Please load board message

[bradmac]

Need some help. I am an in-frequent user at best, still working more than playing, anyway, having a heck of a time getting my machine to acknowledge that I have loaded a board. Tried cleaning and greasing the 4 posts and the loading screws and sometimes I can try loading the board a dozen times and nothing, then the next time it loads and I can proceed. I don't do anything different, just sometimes it works. Thanks for any ideas.
bradmac

[rjustice]

Bradmac,
I havent personally delt with that error, but it sounds like the rollers arent compressed far enough, so it doesnt think there is a board in the machine. The first thing would be to know that the machine is warm enough. My machine doesnt want to clamp the board correctly until it gets up to about 60 degrees. If it is warm enough, I would get your bathroom scales and crank the head down onto them. Should read 75-85 lbs. If the pressure is enough the rollers switch should be working. If the switch is not working you could try pulling the rollers up and down a few times by hand. You will feel the spring tension on them and you can hear the switch clicking on and off. You can check the switch reading on the LCD screen as well.

That will get you started...

Ron

[Deolman]

I have had the same problem quite often as well. I have checked the pressure with a bathroom scale and it was right on 80 pounds. How do you check the the switch on the LCD? My hearing is shot and a grandkid is never around when you need them. (It barely made up to 48 degrees outside today so it may be a while before I can check it.)

[forqnc]

How do you check the the switch on the LCD?

Yes, press Options (0) then Measure (7) on your keypad, then using the arrow buttons you can scroll to see a variety of sensors to check. For the rollers it will show them both, then says released or compressed. By activating pressure on the rollers you should see it change on the screen if all is well.

[bradmac]

Thanks for all the help. Makes me wonder if most of my trouble isn't temperature related. Just doesn't want to warm up in Minnesota and I probably didn't give my shop enough time to warm up. Will give it a try this weekend again. Thanks again.
Bradmac

[Fire_N_Water]

Bradmac,
I've had the same problem. I'm fanatical about cleaning my machine after each use but found that I had some buildup on the posts as well as the threads of the clamp. I think temp defenitely has an effect but use an air hose and clean everything very well, then take a clean rag and make sure that the threads and posts are absulutely clean, lube everything up and run it up and down quite a few times. If you raise it too high you can always use an allen wrench, small screw driver or even an awl to get it started down again. I was perplexed as you are but it turned out to be gunk buildup....which is even worse if it's cold gunk.

Dave

[Gunner]

Temperature changes can be a major factor in any machine failure. When the temperature falls from say 60 degrees to 50 degrees moisture in the air will condense on any material. As in; rain in the summer, snow in the winter. When this moisture condenses on the parts of your machine it will cause rust on the metal surfaces. And put moisture on the rest of the surfaces, plastic covers, circuit boards, etc. In a perfect world we would like to keep our machines at 65 degrees and 40% humidity. We can't but we can take steps to stop major temperature changes. IE. insulate the shop, keep it above 50 degrees. If not there will be problems. This also causes the wood we work with to shrink, expand, warp. And most of the finishes we apply need to be kept above freezing while stored, or applied. Most polyurethanes will not cure below 60 degrees. So that said, yes temperature can cause a lot of problems. Ok, that's all I have to say about the subject.