BELTS

The Network carries the O-ring belts for the System 1. The same belt can be used on your Hermes B3 and B4 bevelers. The belts not only last longer, but aren't as noisy as the standard System 1 belt.

LETTER QUALITY

I was constantly having letter quality problems on my TRS80 System. When I would try to re-engrave letters on a small plate, they never were the same condensation. And sometimes, the line condensation of a single line on a large plate would be off. By close observation, I noted that some letters engraved much faster than normal, not giving the cutter time to contact the work surface. The problem was finally resolved by having the interface board repaired.

MAIN FUSE

A blown main fuse or bridge rectifier are usually caused by excessive heat or a partial breakdown. When a failure occurs, be sure and check all wiring on the left side of the control unit. The excessive heat will crystallize or melt wires. Check for dark spots and exposed wires caused by excessive heat on the wire insulator. Normally I replace the fuse holder also.

BALLSLIDE

If you're constantly having to readjust your ballslide on your System 1 try this handy tip. Replace the small set screws with longer, 3/8 set screws. Then add a jam nut. The constant adjustment caused by set screws backing out will be eliminated. Remember to replace the new set screws one at a time, or the ballslide will become a pile of wires and ball bearings. And, make sure you never use Loctite on the set screws of your ballslide.

BALLSLIDE

Letter quality is always a concern.. If the upright shaft of E's and T's are wiggly, your problem is most likely with your ball slide or spindle. If your O's or curves show steps check your leadscrews or V-wheels of your x-axis carriage assembly.]

LETTER QUALITY

The O's, S's and other curved of the Gothic font are not concentric when engraved below .125.

BRIDGE RECTIFIER

When replacing a bridge rectifier in your System 1, be sure and check each of the four wires connected to it. If they appear charred, be sure and replace. Also replace fuse holders on the back of the control unit if you are constantly blowing bridge rectifiers. The spring in the holder and cap lose the ability hold the fuse securely.

The bridge rectifier makes DC out of AC. It gets AC current from the power transformer and converts it to DC current for use on the stepper driver board. Since the bridge rectifier carries a lot of current, heat can damage it after a while. The main causes of failure for the bridge rectifier are: over heating, surge in voltage, bad component

When The Fuse Blows

Usually when a bridge rectifier goes bad and blows the main fuse, you replace the fuse and the bridge rectifier. While this solves the problem, it’s usually only a temporary fix.

Check the fuse holder. Excessive heat will cause the springs in the cap and body of the fuse holder to become less resilient, and hold the fuse ineffectively. If it’s the original fuse holder, replace it.

Check the four wires coming from the bridge rectifier. If they are brittle or show discoloration, or their connectors have lost their insulation from over heating, replace all four wires.

Use only EOM replacement bridge rectifiers. While you can get a bridge rectifier from Radio Shack in emergencies, I strongly recommend using the standard replacement part. I have found that the Radio Shack bridge rectifiers do not have the life expectancy of the Motorola part.

Other Notes

Have extra fuse holders, bridge rectifiers & wiring on hand. You can order spares from the Network.

When replacing a bridge rectifier, be sure to replace the wires just as they came off. Two wires come from the big round, blue capacitor. Make sure the + and - on the capacitor match the + and - on the bridge rectifier. The two wires coming from the 3 and 6 positions on the big transformer can be interchanged on the bridge rectifier.

If you are constantly blowing fuses or bridge rectifiers and you have taken steps to reduce heat, your problem is most likely another component on the power side of the control unit. Call the Network, or your local repair center for more information.

FAULTY FAN

Interference from a faulty cooling fan motor in System 1 Control Unit caused problems loading a Font 9. The disk font which had worked previously, suddenly started locking up while loading. The only way to get out of the loading sequence was to reset the computer and Control Unit. This occurrence is not normal, but should be noted, and can also be the result of interference from other electrical components. Small pan motors, in general, are not that reliable.

CUTTER UP/DOWN

Recently, a member reported a problem with his cutter/spindle. One of his engravers had not been used for over a month. The up and down movement of the spindle started acting sluggish, and sometimes non-responsive. The problem was traced to the air solenoid value at the rear of the table that had become clogged-up with rust. He cleaned the value with the following procedure First unscrew the top of the air solenoid value, and carefully remove the O-ring. Clean the value assembly in Naphtha, or other cleaning solvent. Reassemble and test. You just saved $199.00.

LEAKING AIR

If your air compressor is constantly kicking in while your engraver is at rest, you need to check for leaks. Use Teflon tape around all air line fittings on the hose and at the compressor to seal the leaks.

