Cut Motor worth sending back?

[amanda0101]

My machine gives me the CCM before starting every project, when turning the head myself the sensor stays at "0". So probably a magnet. Contacted LHR they said they have none in stock and we would have to send the motor back and wait a few weeks so they can repair it. Is it worth sending back and being without my CW for a while? It seems to carve alright but I don't want to sit around and wait if it can ruin my CW. In fact I am not sure if this is related but when I put my 90 V bit in I always get a z axis error 246. After the first time using my 90 v bit my board sensor was toasted. It had broken both the screw holes and was hanging by the cords. LHR says they have no idea why the board sensor would be touching the board and why we only get the error with this bit. Could there be a correlation?

[Jeff_Birt]

I would suspect the the bit is setting too high/low in the bit adapter. If it is too far off the machine thinks something is wrong.

[www.go3d.us]

It could be the bit in this case but I've heard someone said that if you have check cut motor error just hit enter and it will run just fine.
HT

[amanda0101]

I would suspect the the bit is setting too high/low in the bit adapter. If it is too far off the machine thinks something is wrong.

So what do I do if this is the case. I attempted to do a carving a .045 to see if it would work and the bit 1/16 carving bit isn't even touching the board! Is this something I can fix myself or is it that the depth is to high and this would always happen? The 90 v bit is the craftsman that is made for the adaptors so I am not sure if it would be the bit or the machine itself. The guy from LHR told me that it should never have even cut deep enough to ruin the sensor if it was the bit because it should have given me an error before I started.

[deemon328]

Regarding the CCM error, I'm have the same problem. They offered to send another one out if I paid the $40 core charge or whatever they call it. Unfortunately, that was on a weekend and no one was in to complete the transaction. That's been a couple weeks now, so I'm bummed to hear that they're out of stock.

Anyhow, I ran a 5 hour carve and a 3.5 hour carve today with the CCM problem with no other issues. When that initial spin-up takes place at the start of the carve, I get the error. Then I hit enter and the bit starts again at a lower RPM than before, yet still higher than the normal RPM before the magnet fell off.

Bottom line, I don't think it's worth it to ship them the motor and wait for a fix. I noticed no other ill effects today using mine. I was worried about the flexshaft getting too hot because of the added RPMs, but it wasn't an issue.

[Jeff_Birt]

Amanda, when the machine firsts asks for the bits it will go to the back of the machine and touch down a little metal plate that flips out. Watch really closely when the bit touches the plate. Does the bit touch the flat part of the plate?

[mwildes]

Occasionally, I have had work pieces coming out with Centerline or carve areas that were too shallow or that didn't carve at all. I discovered that I have to closely watch the machine as it goes through the start-up steps. It HAS to touch the bit plate as it tests each different bit for the work piece. And it HAS to touch the wood as it goes through the "find surface" steps. When it malfunctioned and did not travel down far enough to touch one or the other, it would carve too high. It sounds like your machine may be having the same issues. If it malfunctions during ANY of the set-up steps, I cancel the process and start over from the beginning. It takes a few extra minutes, but if these "touch" steps happen properly, the cut depth works perfect. I hope this helps.

Marty

[Gunner]

Amanda,
I'm not sure if you have tried these but,here goes.
Page 30 of the manual will show correct bit installation clearance.
It may be time to re-calibrate your machine, this is covered on page 41 of the manual.
I don't know which version you are running but, I believe ver. 1.123 was supposed to take care of the CCM error.
I hope this helps.

[deemon328]

How did the software update fix the CCM problem? Was it an workaround for the magnet falling off?

[Gunner]

No if the magnet fell off you need to send it in.
There was a problem with CCM error that came up on older versions. When I upgraded to 1.125 I no longer got the message at 2 to 5% into the carve.I am now at ver. 1.126 and still don't get the error. Hopefully if the magnet goes bad I'll still be under 200 hrs.

[Digitalwoodshop]

For the new Carvers here is a picture of the cut motor magnet. Months ago I had first attempted to repair the magnet with shrink wrap but it failed in a few hours. The better fix at the time was to send the motor in and a new style round magnet holder was installed. That fixed the problem.

The amount of sawdust in the cut motor case bothered me some. 14.75 hour carves like my Neighbor Chris did recently makes me rethink the unattended carving machine. What after a very very long carve the sawdust started to burn inside the motor? Food for thought..... And I have a pretty good dust collection system.

AL

http://www.carvewright.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4274&highlight=anatomy+of+a+cut+motor

[ChrisAlb]

For the new Carvers here is a picture of the cut motor magnet. Months ago I had first attempted to repair the magnet with shrink wrap but it failed in a few hours. The better fix at the time was to send the motor in and a new style round magnet holder was installed. That fixed the problem.

