Shopvac may have fried my LCD... dangit

Well, I'm in the middle of a carve... and I do what I KNOW I'm not supposed to do and use my ever so handy laying right there shopvac to get some dust off the carve. I see a spark... (dangit) but things keep carving. A couple of minutes later I notice that the LCD is blank with some little boxes showing. I was able to change bits and just hit "enter" to get the carve to continue (it is doing so now) and will try to reset the power when this carve is done.

1. What are the chances that the LCD will reset and be ok?
2. If it isn't ok, but the carve is continuing, what are the chances that the computer is fried?
3. If it is the LCD, what is the quickest method to get a new one? Unfortunately, the LCD is broken on my spare parts machine too...

Advice is appreciated, and yes... I'm a big dumb dummy for doing what I did with the shopvac...

Lawrence

Dont ya just hate it when you do something like that? I don't think it would keep working through a bit change, etc. if the computer were toast. Hopefully it it will reset but if you need a new display I'd go with Jeffs backlit one.

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Originally Posted by lawrence

1. What are the chances that the LCD will reset and be ok?
2. If it isn't ok, but the carve is continuing, what are the chances that the computer is fried?
3. If it is the LCD, what is the quickest method to get a new one? Unfortunately, the LCD is broken on my spare parts machine too...

Lawrence

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2. If your still carving I would say the controller is OK
3. I have a spare and if you send me a PM with address I will get you one out tomorrow Priority Mail

My display did the same thing the other day in the middle of a carve for no apparent reason and I was able to fix it just by adjusting the contrast button. All I could figure is the knob turned by vibration, but it's never done it before. I had also shut down and powered back up so I am not sure if that helped, but restarting alone did not fix it.

crisis averted (I think)

After the carve finished (quite a nice one too... I'll post pics later) I turned off the machine, unplugged it for a minute, and then plugged it back in and turned it on... JOY OF JOYS-- the LCD came on. I think I dodged a bullet as it seems to work fine now.

Thank you so much for the advice guys-- and THANK YOU pcw for your offer. I REALLY appreciate the offer and am happy that it looks like I don't have to take you up on it. I'll be buying a spare this week anyway :)

Lawrence

Check the connection on the inside wall, when cleaning you can loosen it by accident. Then when operating the machine the connection can vibrate loose. Check for dust in and around the connection as well

Was just going to say, Back in the days when I DID NOT HAVE DUST COLLECTION ;), I got the OH NO ZAP, and my display did the same thing. It did recover back to normal like yours did after power off and back on. You were lucky though that you were able to continue on with the carve in process. 8)

This should be a STICKY at the top of the Troubleshooting section.... So everyone, especially the NEW guys see it.... I know many don't believe my warning about static killing Shop Vac's.... The title "I think I may have FRIED my LCD" should catch attention.... Like breaking news.... "New Patterns in my store Sticky" Gets your attention.

AL

As someone who has an interest/hobby in high-voltage generators and such, it'd be interesting to know what particulars are involved with static and the CW. Sawdust flowing through a plastic pipe will build static - how it is generated is simple enough. If you place your arm near the hose or tubing with it running, you can usually feel the hair on your arms move if here is static present. Kind of like when someone's hair stands on end when they touch a Van De Graff generator. I do use a shop vac, generally I have one hand/arm on the unit while vacuuming which helps provide a path to ground (providing the CW is grounded), and my shop is in my basement which probably has enough humidity to curb most static. Or maybe I am just lucky, but I've never generated static from anything in my shop. If I suspected it was an issue, I have some conductive paint I would paint the inside of my vac nozzle with and ground that, which should eliminate any static.

Humidity is a definite factor, probably wood species does as well. Regardless, electricity can do some weird stuff, and the higher the voltage, the more unpredictable it gets. I wonder what conditions are in the shops of anyone who has issues?

http://amasci.com/emotor/bill3.jpg

And it is Magically a Sticky..... Good Job !!!

AL

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Originally Posted by Digitalwoodshop

And it is Magically a Sticky..... Good Job !!!

AL

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;)


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I used the vacuum once in the middle of a carve and got a fatal error. I could not salvage the board and lost it. Many months later I was doing a wide carve and figured I would use the vacuum to clean up some. Guess what? Fatal error again and another board gone! No more vacuuming in the middle of a carve. It's just not worth it. I guess I was lucky.