Scanning probe issue

[PNAB]

Ok I did my first scan yesterday and it turned out great. Today I kept getting several "probe errors" I cleaned everything out, jiggled the probe and looked everything over, and still kept getting errors. When the then scan did finish it looked horrible! The probe did not pick of the checkering on the scanned item and the edges were jagged. I did not set the scan depth...could that be the issue?

[djarboe]

Ok I did my first scan yesterday and it turned out great. Today I kept getting several "probe errors" I cleaned everything out, jiggled the probe and looked everything over, and still kept getting errors. When the then scan did finish it looked horrible! The probe did not pick of the checkering on the scanned item and the edges were jagged. I did not set the scan depth...could that be the issue?

While setting the scan depth is a good idea, this is most likely not causing the errors. I was getting lots of "check probe" errors, and the probe would not move down to touch the scan depth.

So, I decided to take the probe apart. The probe is very simple. It merely completes a circuit, like a light switch in the on position. Once it "runs into" the object being scanned, it moves slightly sideways and breaks the circuit. The carvewright then moves the probe up vertically until the circuit closes again.

There have been many threads discussing the poor quality of solder joints at the end of the cable inside the probe. Check these first. You can carefully re-solder these joints. This was not, however, my problem.

A volt-ohm meter or continuity tester is very handy to troubleshoot the probe. Next time you get the probe error, check to see if the probe switch is open or closed. My guess is you will find it is "open", or in my light switch analogy, "off".

So, take a deep breath and take the probe apart. You will find the metal probe is bolted into a plastic triangle, with a square nut on the back. This assembly just lifts out. (Note the orientation of the small tab on the triangle for reassembly. In my case, I found the square nut was corroded. In the base of the probe housing there is a spring that constantly pushes on the square nut. This is also part of the electrical path for the probe, and the corrosion was leaving the circuit "open" so the CarveWright did not "see" the probe. I cleaned off the corrosion with some steel wool, an exacto knife, and some sandpaper, and got the electrical path to work again. So then reassemble the probe. BE SURE to clean all the sanding/cleaning debris off the parts before reassembling.

My next run, the probe was picking up false items in the air. It then dawned on me that the spring pushing on the nut was not pushing hard enough. The vibrations during scanning were enough to wiggle the probe and give false points. So I took the probe apart again and ever-so-carefully stretched the spring to make is a little longer. I reassembled the probe, and it now works perfectly.

Hope this helps. I found the "check probe" error message to be laughable and frustrating. The first time I got it, I thought, "Ok, check WHAT about the probe. It's kind of like that "check engine" light in your car. Even a message like "probe not found" would at least point you in the right direction.


Good Luck.

[Jeff_Birt]

A very, very light coating of dielectric (silicone) grease on the contacts helps too. I smear some into the tip of my index finger, just enough to leave a grease stain on a piece of paper but not enough to see, and wipe over all the contacts. A little on the pivots points won't hurt either.

[WorkedWood]

First off I am a first time poster but I think I’ve read almost every post up to my recent purchase of the CC machine. (went with Sears and the 5 yr. Master Protection Plan). So thank you all for your trial and error and willingness to help the other owners through issues.

I bought the probe within a week of the machine mainly for the Pattern Editor (PE). Right out of the box it came with no quick change adapter (QCA). I called customer service and was asked to send a picture of what I received. I did this and got an email advising that they were sending a replacement probe and asked that I return the original. I got the new unit in 4 days and played around with a simple scan. I wasn’t terrible happy with the result in PE but I figured I could play around and improve my skills. I went to do a second scan and the check probe errors began. I hadn’t sent the first probe back yet so I switch the QCA and gave it a try same error, switched cables same error. Came to the forum and started researching everyone’s fixes and decided to try one at a time to see if I could narrow it down. The first thing I tried was stretching out the spring to apply more pressure on the head. Reassembled the head and I was off to the races. Now I had no corrosion and the contacts looked decent, but I did recognize one area that may be an issue. There are two contacts that touch each other with one of the three screws going through both. It appeared that there was a considerable amount of play from side to side so if this screw starts to come loose via vibration it could become intermittent.

Sorry for the lengthy first post, I guess I had more to say than I thought.