The amount of sawdust in the cut motor case bothered me some. 13 hour carves like my Neighbor Chris did recently makes me rethink the unattended carving machine. What after a very very long carve the sawdust started to burn inside the motor? Food for thought..... And I have a pretty good dust collection system.

AL

http://www.carvewright.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4274&highlight=anatomy+of+a+cut+motor

Hey Buddy,

Yep, a clean machine is a MEAN machine....lol I didn't even know about a magnet? Guess that's because mine is still attached.

Vacuum vacuum vacuum....

[amanda0101]

Okay I think I may have fixed the problem. I didn't put together the machine as this one was my second and I got it from Sears already built but it seemed as if the flex shaft wasn't really secure in the cut motor. I rotated it until I felt it "snap" in and got through one whole piece without the CCM error. I don't want to get my hopes up though, could be a fluke. Now I have the frickin' "close cover" that won't go away. GRRR!! Called LHR but no offense to the guy, he seemed kind of new. Anyways after I got hung up on I decided to call back tomorrow. I cleaned out the sensors and it works but it keeps stopping and telling me to close the cover. If I disconnect what I believe are the safety wires (the two male/female wires that are connected to the lid), does anyone know if it will just act as if the cover is closed?

[ChrisAlb]

Okay I think I may have fixed the problem. I didn't put together the machine as this one was my second and I got it from Sears already built but it seemed as if the flex shaft wasn't really secure in the cut motor. I rotated it until I felt it "snap" in and got through one whole piece without the CCM error. I don't want to get my hopes up though, could be a fluke. Now I have the frickin' "close cover" that won't go away. GRRR!! Called LHR but no offense to the guy, he seemed kind of new. Anyways after I got hung up on I decided to call back tomorrow. I cleaned out the sensors and it works but it keeps stopping and telling me to close the cover. If I disconnect what I believe are the safety wires (the two male/female wires that are connected to the lid), does anyone know if it will just act as if the cover is closed?

Hey Amanda,

Two quick questions and forgive me if I'm stating the obvious and or something you've already tried but,

Did you go through the sensor check and open and close the cover several times to see if it's reading both open and closed correctly?

Also, when you get this, is it when the machine is running? Possibly vibrating the cover and stopping the machine?

We'll figure it out....

Chris

[pkunk]

Sometimes it is just loose screws on the CC motor switch.

[bizbiki]

I had the same problem with the ccm error on the display, I was at a woodworking show in Portland OR in October 07 and met a very nice guy named David who told me that he was one of the founders of the company and a developer of the CW. The error he assured me was the version of the software (1.23) and the later version would correct that problem; When the updated software did not work the problem out, I then changed the rpm sensor, also no diference. I was then told by a tech at LHR that just hitting enter would have the CW bypassing this warning, and that it was probably being caused by some magnets falling off of an internal piece.

I for one am not to big on ignoring warinings or prompts, and I especially dislike that a lot of times the lhr response to fixing a problem is to remove a part, (ie, the bushings on the z truck, the protecive cable of the wires in the back of the machine etc.)

The latest problem has been that the bit plate would not fully swing out, after many many attempts to fix this problem, both here on the forum and with the LHR guys I am finally breaking down and send my machine to texas.


What has generally been the turn around time for this?

Louie

[deemon328]

Now I have the frickin' "close cover" that won't go away. GRRR!! Called LHR but no offense to the guy, he seemed kind of new. Anyways after I got hung up on I decided to call back tomorrow. I cleaned out the sensors and it works but it keeps stopping and telling me to close the cover. If I disconnect what I believe are the safety wires (the two male/female wires that are connected to the lid), does anyone know if it will just act as if the cover is closed?

Try getting some electrical contact spray cleaner at Home Depot and spraying it into the cover switch. That cleared my problem right up. Bypassing the safety of the switch sort of crosses the line from patch-fix to possibly dangerous action.


The latest problem has been that the bit plate would not fully swing out, after many many attempts to fix this problem, both here on the forum and with the LHR guys I am finally breaking down and send my machine to texas.


Try spraying Gunk Dry Lube with PTFE on the spring on the bit plate. Also try sanding the edge of the ztruck where it contacts the bit plate. There's other posts on the bit plate here that can help out. If you get really sick of it, put a paper clip (the ones with the black metal on them) near the bit plate to make it stick out all the time.

[Digitalwoodshop]

Amanda,

I posted this tip today some place else but it is possible that you plugged the left switch cable plug into the circuit card 180 degrees out. It will fit.... I did it.

Check that please. The 2 guide strips will still let you push the plug in wrong.

Let us know,

Good Luck,

AL


PS.

Also be careful and do not tighten the screw holding the flex cable in TOO tight or you will do what I did last summer.

[TIMCOSBY]

try tightening the two screws that are up under the switch. do the one on the left that is the close cover switch. it fixed mine.