch and the stop button on the keypad is also a switch, they both perform a function to stop the machine. This is done electronically thru probably the main board. When the machine senses either switch conditions has changed it probably just changes the state of a solid state relay turning off all mechanical functions.

I would presume that opening the lid to stop the machine is no different than hitting stop on the keyboard.

Of course this is just my humble opinion...
As ever Tom

[Jeff_Birt]

When you press stop on the keyboard the machine says, "Oh, hey somebody want to stop the machine. Let me stop feeding the board and moving the Y-axis, then I'll lift the Z-axis and shut off the cut motor."

When you lift the lid with the machine running the machine says, Oh crap! Somebody lifted the lid while I'm running, let me shut everything off quick before that somebody gets hurt!" But even before the machine can do any thing the power to the cut motor is cut via the rear micro switch. So now for just a split second the machine might be trying to carve with no power to the cut motor. Or, what happens if the front switch fails? Well, the cut motor will still stop but the rest of the machine will keep going and snap goes your bit.

It's up to you. But for me it seems like a much better idea to hit the 'Stop' button when I want to 'Stop' the machine.

[gwiz]

Jeff,

You may be right presuming that chains of events occur as you have said. I do not doubt you, but I guess a closer look at system logic diagrams would be the determining factor on how the machine actually responds.

Perhaps a LHR tech could explain the system logic to us..

Or perhaps this whole conversation is not worth the typing..

After all they put a stop button on the machine......
Tom

[Billions]

I tend towards Jeff's description of the actions to be accurate. It's the difference in asking for the machine to stop or yanking open the lid, enacting a safety feature. But, the machine seems to stop in the same abrupt manner either way, so maybe it is almost the same.

With my machines, I try not to stop my carves (although I would like to do so to allow cooling and cleaning) because I've found that I can see where the interruption was after the whole piece is finished (usually carving at 'Normal' quality), indicated by a very slight (64th of an inch maybe?) change in depth. You guys may have better luck.

[Ike]

Ike, Hmmm a little humor always goes a long way to lighten things up.

Actually as far as the cover switch is concerned, I will make this assumption without actually see the machines schematic.

The cover swith is just that a switch and the stop button on the keypad is also a switch, they both perform a function to stop the machine. This is done electronically thru probably the main board. When the machine senses either switch conditions has changed it probably just changes the state of a solid state relay turning off all mechanical functions.

I would presume that opening the lid to stop the machine is no different than hitting stop on the keyboard.

Of course this is just my humble opinion...
As ever Tom

Tom, I am not sure and I too agree with Jeff. I have discussed this with LHR and I told a tech supervisor my theory of static electricity. I was told you it may be since it is just a micro switch. All I know I the only thing to go wrong with my CW is the cover switch and I use the cover to stop the machine. Now I do not and all has been good.

I look at it like this you stop your car with your brakes it down shifts the transmission to help slow the car down. But you can also use the emergency brake and all it does is stop the car immediately! So using the stop button it shuts off power slowly to all parts. Opening the cover is like hitting the emergency brake it stops everything quickly!

I know I repeated Jeff, but like water flow in a pipe shut the pressure off quickly the water needs to go somewhere so it back flows. Turn it off slowly not so much back flow.

I am getting off track, of course it is your choice, I just wanted to share something I have learned by experience and the solution from the forum!

Ike

[Jeff_Birt]

Just FYI. I base my theory on how the machine works based on many years of designing and building industrial control systems and the function of the two separate switches on the clear cover. It is true that I don't have a detailed understanding (schematics etc.) of this machine.

[GrammaPam]

Curious about the instruction that says if you press off twice during a carve it ends the carve. Especially on long carves or if I suspect a problem or get the check cut motor message I like to study how things are going inside with the lid up. I'm afraid to push the stop in case I have to press it more than once and could stop the job completly. And about static electricity: I always have extreme static electricity, opening the gate, getting out of the car, taking senthetics out of dryer and closet, brushing hair, etc. but no problem with my machine. It's on a converted metal rolling cart. Due to seemingly natural predisposition with electricity I worry about it. One last question on the other thread about spell check on forum replies: Even when turning off my pop up blocker ieSpell won't download on my computer. I don't figure spelling is all that important, we all talk with accents and colloquialisms anyway, the point usually gets across.
Thanks in advance for any input.
G.P.

[AskBud]

Try a Right Click, in a empty area of the Gray Tool Bar above.
Then click on CUSTOMIZE and ADD/Remove Commands. You may find that the iSpell is on the Left and just needs to be moved to the Right side.
AskBud

[oldfogey]

I was wondering why iSpell wasn't downloading or becoming active. Now I know. This paragraph was properly spell checked thanks to AskBud.

[gwiz]

Jeff,
Not to be redundant or question anyone's background but I would bet a lot that the lid switch is a safety cut out. Not only does it cut power to the cut motor, but it would have to remove power from other moving mechanisms as well. After all when you change bits you have to lift the lid in order to change the bit. Well, you certainly don't want the machine to be active or become active when you are doing this. Notice after you change the bit the machine needs the lid closed and requires a keyboard prompt to re-activate.
I have worked on and designed numerous system that do just as this does.

I fully understand the analogies used by others as to why you should use the keyboard Stop Function and agree. I use the keyboard stop method and not the lid switch.

I still would like to see a logic diagram on this machine. Just for my own curiosity.

Anyway, I really like this machine and I ALSO FEEL WE HIJACKED THIS ORIGINAL THREAD. LOL Tom

[Ike]

Anyway, I really like this machine and I ALSO FEEL WE HIJACKED THIS ORIGINAL THREAD. LOL Tom[/QUOTE]

Sorry Tom, just wanted to share something about the cover switch. I have changed it 3 times on my CW and about the same with the other CC's. I learned to resolve the problem by not using the cover as a stop. I thought it may help to know other things you might not be aware of, like the test hours.

I am not a technician, just a owner of 2 CC and 1 CC for over 2 years. You will see many post tend to change subjects. Just the nature of the forum.

Sorry again was just trying to help.

Ike

[gwiz]

IKE, No apologies needed. :confused: I was only kiddin about the Hijack thing. Your info as well as Jeff's is much sought and appreciated.

I really enjoy these forums. In fact this is the most I have written on any forum board...

Have a Great Week and may the chips fly..:)
Tom