Error 400 in less than 8 hours of carving

[ralphhood3]

See details from this thread (latest post from me):
http://www.carvewright.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7496

Am I dealing with a bad board sensor? I'm using a compucarve, apparently the last one in the country that was sellable in a sears store a few weeks ago...do I deal with LHR to get a replacement board sensor, or do I take it to Sears (5yr warranty) and probably never see the unit again?

I think I know the answer (call LHR), but I also am leary of tampering with the unit in case I later do need to use the 5yr warranty from Sears and they argue that the machine has been tampered with.

Appreciate any advice on whether this could just be a sensor cleaning issue or if I'm out of luck and need a new sensor. As the thread linked above states, I'm getting a sensor reading of 0 no matter what.

[mtylerfl]

Of course, you should always deal with LHR directly for any machine repair issues.

[DocWheeler]

Ralph,

I got that error when the machine was measuring the length of a jig I was experimenting with. The problem was that the sensor was expecting to see a "board" after the roller was UNcompressed. I was using "rails" without any tape across the top of the rail-ends.

I have no idea what your machine was doing when you got your message, but if you were doing something similar to what I was doing, the sensor could not "see" a board. Perhaps there was some coloration or void that caused the problem.

Just guessing at this point.

[ralphhood3]

Thanks Ken.

Unfortunately I was just loading a new piece of wood into the machine for a new carve and it gave me the "board sensor" error when it started to measure the board. It was pretty immediate and I've tried with the board in, with it out, with the top cranked all the way up, all the way down etc.

I get the 400 error under all circumstances at this point. I've shut the machine off for the night and I'm hoping maybe it'll be happier with me tomorrow and work (well I can always hope right?).

[ralphhood3]

Well, waiting overnight didn't help, so I just pulled out the sensor module and I can definitely see a bit of dust under the clear window on the sensor. I say a bit because it's really just a small amount of dust around the edges but not really covering the center of the lens that would block the IR LED's from functioning.

The interesting thing though is that I think I must have one of the newer sensor modules because I can't for the life of me get the board off of the black plastic housing it sits in which means I can't get access to the inside of the clear window to try and clean it.

Regardless, even after trying to blow it out and reseat it, I still get a "0" on the sensor reading no matter what position the unit is in. I've even tried the hand under the sensor test and it still always reads "0".

Really sucks honestly! Machine is 3 weeks old, I've got a project I'm trying to do for my parents 40+ year retirement celebration in 2.5 weeks and I just lost my entire holiday weekend of being able to get this project done for them because of this sensor issue.

Anybody in the Seattle area with a carvewright that would be willing to carve a couple of plaques for me for a few bucks? I'm guessing there's no way I can get a new sensor given the short work week in time for me to still get this project done for my parents.

It's sad that my first 8 posts on this forum are for troubleshooting issues instead of showing off a completed project or two :-(

Severely frustrated,
Ralph

[DocWheeler]

Ralph,

That truly is a bummer. On the brighter side however is the fact that the major portion of the "bumpy" traveling is over. Problems usually appear early on because of the handling and user learning curve.

I'm not close enough to help; I hope you get it resolved to your satisfaction.

[ralphhood3]

Just an update, I'm going to end up with 2 board sensors. LHR said the warranty one could take 3-5 days because it has to be approved by their warranty department and then shipped ground even though I offered to pay for expedited shipping.

So I asked what a board sensor would cost me if I wanted to buy one so I could get it shipped asap and ensure I have it before the weekend so I can try to make up time on my project. The lady told me $15.

Needless to say I ordered one at $15 and paid for 2nd day air, and then I paid an $8.50 core charge (which was weird because other posts indicated it was only a $5 core charge) for the warranty replacement which will be here in a week or so.

I guess if these sensors are that sensative, it might not be a bad thing to have a spare on hand.

[Semper Fi]

I think I know the answer (call LHR), but I also am leary of tampering with the unit in case I later do need to use the 5yr warranty from Sears and they argue that the machine has been tampered with.

Ralph, don't worry about doing the fixes that LHR will option to you. Sears doesn't seem to have any problems about previous maintenance being performed by the user or LHR. But, I would worry about Sears working on my machine after the years warranty with LHR is up. Their Master Protection Plan borders on fraud! I sent my machine in and after 5 weeks, I got it back with several things being replaced, but nothing fixed that I reported. My local store owner is trying to get them to send me the parts I need, but if he can't get that done, I'm going after my money back on the agreement.

[andes]

Ralph

After reading this, I relooked at my sensor a bit closer and found that what I thought was cloudy is really saw dust inside the clear part of my sensor. Could you send me some instructions on how to remove it so that I can see if I can get the dust out. otherwise I too will be down again until I can get in contact with LHR and get the part shipped out.

Thanks

Andes