Clear board sensor????

[bergerud]

In my experience, compressed air works sometimes when a brush does not.

[mtylerfl]

In my experience, compressed air works sometimes when a brush does not.

I'll cross my fingers.

[djarboe]

If you cleaned the Board Sensor and it still is not working, then it is extremely likely that dust has gotten INSIDE the plastic clear window. You CAN remove the sensor and pry it apart to clean the inside of the window, or I just cut out a new window from some stiff clear plastic from a battery package and replace the window. Seal the perimeter edges of the sensor with a teeny bit of silicon after putting it back together. I've done this twice for my own machines and once for a fellow carver who lives nearby. Works great (as long as you don't have some other issue such as a pinched or damaged sensor wire or something along those lines).

If the truck is not coming over far enough to force the "flipper" out, then you have a mechanical issue...likely the truck is hitting the wire harness at the top-right-back corner (tuck the wires back into the corner out of the way of the truck motion) or your Y belt needs adjustment (just loosen the adjustment screw, then re-tighten...download the Y-truck replacement document from CW Support for details) or it is damaged (missing teeth).

So how do I get to the board sensor? Do I have to remove the Z truck? Is that difficult?

[bergerud]

So how do I get to the board sensor? Do I have to remove the Z truck? Is that difficult?

See: http://www.carvewright.com/assets/se...ard_sensor.pdf

Look at it closely with a mirror to see if it is dusty. Have you tested it on white paper?

Check page 46 of : http://www.carvewright.com/assets/se...anual_C_SN.pdf

[djarboe]

How the heck do you get to the sensor??? I can barely see it with the carriage raised as instructed. The rollers are mostly blocking it. Removing the screws would seem almost impossible.

Also, how do I check the board sensor reading?

[bergerud]

Raise the head almost all the way up and use a short screw driver. A mirror is useful. Have you done the white paper sensor test? Do that first.

[fwharris]

Also, how do I check the board sensor reading?

Go to user options, 0,7, and scroll down to the board sensor reading. You will need to load a board into the machine and lower the head down to the board. Move the head across the board and observe the sensor reading.

[Digitalwoodshop]

Back to basics... The board sensor is connected to the computer through the fsc cable that is a consumable as in it will flex only so many times and then the thin copper strips will snap... Since the copper is held with the plastic, they can work as the ends touch then when moved not touch causing an error. So always have a spare cable....

The Board Sensor is just a IR Flashlight and a IR Sensor that measures the reflective light off the board. The brighter the reflected energy the higher the reading... A 156 is a max reading and if you want to test your Board Sensor it is best to use a sheet of copy paper. It gives a standard reflection and a 156. IF your number was lower it can simply be a dusty window of the board sensor.

In the early days I would cut the back off of the sensor to clean the window.

The Sensor wires can get pinched in the Truck.

And in picture 1 a component is missing off the board where the white rectangle is, damaged sometimes by removing the plug.

You should also move the head and the flex cable watching the readings looking for flicker and a broken flex cable....

In the last picture showing the plug... I recommend having one of the 4 wire board sensor cables for times like this where you can plug the cable in the TOP and your extra board sensor bypassing the installed sensor and 4 wire cable that gets shorted to ground when you tug it down to change a sensor... It slides along the plastic guide and hits the sharp metal edge. This is for TROUBLESHOOTING.... It half splits the problem.... So you learn that the problem is in the old board sensor or 4 wire cable OR the FSC Cable.

Good Luck,

AL

[djarboe]

Well, I tried that, and it only tells me if the cover is open or closed.

[lynnfrwd]

That doesn't sound like the board sensor reading. It should give you numbers.