cutter motor diagnostics

[raye321]

I have a reconditioned carvewright for about 7 months now. I just noticed that the motor sounds a little different. The tones not the same seems a bit softer. How do I run a diagnostics on it?

[fwharris]

With the latest version of designer there are some built in diagnostics that you might try looking at.

How many carving hours do you have on the machine? If getting up around 250 it might be time for new cut motor brushes...

[chief2007]

Yes the new designer has a test you can run. You find it under the options button on the keypad.

Also check the housing where the flex shaft is secured to the cut motor, I had cracks in the housing, which caused the shaft to have a lot of play and made it run differently.

Also had a terminal wire inside the motor that had a loose solder joint I had to fix once as well.

fwharris is right on the money if you are at or close to 250 hours - brushes - they are easy to change.

[raye321]

I have about 100 hrs but I bought it reconditioned so I think it went back to 000 hrs when I got it. Who knows how many acual hours on on the motor. I'm not sure what you mean by designer. Doyou mean the key pad on the machine, go to options?

[raye321]

I looked n the carvewright website for cutter motor brushes but cant find any. Where would I find them?

[bergerud]

I am sure that new brushes would be installed in a reconditioning. With only 100 hours, your brushes are probably ok. The test chief was speaking of is in the new firmware (1.181 or later) on the machine. There are user tests - (4) run cut motor : press 0 then 8 then 4 on the keypad. (I think) You must have Designer version 1.81. This will simply run the cut motor until you press stop. It may give you a better and safer way to listen to your motor run.

[chief2007]

For the brushes you can call Carvewright/LR direct and they will hook you up, They have been some folks that have brushes for sale on the forum, look under the Buy-Sell-Trade area of the forum.

One thing else to consider - You may have some saw dust getting between the brushes and the coil, if so that affects the operation as well.

[raye321]

The motor sounds like it is a bit muffeled. Could that besaw dust? Do I need to take the motor out to clean it?

[fwharris]

Ray,

Might not be a bad idea to go ahead and inspect the inside of the motor for dust build up and also inspect the brushes. One thought I also had is have you cleaned out the muffler bag lately? It does catch a lot of fine dust and if not cleaned out regularly it does build up.

[raye321]

I did clean out the muffler bag and I was able to take out the top brush to inspect it Looks like mayb 1/4- 1/2 way worn. Plenty left so i dont think it is the brushes. What is the number on the key pad for "repeat last project" I think it said. Would that repeat the last carving project I just did with out having to go through the key pad procedure,

[mtylerfl]

I did clean out the muffler bag and I was able to take out the top brush to inspect it Looks like mayb 1/4- 1/2 way worn. Plenty left so i dont think it is the brushes. What is the number on the key pad for "repeat last project" I think it said. Would that repeat the last carving project I just did with out having to go through the key pad procedure,

Sounds to me like it is time to replace the brushes based on your description. As far as the "repeat" I am thinking that only applies to job/functions that are implemented from the machine itself, rather than an MPC (edge route, miter cuts and stuff like that). I don't think the repeat has anything to do with repeating an actual MPC...but, I could be dead wrong on that - perhaps someone here remembers for sure.

EDIT: I just quickly peeked at the hardware owner's manual...it does seem to confirm that the Repeat function applies only to machine jobs, not an MPC

[bergerud]

The "repeat last operation" is for routing operations and not for carving projects. Sorry, you will have to answer all those questions again and again and...
(Some good news is that a repeat carve operation may be coming.)

[raye321]

Update on cutter motor noise- I dont think it is the cutting motor. The noise sounds like it is coming from the other end- cutting truck. I put my hand on the flex assembly coming out of the cutting truck- it is vibrating but as I move my hand back on the sheath the vibration stops.

[mtylerfl]

Update on cutter motor noise- I dont think it is the cutting motor. The noise sounds like it is coming from the other end- cutting truck. I put my hand on the flex assembly coming out of the cutting truck- it is vibrating but as I move my hand back on the sheath the vibration stops.

Is the flexshaft fully seated into an undamaged square hole in the tophat? (if the corners are rounded, that's a sign the flex wasn't fully seated at one time or another). Any chance of overlubrication causing the bearings to prematurelay wear out (i.e., any black goo in the top area of the bearings)?

[raye321]

I replaced the flex shaft assembly a couple of weeks ago and it ran fine. The noise just started. I pulled it out and it looks fine. I switched ends and it seemed even louder so I switched it back. I have taken the shaft out several times it seems to only go in one way. clicks down There is a little space between the end of the shealth and the top of the sleeve coming out of the cutting truck but no matter how hard I push it doesnt go down flush with it. I dont know if thats the way it is supposed to be. The ends look ok I cant really tell if they are rounded or not

[bergerud]

Ok this is a problem. One end or the other is stopping the flex from inserting all the way. The flex must "float" in the sheath. The flex being under compression is one of the reasons for heat and failure. Test how well the square ends slide into the spindle end and the motor end. Check if there is a fray in an end. You must get the flex to float. Good luck.

