The dye sub printer is finally fixed but the heat press still kicks off before it even gets to temperature needed for pressing. It’s not worth coming up here and prepping everything if I can’t use the heat press.
I know that @CaryF300 had done some things with the heat press…
I thought it was working again. I guess we DO need to look into replacing it.
Is this the Large Black Heat Press?
If it is, there are 2 things I’ve heard that can cause issues with power delivery. First being a failing power switch, second is the breaker in the machine starting to get soft and shutting off the machine.
The power switch issue I’ve read is more commonly caused by jarring the machine or a QC issue from the factory. But, if the switch isn’t lighting up when there is power to the machine, it could be the issue. I would guess it may be the internal breaker, I believe the machine has a 20 amp internal breaker. These can become faulty over time and should be something replaceable with the skills we have at DMS.
Here are two videos from the manufacturer showing the processes for repair.
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I’ve already changed out the plug, when it melted last year. I’ll take a look at the heat press circuit breaker video, and see if I feel confidant about my capability to replace it. If I don’t, I’ll enlist some assistance. I’ll try to get in later this week to look at it. I’ve got a bunch of shirts to make the next few nights.
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Interesting about the cord burning, that could of been caused by being plugged into an extension cord. I had a space heater do something similar and now understand why they tell you not to plug those into extension cords.
Thanks for tackling it Cary, hopefully it is an easy fix for you or you can wrangle the help needed.
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I’d be happy to help…
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That would be great. I’ve had a busy week at work, and haven’t made it in to check it out. If I can’t find time this weekend, then I’ll be in on Monday morning to look at it.
I have Computer Reset cleanup on Saturday morning/afternoon followed by a repair at a rental house. I can be up there probably after 8… or Sunday evening.
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My weekend got filled up by my wife. I’m looking at it now. The switch and circuit breaker don’t appear to faulty, but the are a few wires that appear to have been scorched when the power plug melted last year. Could these wire be damaged and be causing the issue that we are having?
There is plenty of smoke left in those wires. Lol
On a more serious note, yeah they should be replaced. Additionally when they are replaced, I’d look for any other female .250” disconnects that may be loose. They do tend to loosen up with heat & vibration over time.
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Do we have the wire and ends to fabricate new ones here at the Space?
I’m pretty sure we have the wire. Can’t speak for the connectors. I do have those in .250” & .187” flavor in 14-16 AWG
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Yes, those can cause the problem, especially if they are simply crimped. When they heat up like that you’ll get a layer of oxidation in there that will cause problems with connections. I’ve seen that on arcade game wire harnesses.
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@TBJK, plenty of smoke left. 
I also second @Raymond’s point, I to have seen the issue of the wire oxidizing after being rattled loose. I for a short period tried to make pinball repairs with that style of crimp connector in hopes to make future repairs not require a soldering iron. Unfortunately, I only made my issues intermittent and “the Pinsmith” also warned me of the issue.
@CaryF300, while the breaker may not look bad, it doesn’t mean it isn’t faulty. I believe this style breaker is a Thermal Breaker. Meaning a small piece of metal in line with the circuit heats up and pushes a trigger to break the circuit. The failure case we have, may be due to bad tolerances allowing the metal to break the circuit temporarily when hot, but not move the metal enough to trip the trigger keeping the circuit broken. My guess, when the circuit shuts off monetarily from the wire in the breaker heating up, the controller falls into a fault state, requiring a full power cycle to restart.
I replaced all of the scorched wires. I was able to get it up to 400° and ran 10, 45, and 90 second cycles without it powering off. I willing to say that it is back in service.
Edit: Can someone mark this as resolved?
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