Machine Down (204)

[chebytrk]

While doing several projects yesterday my machine finally went down. I was doing a 2 sided carve(round box). After doing one side I flipped it over and that's when I got a Fault 204. I did a seach and followed all the recommendations ie.. loosen 2 screws on keyboard side and blew compressed air in there.. (didn't work). I also placed tape on the board thinking that might do it, but that didn't work. When it measures the board it just keeps spitting the board out. This morning I took off the bottom plate completely and it had dust so I blew all that out. I put the plate back on and placed the board back in. Same thing... runs the board out completely however this time it gave a Fatal error 3, storing data and it just froze there. After a while I turned off the machine and place a different board and tried a different project. Same thing... spits the board out with error 204 (no more Fatal error 3). Any other suggestions I can try. Sure hope it's not real bad. I was on a good role with my projects! Please help..

[fwharris]

Jerry,

To me it sounds like you have a stuck compression roller if the board keeps moving out of the machine. I would suggest doing a sensor check on the rollers.

[chebytrk]

Jerry,

To me it sounds like you have a stuck compression roller if the board keeps moving out of the machine. I would suggest doing a sensor check on the rollers.

Thanks for the suggestion...... can you direct me how to do that? Sorry, sometimes I find this CW a little intimidating.

[PCW]

Jerry

Sounds like it may be a problem on measuring the length and points to the brass roller on the keyboard side of the machine. Is the o-ring in place and does it turn freely? Put some downward pressure on the brass roller and give it a shot of air.

Check using Censor check in options menu.


Brd Tracking

State – Numerical Value (0.000)
The Board Tracking sensor tracks the position of the workpiece as it travels in and out of the machine. A small brass wheel rides along the bottom side of the material and provides position information to the control system. It is extremely important that the workpiece have a very flat and defect free surface 3/8” in from the edge on the bottom side of the workpiece in order to operate correctly. To check the operation of this sensor first make sure that the brass wheel on the board tracking sensor has the black rubber o-ring in place and is spinning freely. Spin the wheel and verify that the value displayed on the LCD is changing

[fwharris]

Thanks for the suggestion...... can you direct me how to do that? Sorry, sometimes I find this CW a little intimidating.

Jerry,

Go to the options menu on the keypad and then scroll down to the sensor options. From there you can scroll throught the sensors to the compression rollers. With the head in the raised position they should read open. If they say closed then it is stuck and probably dirts with a lot of dust.

You can find all of this info in the trouble shooting section in the owners manual....

[chebytrk]

Jerry

Sounds like it may be a problem on measuring the length and points to the brass roller on the keyboard side of the machine. Is the o-ring in place and does it turn freely? Put some downward pressure on the brass roller and give it a shot of air.

Check using Censor check in options menu.


Brd Tracking

State – Numerical Value (0.000)
The Board Tracking sensor tracks the position of the workpiece as it travels in and out of the machine. A small brass wheel rides along the bottom side of the material and provides position information to the control system. It is extremely important that the workpiece have a very flat and defect free surface 3/8” in from the edge on the bottom side of the workpiece in order to operate correctly. To check the operation of this sensor first make sure that the brass wheel on the board tracking sensor has the black rubber o-ring in place and is spinning freely. Spin the wheel and verify that the value displayed on the LCD is changing


OK.... just checked and the o ring is there and the brass wheel moves freely. I went to options and did sensor check. I do see that it states Front roller: released and Back Roller: compressed I guess that must be the culprit. What can I do to release the back roller? I have no board in the machine at this time. Thanks for your help guys. I guess this further warrants having some type of DC system on these machines huh?

[fwharris]

OK.... just checked and the o ring is there and the brass wheel moves freely. I went to options and did sensor check. I do see that it states Front roller: released and Back Roller: compressed I guess that must be the culprit. What can I do to release the back roller? I have no board in the machine at this time. Thanks for your help guys. I guess this further warrants having some type of DC system on these machines huh?

HMMM, yes a DC system will help with the dust situation!!!:)

Most of the time you can clear this by moving the roller up and down with your hand and giving it a blast of air to blow the dust out. The sensor is on the end of the roller at the keyboard side of the machine.

Worst case you will have to take the 2 screws that hold the end of the roller out. Not sure if you can do this without taking the end panel off or not..

[PCW]

Good call Floyd. Getting that dust out via DC sure made a difference for me.

[fwharris]

Good call Floyd. Getting that dust out via DC sure made a difference for me.

Thanks Dan!!! I do get a few of them right!!!

[eromran]

Since we are talking DC systems does any one know where one could pick one up for a good price Maybe a pre-made one would be nice.:rolleyes:

[chebytrk]

HMMM, yes a DC system will help with the dust situation!!!:)

Most of the time you can clear this by moving the roller up and down with your hand and giving it a blast of air to blow the dust out. The sensor is on the end of the roller at the keyboard side of the machine.

