Pushing stop button works, and then machine restarts seconds later

[djarboe]

I generally stop a carving from time to time by pushing the STOP button for vacuuming out. Almost 90% done with current carving, so I once again hit the stop button. The motor stopped and the cutting head raised up, just like normal. In less than two seconds, it restarted the carving on it's own. Did this several times.... same result.

Follow-up: carving just finished, and the cutting motor stopped, then briefly started up, then quit. The machine asked me to load the 1/8" straight bit for the cutout, then, while I was getting ready to vacuum it out, it immediately went to homing, as if I had changed bits and pushed the green button again.

Is my CarveWright now possessed?

[Kenm810]

Possibly Possessed by a random Static Discharge from Vacuuming to close to the Key Pad side of the Machine --- ??

[Digitalwoodshop]

WOW..... So Christine visited your machine.... Like the Car Movie....

Well first off.... This is very dangerious....

The Cause is going to be a few things....

A bad Cable between the keypad to the Computer....

A bad Keypad....

A bad Computer...

A bad memory card...

Static...... Try grounding the machine and see if it keeps doing it.... I would do that first.....

Possible the bad C1 Cap on the X Termination Board.....

OR Moisture inside the Computer.... OR Card....

Many hard to troubleshoot except for replacing the parts...

LHR might want to give you a little FREE help as just writing about this problem will make the Product Liability Lawyers Salivate.... LHR would really want to narrow this one down and at NO Cost to the User.... In MY Opinion... It would be the right thing to DO.

Good Luck,

AL

[djarboe]

WOW..... So Christine visited your machine.... Like the Car Movie....

Well first off.... This is very dangerious....

The Cause is going to be a few things....

A bad Cable between the keypad to the Computer....

A bad Keypad....

A bad Computer...

A bad memory card...

Static...... Try grounding the machine and see if it keeps doing it.... I would do that first.....

Possible the bad C1 Cap on the X Termination Board.....

OR Moisture inside the Computer.... OR Card....

Many hard to troubleshoot except for replacing the parts...

LHR might want to give you a little FREE help as just writing about this problem will make the Product Liability Lawyers Salivate.... LHR would really want to narrow this one down and at NO Cost to the User.... In MY Opinion... It would be the right thing to DO.

Good Luck,

AL

Yea, I would hate to think what would of happened if I were inserting a new bit and it decided to spin up the cutting motor again!

Further follow up. So, when my machine proceeded to cut out the carving yesterday, but it did not let me change to the 1/8th in cutout bit, I stopped the project. Today, I took the project plan, reduced the board thickness to the new carve region thickness (now 1/2"), removed everything but the cutout. Saved that and just tried to run it. It asks for me to load the 1/8" cutting bit, which I already had. It measured the board (correctly), went through the homing, and found the surface of the board. Then, it just loops back to asking me to load the 1/8" cutting bit, goes through homing then loops back again. Just does this over and over and never proceeds. Any thoughts here?

[Dan-Woodman]

Is it measuring the bit on the cutout location or on the thicker part of the wood? It might do this if you told it your board was only 1/2" thick , but measured it at say -3/4"
later Daniel

[djarboe]

Is it measuring the bit on the cutout location or on the thicker part of the wood? It might do this if you told it your board was only 1/2" thick , but measured it at say -3/4"
later Daniel
I actually stopped it when it was measuring thickness, and jogged it to the 1/2" thick section. Funny though, it never actually lowered the bit all the way to touch the surface... close, but not quite touching.

[Digitalwoodshop]

That must be wood chips in the belt or bearing rods... It should touch the bit to the board... It is looking for a increase in motor current and when it detects it, reverses the Z. So dirty rails or cogs or belts will cause the increase in current...

The Load bit is a symptom of not touching the bit plate... Watch the bit plate... If it misses the bit plate it thinks NO bit is loaded... Wires from the right side switch to the cut motor can prevent the head from getting to the bit plate if they are out of place.

AL

[djarboe]

That must be wood chips in the belt or bearing rods... It should touch the bit to the board... It is looking for a increase in motor current and when it detects it, reverses the Z. So dirty rails or cogs or belts will cause the increase in current...

The Load bit is a symptom of not touching the bit plate... Watch the bit plate... If it misses the bit plate it thinks NO bit is loaded... Wires from the right side switch to the cut motor can prevent the head from getting to the bit plate if they are out of place.

AL

The bit is actually touching the bit plate. Will check the rails and cogs. Or, this may be a part of the "possession" problem.

[djarboe]

Well, heard back from LHR. They had several things for me to try... make sure I am running the latest version, format my card, and try a different carving. While these are all valid suggestions, there was no hint of concern about the fact that their product could very well have done a carving or a cutout on my fingers... and yes, I always run the latest version, I always format the card before uploading new projects, and I did try the simple cutout project.

Plan on doing a good cleaning on the system this weekend. Then will retry.

Can anybody tell me a couple of things:
1. how do I pull the sides off to clean the dust my vacuum can't get.
2. lubrication with 3-in-1 oil is recommended... will WD-40 do, or is that too light?

Finally, if static electricity is a problem, why doesn't LHR provide a grounded plug, with the ground hooked up to the static sensitive areas?