If the leak is around one of the plastic quick couplers and plastic tubing on your engraving table, try this tip. Disconnect the coupler and air hose. Cut the end of the plastic air hose off squarely with a razor blade next to the coupler. Insert the coupler and air hose into the brass fitting. Push down on the air hose so it will slide through the coupler and seat in the bottom of the fitting.

FONTS & LOGOS

Due to the file size limitations and font format, it is inconvenient to have to load a series of logos in a set vs. the preferred method of loading a single file and using A, B, etc. It is especially time consuming on the system series to have to engrave two logos on a single plaque. There are two solutions; SuperPro and Combiner from LogoStar. Combiner lets you combine two or more logos into a single file. The total of the combined logos cannot exceed your system limits - 16K on System 1 and 32 on all others.

MOVE TO SUPERPRO

Recently a member had some bizarre problems with her System 1. The status line of SuperPro started displaying a multitude of miscellaneous errors (i.e. memory error, Z-stroke error, etc.). The problem seem to disappear after she disconnected the ground wire from her control unit that she had attached when she installed the new SuperPro cable. Other owners have also reported problems with logos that would abruptly end while drawing to the screen. This was also associated with the ground wire on the SuperPro cable.

TRS80

I recently rearranged the fonts in my TRS80 System 1 control unit so they would be the same as my other engraver. Unfortunately I got the `A character with two small dots over it' in the status symbol, and it would not initialize. After carefully examining my font chips, I found that I had inserted one of the font chips where two of the legs weren't inserted.

INITIALIZATION PROBLEMS

Has your System 1 ever failed to initialized? Here are some of the causes: Interface Board, Interface Cable, Improperly inserted Font 0, Fuses

LEADSCREWS

About 6 months ago I installed new plastic leadscrew nuts on my System 1 table. And, about 3 months ago I had to have my stepper board repaired because it was losing baselines. Again I started having baseline problems. I also had to replace 3 bridge rectifiers in my control unit. Prior to this time, I had only replaced one bridge rectifier since 1988.

While talking to a fellow System 1 owner, I mentioned my frustration. He volunteered to come to my shop and see if he could help. While checking the couplings he noticed that my table, or Y axis, was much tighter than his table. He loosened the plastic coupling adjustment screw, but it was still tight. We removed the table and check the V-wheels; all were clean and turned easily. I next put another plastic coupling on. The table started on the leadscrew easily, but after a few inches, it would start to bind. We checked the leadscrew and it was straight, and the leadscrew bearing moved freely. We tried another plastic coupling, but still had the same problem.

Then we got lucky! While re-installing the original coupling, I got in a hurry and forgot to tighten the small set screw that holds the plastic coupling to the table. I told my friend that I would tighten it later. This time the table went on perfectly with the original coupling.

The problem turned out to be that each time the coupling had been previously installed, the small set screw was over tightened to keep the coupling in place. The extra pressure caused the coupling to bind.

To make sure that coupling was secure, but not over tightened, I used a small drill and made a 1/16 hole in the coupling where the set screw made contact. The table now moves freely and my letter quality is perfect. And, I haven't had to replace a bridge rectifier in two months. The stepper board and bridge rectifier failures were most likely the cause of the excessive binding by the plastic coupling on the threaded leadscrew.

Voltage Check

To check power coming in to your Dahlgren engraver, use a voltage meter to make sure you are getting a minimum of 110 volts AC; that’s 115 volts plus or minus 5 volts. 120 volts is preferred.

Auto Scoring

There are two ways a cutter will stay down after scoring. It may be sticking down mechanically (look for dirt), or it will stay down if one attempts to use Line Back Up while scoring. This is also true when you Home/Cancel. The cutter stays down and moves in a direct line to the Home position.

Move to TRS80 SYSTEMS

Recently while using a logo that had worked many times before, I started having problems. The original TRS80 system said the file was loaded, but when I pressed ‘A’ for the character, it responded with ‘Letter Not In Font’. I solved the problem by copying the logo to another font/logo disk. I used the procedure in the Network Notebook to enter NEWDOS Ready, and then typed

COPY $LOGONAME/FT9:0 :1

CUT OFF CUTTERS

Be sure that your cutter shaft doesn’t extend more than 3/4 inch above the cutter knob. Excessive vibration, which can prematurely wear spindle bearings, is especially evident on System 1/100’s with 11/64 and 1/4 inch cutters.

Most of the new cutters are hardened and cannot be cut off with a hacksaw. Have it done when you order your cutters, or send them back to the manufacturer. If you do use a hacksaw, be sure and smooth the top of the cutter after you cut it off.