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View Full Version : Early signs of cut motor needing brushes?



FWMiller
03-09-2014, 11:26 PM
Are there any early indicators of cut motor brushes close to wearing out? My 2007 version A machine has 120 cut hours on it so I wasn't expecting to have to do anything for a while. During a carve today the motor stopped and a "check cut motor" message came up. I check around and didn't see anything out of the ordinary and nothing was hot. I just hit "enter" and it went along its way and finished up the carve and another one right afterwards. While the motor was running I noticed a little bit of variation in RPM while the motor was spinning under no load. When it's under load cutting it sounds normal. Is there anything short of taking the motor apart and pulling out the brushes that would indicate it needs servicing soon? I'll probably go ahead and order some brushes to have on hand just in case but I'd rather fix it before it dies in the middle of a carve, but not before I need to.

fwharris
03-09-2014, 11:42 PM
Were you getting the check cut motor message during your ship carve? Some times doing vector carves you will get the check cut motor message. It has been a common occurrence for a long time now. I believe it is the computer expecting the cut motor to be at a certain rpm.

You motor brushes should still be ok if you only have about 120 hours on them. You can easily check to be sure by removing to top cover and removing the top brush cap on the cut motor.

dltccf
03-10-2014, 11:32 AM
In the winter time when my garage is down around 55 degrees, I often get the check cut motor about 30 seconds after I start a carve. I hit continue and it continues just fine. I thought it was an indication that I needed to change brushes, so I did but it still does it when the temp is close to the 55 degree cutoff listed in the manual. I have talked to others who have operated their machines just fine down to 40 degrees but mine gets finicky at anything below 60.

dave

FWMiller
03-11-2014, 07:21 PM
Thanks for the feedback. I didn't realize I could get to at least one of the brushes without pulling out the motor so I'll do that next time I have the cover off. I haven't had any more occurrences so looks like it was just over of those finicky moments you guys mentioned. Although there's not much about the California weather I would expect the machine to complain about;). Not all that often we get down to even 55 degrees during hours that I could use my machine without making the neighbors very unhappy.

bergerud
03-11-2014, 07:44 PM
I can change both brushes with a coin in a few minutes. It is not really necessary to take the cover off or the motor out if you just want to check or change the brushes.

Ton80
03-14-2014, 06:30 PM
If it was a vector or centerline carve then it is very common to get that message. I get it every single time I start a centerline carve. Never get it during a raster carve. Just one of those oddities you get used to. Hit continue and all should be fine.

I would love to see how you change your brushes without removing the motor ;) since I have a set that need to be replaced soon.