‘Please Clean Y Rail’

Got the message ‘Please Clean Y Rail’ about 20 minutes into a 2 hour carve, so I cleaned the Y rail. LOL!
Anyway the 2 bearings on the Y motor gear box failed. My machine with 82 hours is still under warranty and I have a PENDING order with LHR to send replacement parts as soon as someone approves the order. (It’s not like they send this for free, $35.) In the mean time I ordered some bearings yesterday from Avid, they approved my purchase and shipped the same day.

Reading the forums it appears that the Y gear box bearings failing is just normal wear. I have never adjusted the Y belt and there are no obstructions as the Y truck travels. No doubt that too much tension on the belt can cause the bearings to fail. Also I have not had any errors with the measurements at the bit tip locator plate.

How about a dull bit, could this overload the Y gearbox? I normally use the original 1/16” Carving Bit on walnut or cherry and the cuts are still clean but I purchased a new bit anyway. Now I am wondering about the condition of the Z truck gearbox, is it next. I will take it apart tomorrow and see how it looks.

Since purchasing this machine I have shipped it back to LHR once for an unresolvable issue, replaced the X motor, X gears and roller belts. What else fails at 82 hours?

That is very un usual to have the bearings fail that soon?

As for the Z Box.. Doubt anyone will ever need to replace the gear box bearings... Just not too much of a load on them....

Any heavy cutting on the machine?

I never saw Y Bearing problems until 500 hours... But I do recommend replacement of the Y Bearings at 250 Cut Hours with the Cut Motor Brushes.

AL

Check the roller bearings on the Y truck. While you have the machine that much dismantled, remove the Y truck and make sure all the rollers are free. Use WD40 front and back on each and work it in. If you did something with a bunch of fine dust, it could have clogged them. Mine clogged on my new C in around 100 hours. If your Y truck is uneven as it travels over to register the bit on the bit plate, check the rollers. If your Z truck has problems touching the bit plate, check those rollers. Watching as your bits register will tell you allot.
Clint

Thanks guys for the response. The only heavy cuts have been using the ½” straight bit cutting 2” diameter circles 0.25 depth taking 0.125 each pass, I only cut 4 of these and most of my projects use the the 1/16” carving bit. The Z-Box looks good and all rollers turn smoothly.

I installed my new Avid bearings in the Y-gearbox but apparently the original servo motor has a problem in addition to the gear box bearings so when the replacement arrived the following week I carved a 3 hour project and everything worked great.

When I get time I will compare the resistance between the windings of the old motor and the new one.

It’s nice to find answers about the CW here on this forum!

Dave

Note; CarveWright worketh patience!

What is the best way to get the old bearings out of the gearbox? Can you tap one down until it in turn pushes the first one out then continue until the second one drops?

Thanks!
Tim

There is a RIM in the center.... Each Bearing comes out each end. I placed a small center punch inside the bearing inner race and tapped the bottom bearing out.

AL

Between 225-235 hours is when I had to change the y motor bearings.

Agree with Clint's recommendation as well to clean the other bearings while you have the machine apart.