Reconditioned or New??? & HEAD PRESSURE Tip

[Outerside]

Bought Recondition ran into many problems. Was told by many pro’s hear to read this and that. I have read it all before, during and after. Finally toke it back and bought it New.

WOW very nice machine!!

Been using it for 1-2 weeks now ran into one problem.

HEAD PRESSURE 47.5lbs!!

I went through the manuals and forums and did everything that was said and went to 51 lbs. What the #$%^ piece of &^@$ machine. Tried again and again.

Then a light popped in my head.

(Before I say any more I am not a pro at this machine so please respect the advice from the manuals first and use this tip for last resort.)

Went to ACE Hardware bought a dollar spring. It was about 1.5” in length closet match. Replaced the spring in the Crank Assembly and the pressure went to 132lbs. Cut it down and I am at 86lbs with two clicks.

[Tom75]

good job . when i had a head presser problem i took the crank handle off and sprayed a little bit of white lithium grease in it and cranked the Handel up and down to fix the problem . like i said good job i will have to make a note of what you did if it happens again . have a good night.:D

[Deolman]

I understand the fix you made now gives the proper head pressure but I think you are putting undue stress on things.

My head pressure was at 55 lbs and I went through the following procedure.

First I cleaned and lightly lubricated the 4 vertical posts and the two screws that move the head.

Then I verified the head was level and not uneven as it relates to a board.

next I went here:

http://forum.carvewright.com//attachment.php?attachmentid=6161&d=1191280559

and downloaded the troubleshooting guide.

On page 8 of this guide I followed the instructions under:

"Please Load Board Prompt Occurs"

I understand this is not the error you are getting, but the instructions should help you get the head pressure back to where it belongs. Finally, I removed the crank assembly and squirted some lithium grease inside where it goes. When I finished all of this, my head pressure then read 85 lbs. each time I cranked it down.

No way to prove it, but I think the alignment gets tweaked by the shipping people on its' way to the final destination. If you do the above, I think you will see that you don't need the heavier spring.

[Rocky]

What happened to the recommendation to crank down about 5 clicks? Am I hearing (reading) that the springs are inconsistent in their tension?

[Jeff_Birt]

I think if you follow the procedure outlined by Deolman you'll be fine. Low head pressure is a sign that the head is not able to move up/down freely so the clutch reaches is slipping point before you actually be the needed down-pressure on the board. In other words low head pressure is a symptom of something being dirty, under lubricated or misaligned.

My worry is that installing a beefier spring masked the symptom but did not fix the underlying problem. Kind of like taking cold medicine does not sure a cold it just hides the symptoms of having a cold. I do admire the resourcefulness of the OP though.

Outerside, if you still have the original spring you might want to contact CW and see if they will test it if you send it to them.

[Rocky]

I think if you follow the procedure outlined by Deolman you'll be fine. Low head pressure is a sign that the head is not able to move up/down freely so the clutch reaches is slipping point before you actually be the needed down-pressure on the board. In other words low head pressure is a symptom of something being dirty, under lubricated or misaligned.

My worry is that installing a beefier spring masked the symptom but did not fix the underlying problem. Kind of like taking cold medicine does not sure a cold it just hides the symptoms of having a cold. I do admire the resourcefulness of the OP though.

Outerside, if you still have the original spring you might want to contact CW and see if they will test it if you send it to them.

Jeff, I agree with your reasoning on this one (i.e., one may be masking the real problem).

[cnsranch]

The head won't crank down properly in a cold shop, either.

[hess]

Hey did you get a Sears? Reason I ask is they are doing up to 5 year protection plan. I paid right at 300.

Hess

[Outerside]

Ok talked to support spring and machine washers was the problem. There sending new springs and washers.

They said to added washers to spring I have now (the one that came with the machine). So me adding a stronger spring to get head pressure up is doing the same thing.

I did go through all procedures, machine was as clean as it could get and as lubed as it could get, still low pressure until I added spring

Yes Sears, Yes have 5 year, No did not want to lug it all the way to Sear if it was something that I could fix

Shop at 68 basement

And again I did say I'm not a Pro and I read all pdf files and manual more than once. which I advise everyone to do before doing this trick. But support even said the spring is bad so.....

[Tom75]

excellent job