Crank won't clutch / Head Pressure of 130-190 pounds

[Newt]

Hi guys so I have a first gen machine bought when they first came out. My uncle bought if for my grandpa but he died shortly before he was going to receive it. So my uncle years later gave it to me.

Now ive had this thing for 4 months and the head pressures never been right. After spending 200 plus bucks on tooling and parts im pretty disappointed. Customer services only solution is for me to to spend 180 for round trip shipping and what ever they would charge to fix it.

Now ive bought a new crank assembly so im sure its not that.
Ive realigned the post more times then I can count
ive cleaned just as many times
the tie rods is at the right tightness
the head was level till customer service had me loosen the tie rod end .
im using all the right greases.

any ideas?

also is anyone else pissed that carvewright never picks up a shipping bill??? even if you get a defective part?

[Digitalwoodshop]

Sorry to hear of your machine problems.... Post your location or add it so we can see if anyone is in your area to help.

And just be aware that your early machine "may" have the old 18 pin FFC Cable, or that flat cable that goes to the Z head.

They only sell a 14 pin now and if you plugged in a 14 pin into a 18 pin socket on the machine you will kill the computer.... Just a fyi....

The easiest way to tell, is the wings on the circuit board in the picture for the computer plug. They sell a A907 Kit to supply the 14 pin cable and the circuit boards for either end.

AL

[dehrlich]

Here is a trick you might try. Take the crank handle off, there is a spring under it. Using your hand pressure, try to stretch the spring a bit. Doesn't take much. Once you do this, reassemble it and give it a try. This will put more pressure on the clutch. I had a similar problem with my brand new machine, I did the spring trick and now it works fine. Good luck!

[SteveNelson46]

Have you or anyone else used dry lube on the guide posts? If so, you will have to use a solvent to completely clean them. I have never had good luck with dry lube on any machine I have worked on. Especially if the posts are not thoroughly cleaned before using it.

[Newt]

I live in Minnesota just out side of west Minneapolis. Anyone know of who I could call to fix it.

I don't use dry lube, the spring trick may work i'll have to give it a try. Thanks for the tip on the cable!

[SteveNelson46]

If your head pressure is already up to 190 pounds stretching the spring will only make it worse.

[SteveNelson46]

If you have disassembled the clutch mechanism and are absolutely positive that everything is okay then you're going to have to look elsewhere. The latest repair that I did on a machine where the crank mechanism did not work was due to the end panel not being reassembled properly. The top of the lead screw was not properly inserted in the guide hole and the end panel was tightened down anyway. This forced the lead screw down and broke the plastic mounts at the bottom of the lead screw and the tie rod mounts underneath. This rendered the case unusable. I had to transfer everything from the machine to an empty case. I'm not saying this is your problem but you might want to take the bottom plate off and take and look at the connecting rod and the lead screws to make sure they are not bound.

[Mugsowner]

From what I am getting here is this machine has been sitting for awhile. I refer to this as no use abuse, which can be almost as bad as any kind of abuse. The drive cable for the bit should be taken apart and lubed, as the lube has most likely dried out by now. The spring trick may work, but I would be thinking that the clutch may have the same issue. I would open up the clutch to see if I could free it up. You could try a little wd-40 to try to loosen things up a bit before tear it down.

[fwharris]

I would start with making sure the head us level, especially since you stated "the head was level till customer service had me loosen the tie rod end ."

First you will need to loosen the tie rod on the bottom of the machine so that you can raise and lower each end of the head independent of each other. The key board side you will use the crank handle to raise and lower the head and the bit plate end (right end) you will need to insert something in the hole of the lead screw to turn that end.

Place a wide board (close to full width as you can get) in the machine. A piece of plywood or MDF works great as they are usually flat without any warping. Get two board of the same width (6" to 8") to lay on their sides at each end of the machine on top of the flat board. 2x6 or 2x8 lumber works great.

Now lower each end of the machine until the compression rollers just touch the top of the boards. Now measure from the top of the flat board to the same area of the head on each end. You could also use the Z data reading from the user options menu (0,7) on the display. The measurements should be very close to each other.

Once you have each side the same you can reattach the tie rod.

Note: if the boards you have in the machine are short enough that they do not stick outside of the machine, you can crank the head down to hold them in place and this will keep the head from moving when you lay the machine on its side when you tighten up the tie rod.

Now re check your head pressure

[Mugsowner]

Yes, follow fwharris's suggestion first, make sure head is level. If clutch still will not release, then you could give my suggestion a try.