Dave

P.S. Any Product Liability Lawyers out there? If this does not work, and I cannot trust the machine to keep from starting up on its own, I want a new one. I checked, and I only have 103 hours of cut motor time.
P.P.S. To all you users, there was no warning something was about to go astray. Just 30 minutes earlier, it worked just fine when I hit the STOP button to vacuum the chips... watch your fingers in there!

[Digitalwoodshop]

Well, heard back from LHR. They had several things for me to try... make sure I am running the latest version, format my card, and try a different carving. While these are all valid suggestions, there was no hint of concern about the fact that their product could very well have done a carving or a cutout on my fingers... and yes, I always run the latest version, I always format the card before uploading new projects, and I did try the simple cutout project.

Plan on doing a good cleaning on the system this weekend. Then will retry.

Can anybody tell me a couple of things:
1. how do I pull the sides off to clean the dust my vacuum can't get.
2. lubrication with 3-in-1 oil is recommended... will WD-40 do, or is that too light?

Finally, if static electricity is a problem, why doesn't LHR provide a grounded plug, with the ground hooked up to the static sensitive areas?

Dave

WD 40 I don't recommend as it can get on the wood surface and prevent stains from working properly.

3 in 1.... Used it all the time when I was using the QC. Used it on the jacking screws and smooth rods too. Now since I have a ROCK and don't need the 3 in 1, I use Chain Lube on the threaded rod and smooth rods. Some use Dry Lube.

To remove the sides you just remove the screws on the top and bottom. I now leave my far side off my machines for ease of cleaning.

I seldom reformat the card... Just erase the old projects.....

AS for the grounding.... Back in 2007 one of our members worked at the UL Lab. Not directly on the CarveWright Certification but was there in the beginning. Said that the first units had a ground and UL asked them to remove it.... ???? It is not a problem until you start generating Static Electricity with a Vacuum Cleaner and or a Dust Collector.... It is the motion of the sawdust through the hose that makes the static. At least that is how I remember it...

Good Luck,

AL

[djarboe]

WD 40 I don't recommend as it can get on the wood surface and prevent stains from working properly.

3 in 1.... Used it all the time when I was using the QC. Used it on the jacking screws and smooth rods too. Now since I have a ROCK and don't need the 3 in 1, I use Chain Lube on the threaded rod and smooth rods. Some use Dry Lube.

To remove the sides you just remove the screws on the top and bottom. I now leave my far side off my machines for ease of cleaning.

I seldom reformat the card... Just erase the old projects.....

AS for the grounding.... Back in 2007 one of our members worked at the UL Lab. Not directly on the CarveWright Certification but was there in the beginning. Said that the first units had a ground and UL asked them to remove it.... ???? It is not a problem until you start generating Static Electricity with a Vacuum Cleaner and or a Dust Collector.... It is the motion of the sawdust through the hose that makes the static. At least that is how I remember it...

Good Luck,

AL

Hmm, brings up an interesting question. I don't use the muffler sock. Instead, I have connected my dust collector directly to the muffler port. Is this a bad idea?

[Digitalwoodshop]

I don't see a problem directing the muffler into a dust collection system. There is a slight concern that the sparking of the brushes with the increased air flow and possible dust inside the cut motor could make "FIRE"... and suck that into your dust collector..... A search on the net about dust collector and wood shop fires really makes you wonder... One shop burst into fire 12 hours after the last cut and the shop was closed.... As for Static and the Muffler... I don't think it is much of a worry.

AL

[djarboe]

WD 40 I don't recommend as it can get on the wood surface and prevent stains from working properly.

3 in 1.... Used it all the time when I was using the QC. Used it on the jacking screws and smooth rods too. Now since I have a ROCK and don't need the 3 in 1, I use Chain Lube on the threaded rod and smooth rods. Some use Dry Lube.

To remove the sides you just remove the screws on the top and bottom. I now leave my far side off my machines for ease of cleaning.


Good Luck,

AL

Al, sorry to be dense here. All I see is two screws on the bottom. Do I need to remove the bolts and lift the top?

[djarboe]

Can you believe CW's response to my email about problems that could have taken off my fingers.....? See below.. Just above this sentence, they notified me that my machine is out of warranty, so any future tech support will cost.

Please call Customer Support at 713-473-6572, if you need further assistance. Customers who are no longer under warranty, but require elevated support, may be charged $25 per issue or invited to join our CarversClub for higher level technical support. The CarversClub is an exclusive club for CarveWright and CompuCarve owners. With the $150.00 annual membership fee, members will receive the following:

Will not type what I think, since it would be considered profanity.

[djarboe]

Solved problem, but not sure what worked. Well, I gave my machine a complete cleaning with compressed air hose and dust collector running to pull in all the old chips, re-lubed everything. But I also reformatted the memory card, and even reflashed the firmware. Ran a new carving today, and everything worked just fine. Note that the technical support suggestion to merely re-format the card did not work... only re-flashing the firmware. So, if your machine starts acting possessed, I would definitely re-flash the firmware. Neither the re-formatting nor the re-flashing takes long. I plan on making this a common practice. Better than the system spinning up again while I am getting ready to change bits!!!