Worst case you will have to take the 2 screws that hold the end of the roller out. Not sure if you can do this without taking the end panel off or not..

OK....... just finished taking off the bottom panel again and blowing all that again. Also took the top off and blew all of that out as well. Put everything back together and ran the sensor check and it showed that the back roller was in a released state like the front roller. I placed a board in to see if it would measure it and the same thing again... pushed the board out and said to check the roller tracking (error 204). Took the board out and ran the sensor test again and this time it showed the Back Roller as compressed (not released). Where and what exactly is the roller it's talking about? Is it the roller that's above the back sand sheet area? Is that what I need to push up and down and try to blow out? I'll go back out and take the 2 screws out on the keypad side and use my dust can (with straw this time) to spray in the 2 holes again. Gettin' kinda frustrating, but trying to stay patient. This is the point where one starts to make all kinds of promises.....

[fwharris]

OK....... just finished taking off the bottom panel again and blowing all that again. Also took the top off and blew all of that out as well. Put everything back together and ran the sensor check and it showed that the back roller was in a released state like the front roller. I placed a board in to see if it would measure it and the same thing again... pushed the board out and said to check the roller tracking (error 204). Took the board out and ran the sensor test again and this time it showed the Back Roller as compressed (not released). Where and what exactly is the roller it's talking about? Is it the roller that's above the back sand sheet area? Is that what I need to push up and down and try to blow out? I'll go back out and take the 2 screws out on the keypad side and use my dust can (with straw this time) to spray in the 2 holes again. Gettin' kinda frustrating, but trying to stay patient. This is the point where one starts to make all kinds of promises.....

Jerry,

The compression rollers are the 2 black rollers that push down on the board when you lower the head down to the board. The sensor (switches) are on the end of the rollers on the key board side of the machine.

Here is a link to the pdf for this:

http://www.carvewright.com/images/service/Maintenence/CarveWright_service_cleaning_rollers.pdf

Which can be found here:
http://www.carvewright.com/cms/customer_service

[fwharris]

Since we are talking DC systems does any one know where one could pick one up for a good price Maybe a pre-made one would be nice.:rolleyes:

Are you asking about a dust collector or add ons for a collection system?

I do make a DC Insert top mount system that sits on the top tray of the machine to suck the dust off of the top of the board.

Link for this is in my signature at the bottom...

[forqnc]

Jerry, check out this thread, where I had compression roller problems.
http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?t=12103
Good Luck

[chebytrk]

Looks like I'm up and running again. Definately dust in the rear roller. I kept cleaning it and blowing it out and every time I'd see a little more dust come out. I pushed and pulled and rolled and slapped (little cursing too, but that didn't help none). Funny how you start talking to the CW asking it to please work! ha ha. I guess it figured I'd gone thru enough and decided it was a good lesson for today cause it finally measured the board without spitting it out. Of course I used up my cans of dust off so I've got to go and get some more. I do know that I'm gonna check at HD or Lowes and find me a DC this weekend. Been putting it off too long now. After that I'm ordering the accessory from FHarris and hope he can help me in getting it installed right. This cleaning and blowing and stuff is for the birds. Thanks everyone for your suggestions and help. My wife was worried and that I'd have to take it back to Sears before the warranty expired. I just kept telling her to wait cause I had a "team" of experts on my problem and I felt that we'd fix it somehow. I really mean it too. You guys out there don't know me from Adam (or Al Who?), but seems like when a problem comes up for someone ... EVERYONE jumps on it. I think that's what I like about this CW Forum family. No one wants anyone to fail with their CW. That is what keeps me going and keeps me hangin around til I get it right. One day, I'll be a Obee Wan like some of you gents out there and I'll help out a "young buck/doe" with his/her CW problems. Again, thanks for your help and patience..... back to my projects. :D

[chebytrk]

Since I was able to carve the back side of my round box project, how can I continue where I left off. I've never done this before, but I'll throw this out and someone let me know if I'm right on this......
I draw boxes around the parts that have already been carved and give them a 0 depth? I then place the project board again like if I was starting from scratch. Question...... does the machine still ask for all the bits and will it just carve "thin air" over those boxes (with 0 depth) that I placed on top of the carvings that are already done? If this is correct I guess it will still take the same length of time to cut that back side although the bits are not really being used.
Please let me know if this is correct or what I need to do to continue the "front" side of my 2 sided project. Thanks again.........

[dbfletcher]

If you only have the front side left, it is easier and quicker just to load the project in designer, and delete everything from the back side. Then you just are left with a single sided carve. Upload to the card as a new project... and you should be good to go.

Doug Fletcher

PS. Your method does work fine for a partially completed carve... I have successfully done that on a few occasions.

[fwharris]

Jerry,

Glad to hear you got your roller problem fixed!!

For a dust collector you might also check out Sear's and Harbor Freight. Some times they have some good deals..

[Steven Alford]

Even better, check out craigslist.com, surely there is someone in your area trying to get rid of a good Dc system. I got mine for $75