I'm stumped, my etcher just won't etch anymore!

Ya know.... I had the exact same problem with the personalizer plus. I dont know what happened to it I tried everything just like you. No obvious problems...it just stopped working right. It would definately etch directly to steel but not through the stencil. I had to buy another one and knock on wood, its been going good so far. ( With the same stencils).:confused::confused:
 
To clean the black stuff use toilet bowl cleaner. The kind with the little angled neck will get that stuff right off.
 
I am not 100% on this but I have deen told that electrolite has a shelflife and won't work properly once it has gone off. Worth a try.
 
PARKERKNIVES said:
I am not 100% on this but I have deen told that electrolite has a shelflife and won't work properly once it has gone off. Worth a try.
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That's possible. Who knows how long the unit sat on a shelf before I bought it? I'm within my 90 days on the warranty, I just found my receipt. Maybe I'll contact them to at least make note of the problem, then try a new bottle of fluid and see what happens.
 
I always assume folks have one already, I'm learning not everyone does.
Electricity it tough to troubleshoot without a meter, and they are dirt cheap.

Harbor freight in Vallejo will have them for about $5
 
This may have been covered and maybe you checked it, I had the same problem, on mine it was where the wire to the etching block plugs into it, it was all corroded. I simply twisted it a few times in the socket to scrape threw the corrosion, and that fixed the problem.
 
I noticed that my etcher was taking a long time to make a mark, when I removed that pad the stainless screen was corroded, sanded clean and works like new.
 
I am having the same exact problems as you . Mine seems to work fine and I have bought new etchant . Checked the voltage with my Fluke meter and everything checks out . I am confused on this one too. I have used this same etcher for the last 10 years without a problem. I can somewhat get an etch if I scrub the blade with soap and warm water but still have spots on my logo . I am just gonna buy a new etcher at this point. Time to stop wasting time and get one that works .
 
KenOnion said:
I am having the same exact problems as you . Mine seems to work fine and I have bought new etchant . Checked the voltage with my Fluke meter and everything checks out . I am confused on this one too. I have used this same etcher for the last 10 years without a problem. I can somewhat get an etch if I scrub the blade with soap and warm water but still have spots on my logo . I am just gonna buy a new etcher at this point. Time to stop wasting time and get one that works .
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I don't know, I talked to the guys at Electro Chem just now when I got home from work. He told me to check connections, I said I did. In talking about the etching head, I told him there was no corrosion on the plug that goes into the head and it was seating fine. He asked me to try and take apart the plug and check the wire connection to the plug. I did, and it seemed like it was connected just fine, but to be sure I removed the black plastic boot and re-connected it nice and tight. Plugged it into the head and set up a quick and dirty electric tape stencil on some scrap steel. It worked! I'm still not sure how it will do with a stencil. Part of me thinks that the felt pads that come with the etcher are too thick. I'm going to pick up some plain old felt at a craft store and try that.

At least I made contact with the company before my warranty expired. I'd rather not have to send it in, but if I do, at least they are aware of my problem and I don't think they'll give me the runaround too bad:)

I'll try in a bit with a stencil and see how it turns out.
 
I use the thickest felt I can find.
It's 3-4 times as thick as the craft store stuff.

I still say buy a meter, it's step one on the troubleshooting next time...
 
Brian Fellhoelter Knives said:
I use the thickest felt I can find.
It's 3-4 times as thick as the craft store stuff.

I still say buy a meter, it's step one on the troubleshooting next time...
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I have a meter , my etcher still has a ghost in it . Everything checks out . According to my troubleshooting data it should work . But it doesn't so I bought a new one today and when it arrives I'm gonna use my old one for target practice . End of problem !!!!!
 
Hey Ken, I know exactly how that feels, wanting to use something that does not work for target practice... but I present you another option. Send it to me, I'll pay for shipping, and I'll try to fix it. I have no etcher at all right now. Just food for thought, I understand if you would really rather throw knives at it...
Actually, I wouldn't throw knives at it. I'd shoot it. Or set it up with a tannerite bomb, shoot that, and explode it.
 
I am wondering if something happened to the switch or the rectifier that changes the AC to DC. AC will make things dark but, not remove much metal. Also, if you had a partial failure of the diode rectifier you would only get a half wave of AC current on the DC output and it would take much longer to etch, but show some DC voltage on a meter. A new rectifier would be less than $10.
 
Well, I grabbed a volt meter from my buddy on the way home from work today. The etch setting is running at right around 12 Volts, and the mark setting is at about 14.5. Seems like the juice is flowing ok, so now I'm back to square one......
 
Well, I don't know what I did, but I got some good clean etching done tonight. I did everything the same as I always have, but maybe I paid just a touch more attention to detail. I don't know, but I got really solid black marks on a couple of pieces. I'm still not convinced that my machine is totally right, but it's working for the moment. Like Ken said, I think I've got a ghost in the machine!
 
There is only one way to find out what the problem was, and that was to change one thing at a time and test, it's the same way when trying to find a mystery noise on a bike
 
Sounds like a problematic design. I was considering buying one until (seemingly) everyone said they had problems with it. Has anyone had good long term experiences with it? Or, should I just build my own?
 
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