Caution

[chipseverywhere]

I just received my machine back from Texas to repair the Z-truck and was told that I had over lubed the flex shaft allowing some to migrate into the cut motor so now they won't warranty my cut motor.So now I will only lube the flex shaft if it is starting to get hot. Need a thermometer to monitor it. Take care

[deemon328]

I'm sorry to hear that.

It's pretty lame that we were forced to fix a QA problem on their end, yet now when we try to fix it, it creates a way for them to shun responsibilty.

[Jeff_Birt]

Guys, CW put out a notice almost a year ago that it is very easy to over-lubricate the flex shaft and that it only needs to be lubed if it is getting hot. It has nothing to do with QA, it has to do with US. I did not clean the excess lube from my flex shaft on one occasion and toasted the top spindle bearing. No way I can blame CW for that, it was all my fault. Which I think was the OPs point.

[Cmdr.Rav]

What happens if you are new to the machine and forum? How can you expect to know this without reading several back post and why would you unless you have the issue? Does the machine now come with special instructions on keeping the flex shaft lubed and how to apply it? If so it is unfortunate to learn about with our wallets. Something I would do!!

Thanks Chipseverywhere for the heads up, I too am sorry for learning the hard way. But I appreciate you helping others.

[Jeff_Birt]

http://www.carvewright.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1470

The fifth post down in the announcments section, not too hard to find.

[Cmdr.Rav]

Thanks, very straight forward I never looked there. Hopefully any new owners will visit the forum and go to the announcments. The owners that don't will find out the hard way when they send their machine in for repair and need to buy a new motor!

Maybe it should be include in the setup instructions for those who are unaware of the forum?

Thanks again,
Rav

[deemon328]

I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but here's the problem I have with this subject and it becoming the user's fault.

"The flexshaft core should be cleaned and re-lubricated only if it begins to exhibit heating during operation." That's verbatim from p.34 of the manual revision 1.16 dated 02/20/07, which post-dates the forum post from 9-8-06 on updated Flexshaft Lubrication.

Don't you see the margin for error that's built in there? It doesn't say warm, hot, xxx degrees F with your laser thermometer or hot spots in the manual. It says 'begins to exhibit heating'. So, with that wide open description, you could take a sufficiently lubed shaft out because you were following the book directions and relube it exactly as specified in the manual, then put it back in over-lubed. All of a sudden now it's user error.

Yes, I do believe that this is a quality issue. Why would a flex shaft be shipped improperly lubed in the first place? Why would the latest revision of the manual not state more specifically when you need to re-lube?

It's hard to know what information on this site is valid for the current Compucarve machine, and which information is obsolete from the beta days. Even many of the PDFs that support staff send out are not current. The Z-axis replacement and bit plate adjustment are great examples of PDFs that need updated. The z-axis document doesn't discuss any of the rerouting of the new cable and board. The bit plate PDF has screenshots from the old Carvewrights. New ones don't have the clip on the cut motor side. They have a sleeve.

Anyhow, I acknowledge that user error accounts for many of the problems that we see on the forums, but if this machine is so delicate that any small error can send it back to Texas, then we need constantly updated *official* statements and manual addendums to help us on the front page of the web site.

[Jeff_Birt]

I think that one of the best features of the forum is the ability for us as users to exchange helpful information like this. The thing that goes hand-in-hand with sharing the information, is finding information. I know that I harp on the 'Search' feature a lot, and folks get sick of it. But this is a prime example. A few minutes of searching can save you a lot of headaches and heartaches later on.

[pkunk]

Exactly! I have people on one of the WW forums that I frequent that can't even figure out how to adjust a dovetail jig from the MFG instructions. This is much more complicated and all the info on how to make it work is here.;)

[The "DH"]

Like Jeff, I too, even after reading the annoucement over lubricated my flexshaft and had problems with the motor. In my opionion this is my fault!!! So now when I have problems I treat them like I cut wood read twice then make the repairs/adjustments/etc..... This has cut down on my problems/errors/poor cuts and so on.

[Frank]

I was setting up my machine and during the set up I made all my choices for the cut, under the rollers (yes), cut to length (no), etc. I got to where I wanted to start the cut. Set my options 1. in middle of board, 2. jog to position and 3. start at corner. I picked option 1. The machine said it was measuring the board, the "Y" axis moved to the center of the board and stopped. Then I got a fatal error 181. I turned off the machine, reset the project and tried again with the same result. So, I shut off the machine again, rest everything and this time I pickes option 3. and the project cut with no problems. I am running 1.12 software and I was using the 1/16 inch bit. I was hoping that someone might help me with this error. Thanks

[DocWheeler]

Frank,

You probably tried the Search for answers and could not get what you wanted.
If you enter your search words inside of quotes, you will get better results when the words are short. Try "error 181" and see what comes up.
I had originally tried it with single quotes and got frustrated earlier this year.
HTH

[Frank]

Thanks Doc. I tried entering fatal error 181 but the search said I had to enter more than three character words.So I tried just error. I only saw one item on error code 181 and it was a question by someone else. I guess I'll give LHR a call.

Thank you Frank

[DocWheeler]

Frank,

Sometimes it is tedious, but "error 181" brings up some good stuff.
You just have to try a couple of combinations to get a lead.

[Frank]

Thank you Doc for the help. I tried again only this time I typed it the way you typed it with parenthesis and like you said I found some good stuff. Thanks again for the nudge in the right direction.

Frank