cdg
08-14-2008, 06:48 PM
OK I don't consider myself to be one of those disgruntled people with nothing positive to say about the CompuCarve machine. It makes it possible to do things in a home shop that are otherwise not possible and certainly not as speedy as the machine can do them.
So far I've been impressed with LHR support with the exception of one individual. They take care of my problems when they pop up but I'm getting near the end of my rope with the problems the machine experiences.
With 12 carving hours the machine needed a cut motor and a quick change adapter.
By 20 hours the machine needed to be sent back for major service that was allegedly related to the fact that this machine is part of several thousand faulty units. They were not clear as to why a recall notice was not issued but I'm not a corporate lawyer and really don't mind that much - the company was upfront about the problem and insisted on fixing it for free.
The machine has 36 hours on it and now needs an RPM sensor and possibly another cut motor and maybe an A/C switch.
My question is whether or not this is typical for a CarveWright/CompuCarve machine. It seems like failures of this magnitude should be happening every few hundred hours, not every 10 or 12 hours.
I spent a good deal of time working with a Morbidelli 336 in a production cabinet shop so I understand that CNC technology is finicky and breaks relatively frequently - unlike a table saw that can go for thousands of hours with little maintenance a CNC router must be constantly maintained and even with good maintenance procedure will still break down far more often than the other shop tools.
My next question is dependent on the first question earlier and that is whether or not this particular machine may be the source of my problems. I'm asking for subjective opinions of course not concrete answers.
I was disappointed in the condition in which my machine came back to me from the shop. While they performed repairs beyond my expectations as well as 2 hours worth of testing I found the Z truck to be nicked up and the silver paint, once perfect is now peeling since I got the machine back. The unit came back much too dusty to actually work, and I think the forward drive belt that was replaced at my expense even though the machine was under warrenty is still tracked too far to the left. One of the Z controller ribbons pulled out from its socket accidentally causing a Z axis stall code. I believe that the ribbon cable that pulled loose did so because it was not routed correctly or with the degree of care I would expect from a tech who would work on such a machine.
So my emotions are mixed. I really like the little machine, and I understand that it may break relatively frequently but I'd like to get a handle on other experiences to see if this is normal for the CarveWright system. I know many of you folks here rack up hundreds of hours. How many failures per hundred hours is typical for you?
What I ultimately want to try to get at is that I feel that there is a possibility that this particular model may be afflicted with problems. I believe it falls into the "second generation" category of machines rather than the third.
If this particular model is indeed affected than perhaps in the interest of keeping both parties happy and ultimately managing things more economically a trade in might be arranged for my present machine. Even if it cost me a little I want to get a handle on whether or not it might be worthwhile to trade in.
So please folks, don't think I'm getting the machine down although at the moment it isn't my favorite tool in the shop. I just want to try to see what might work out best for me and my hopes for the machine (as a prototype builder). :) I am a little mad about the service given to the machine but years in the field of auto mechanics have taught me that nobody really does good work as a tech anymore.
So far I've been impressed with LHR support with the exception of one individual. They take care of my problems when they pop up but I'm getting near the end of my rope with the problems the machine experiences.
With 12 carving hours the machine needed a cut motor and a quick change adapter.
By 20 hours the machine needed to be sent back for major service that was allegedly related to the fact that this machine is part of several thousand faulty units. They were not clear as to why a recall notice was not issued but I'm not a corporate lawyer and really don't mind that much - the company was upfront about the problem and insisted on fixing it for free.
The machine has 36 hours on it and now needs an RPM sensor and possibly another cut motor and maybe an A/C switch.
My question is whether or not this is typical for a CarveWright/CompuCarve machine. It seems like failures of this magnitude should be happening every few hundred hours, not every 10 or 12 hours.
I spent a good deal of time working with a Morbidelli 336 in a production cabinet shop so I understand that CNC technology is finicky and breaks relatively frequently - unlike a table saw that can go for thousands of hours with little maintenance a CNC router must be constantly maintained and even with good maintenance procedure will still break down far more often than the other shop tools.
My next question is dependent on the first question earlier and that is whether or not this particular machine may be the source of my problems. I'm asking for subjective opinions of course not concrete answers.
I was disappointed in the condition in which my machine came back to me from the shop. While they performed repairs beyond my expectations as well as 2 hours worth of testing I found the Z truck to be nicked up and the silver paint, once perfect is now peeling since I got the machine back. The unit came back much too dusty to actually work, and I think the forward drive belt that was replaced at my expense even though the machine was under warrenty is still tracked too far to the left. One of the Z controller ribbons pulled out from its socket accidentally causing a Z axis stall code. I believe that the ribbon cable that pulled loose did so because it was not routed correctly or with the degree of care I would expect from a tech who would work on such a machine.
So my emotions are mixed. I really like the little machine, and I understand that it may break relatively frequently but I'd like to get a handle on other experiences to see if this is normal for the CarveWright system. I know many of you folks here rack up hundreds of hours. How many failures per hundred hours is typical for you?
What I ultimately want to try to get at is that I feel that there is a possibility that this particular model may be afflicted with problems. I believe it falls into the "second generation" category of machines rather than the third.
If this particular model is indeed affected than perhaps in the interest of keeping both parties happy and ultimately managing things more economically a trade in might be arranged for my present machine. Even if it cost me a little I want to get a handle on whether or not it might be worthwhile to trade in.
So please folks, don't think I'm getting the machine down although at the moment it isn't my favorite tool in the shop. I just want to try to see what might work out best for me and my hopes for the machine (as a prototype builder). :) I am a little mad about the service given to the machine but years in the field of auto mechanics have taught me that nobody really does good work as a tech anymore.