Air Hissing -- CMC or Air Compressor?

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Cavalier

Cavalier

MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Joined
Apr 15, 2009
Posts
872
Loc
Waterville, ME
This is something we've been dealing with for a few months now, and we can't seem to locate the origin of the issue.

First thing in the morning, I start up our Wizard 8000. When I try to cut the first mat of the day, the foot doesn't come down to cut the mat; it just travels its circuit. Because it sounded like it was coming from the head, we at first thought it was that, and had a new head sent over. That didn't solve it -- in fact, it made it worse, so we replaced the original head. Then we tried a new hose assembly in the top of the gantry. That didn't work either. We tried a new regulator, then a new gantry altogether. Still didn't resolve the issue. Brian McCloud at Wizard was a big help through the process, and I learned so much about the 8000, but nothing seemed to be fixing the issue on the Wizard end, so we started investigating on the other side. Both the regulator on the air compressor and on the Wizard are steady.

Back to what happens: After three or four false starts, the foot finally comes down and I can cut normally. I've noticed that if our framer has been using the v-nailer and nail gun prior to me cutting a mat, it takes less time for the matcutter foot to come down and start cutting. I've noticed that if I blow out the air line first thing in the morning, the air expelled gradually decreases, then the compressor kicks on and brings it back up to pressure. This will also shorten the time it takes for the matcutter foot to come down.

Any thoughts? Is there something I'm missing? Any insight and help would be appreciative. Thank you!
 
Are you adding pneumatic oil to the air after it leaves the compressor?

To test for air leaks make a mixture of dish soap and water (to make bubbles) and paint over all the fittings and hoses as you test the system
 
Are you turning off the compressor every night and bleeding it empty to get out the condensate? Has anyone messed with the regulator that comes with the Wiz?
Have you replaced the mat clamps? (Two pieces of surgical rubber that hold the mat in palce along the lower and left edge).
There is also a pressure gasket seal (for the lack of a better term) inside the head assembly. We had problems with that once, and had to replace the head twice in one week because it either leaked, or just blew out completely. It controls the relief on the air pressure that causes the foot to engage...if it is leaking, the foot wont fully engage.
The valve assembly at the top of the gantry is also a suspect, except you already replaced that.
 
Thank you (belatedly) for the suggestions! We've done the compressor-side maintenance, but it didn't do much difference.

We had an air compressor service man come in and look at our compressor yesterday. After explaining to him what happens with the CMC, he went through our entire system, then brought in a loaner air compressor dedicated to the Wizard to try for a week. This morning, I went to try a mat after checking all the gauges, and we're having the same problem as before.

Where we've tried new heads, regulators, hoses and a gantry, is it possible this could be a drive pack issue?

Wally: We tried replacing the head first when we noticed the issue, and that made matters worse, which then led us to the hose assembly replacement, then the gantry replacement.

As always, thank you for your expertise and suggestions!
 
Is it possible to switch out the controller to see if the problem might be there?

Although it seems unlikely, I have seen cases where a glitch in the controller caused problems on the engraving table. The same could be true of your Wizard. It seems you have pretty much covered the mechanical side.
 
So the plunger that moves the blade does not move with upcoming pressure. Perhaps the cups were very dry and needed pneumatic lubrication for longer time. Problem is that if you don't lubricate and the cup originally had pneumatic fat on it, that fat becomes hard and small parts can come off and can constipate the inlet or outlet of the small cylinder. You have to clean it in complete de-montage and care for proper lubrication in future.
 
Wow...you replaced all the pneumatic lines as well as the surgical rubber clamps?

I had to replace the head twice in a week because the "O" rings in the plunge mechanism blew, but it is pretty obvious because of all the hissing coming from inside the head. The original replacement lasted less than a day.

I hope you were under waranty or bought one post facto. Wizard will sell you one, at full annual price, but it is a lot cheaper than a single head replacement, and much cheaper than a replacement driver pack. Plus it gets them on board trying to figure out what's wrong with your machine.
 
Could it be a bad cable form the driver pack to cutter?
Did you think of disconnecting the cable from the driver pack to the cutter ( both ends) and then reconnect?
just a thought.
 
Gumby read my mind. That simple procedure has solved every issue I have ever had with the Wizard misbehaving.
:cool: Rick
 
Oh, boy. I should have thought of disconnecting/reconnecting the cables. Have to do it periodically on the engraver. And these cables do fail occasionally.
 
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