[raye321]

I saved the core from the old assembly. I had to replace the entire assembly because it got hot and melted the sheath right at the end of the support wire. It never made that noise on the old one so I put the old core in and tried it, still made the same noise and vibration. I compared the ends from the new to old one and they look pretty much the same.

[raye321]

Is there anything in the cutting truck that could cause this? I replaced the chuck(old style) a few months ago.

[bergerud]

Does the silencing spring in the sheath seem ok? Did the sheath slide all the way into the top hat with the old core? Maybe the cores do not slide far enough into the square hole in the motor end. Test to see if there is end play and that the cores are not being compressed. (My core, when pushed into the sheath toward the motor only sticks out 1/2" on the spindle end.) How does the square hole in the spindle look? Could the top bearing in the spindle have had its grease washed out with cable lube? Keep digging until you find something.

[raye321]

The spring looks ok. when you say top hat do you mean the sleeve that sticks up from the hole in the cutting truck? If thats what you mean the sheath does not go down flush with the sleeve. There is about an 1/8" between the sheath end and the sleeve. I tried pushing it down but it would not go and I dont know if thats the way it is supposed to be or not. My core also has about 1/2" sticking out on the cuting truck end before I put it in. I took the core out of the sheath and placed it in the cutter truck end it seems to be ok I dont know if that helped or not to test. When sliding the core into the sheath and in to he motor nd I can feel it seat in and it turns fine. The sound is loud at the cutter truck end. I took the core out and back in sveral times it seems to go in one way and thats about it. It clicks in, I cant pull it out unless I turn it so it seems to be in. I put a new flex saft assembly in about a week or so ago and put maybe 8-10 hrs on it It worked fine, nice and smooth. Suddenly as it was into a project about 3-4 min I heard the sound, like a low loud muffel. Put my hand on the sheath at the top of the cutter truck and it vibrates. As I moved my hand back towards the motor the vibration stops in the reat of the sheath. I compared the ends of the new core with my old one and I see no difference. I was told that probably the core is not seated correctly. If it wasnt seated right you would think it would have done that fom the start.

[bergerud]

Find out why the sheath does not completely slide down into the top hat (flexshaft pivot assembly (141)). If it slides in all the way down without the core, it must be that the core is not sliding far enough into the square hole in the spindle shaft. If that is the case, undo the two screws and take off the top hat. Inspect the square hole in the spindle shaft. Test how far into the hole the core goes.

[raye321]

where do I find flexshaft ivot assemble 141?

[AskBud]

where do I find flexshaft ivot assemble 141?The part is on page #8 of the parts manual.http://www.carvewright.com/2010CWweb/service/Maintenence/CW_parts_list_manual.pdf
AskBud

[raye321]

Bad news, I took out the flexshaft on both ends and reinstalled them. I tried it on an 8 min project and before it was done The bit broke and the machine was smoking. I burned my hand when I touched the cutting truck, you could fry and egg on it. The flex shaft was pretty normal, alittle warm but not much. What the heck is wrong with this machine?

[AskBud]

Bad news, I took out the flexshaft on both ends and reinstalled them. I tried it on an 8 min project and before it was done The bit broke and the machine was smoking. I burned my hand when I touched the cutting truck, you could fry and egg on it. The flex shaft was pretty normal, alittle warm but not much. What the heck is wrong with this machine?It would help to see this particular MPC. However, I suspect the you have bad bearings in the chuck spindle. I presume it was your carving bit that broke in the wood (not in Corian).

I Think, It's time to order the CarveTight Assembly (in my opinion)! Remember that you will need new carving and Cutting Bits along with at least one Split Collet. You get a $40.00 rebate when you return the old chuck.
AskBud

[raye321]

More bad news, I had a 1/16" bit that I put on to see if the motor would work. The machine went through it's procedure as usual but when it tried to crve the motor would not turn on. Is the a diagnostics check I can use to see if it is bad

[raye321]

I think your right I was thinking what was in the spindle that would go bad because thats where the loud sound was coming from. And it looked like thats where it was smoking from. Now the motor will not turn on

[AskBud]

I've sent you a private message about revising your profile, which may help you find a friend close by.
AskBud

[bergerud]

Not good! It sounds like you must have a bad bearing in the truck (or maybe a missing tolerance ring). First, does the spindle shaft wobble around? Does it spin smoothly? My guess now would be that the top bearing is bad. That would explain the vibrating flex from before and the heat now. Take off the top hat and check the top bearing.

(The tolerance ring is a corrugated, split ring which wraps around the outside of the bearings. Sometimes the bottom one falls out and then the spindle wobbles. This would explain the broken bit but maybe not the heat.)

Edit: the cut motor not working has to be a separate problem.

[bergerud]

Hey raye321: Did you ever determine what was wrong with your truck? Did you get your machine fixed? Let us know how it turned out.