# CAMS owners - I'm having troubles with Clear Stones



## diana13t (Mar 11, 2009)

I have the CAMS 1V-2P and I purchase my stones from Shine Art. I was having a problem with my stones being laid on thier side sticking straight up. So I called tech support and they told me to flip the wheel over to the shallow end and that has worked well so far. The only problem I am having is with the Clear stones. If I use the deep side, A LOT of the stones end up upside down in the wheel. But if I use the shallow end, A LOT of them fall out of the wheel or don't fall in the slots at all. So it takes forever to run a design becuause stones aren't staying in the little holes. 

I'm not sure if it's worse having to manually flip a lot of stones or having the machine take forever to run the design.

Are any of you having problems like this? Where do you buy your stones?

I'm using the Korean A hot fix. So far I've only noticed this problem with the Clear SS10 stones although I haven't used a lot of the SS6 yet on this machine. But so far all the other colors I've used are fine.


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## rhinestonetransf (Feb 11, 2009)

Are they machine cut Korean stones?

I have not had any problem with the stones in the wheel. I use the side for stones have never used the shallow side for stones. The first part of your question sounded a little different than the second part. I can' t help you if they are not getting in the wheel right but if they are in the wheel ok but are on their side when place on the tape you need to increase the air flow to the setter nozzle. If you don't know how to adjust air to that nozzle email me and I will try my best to tell you how.


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## diana13t (Mar 11, 2009)

I don't know if they are machine cut or not. I buy the nicer ones, not the Economy. The stones landing on their side was happening with all the colors, but when I fliped the wheel to the shallow side as per tech supports suggestion, everthing was fine. I'm just having troubles with the clear stones not staying in the hole on the shallow side, or going upside down in the hole on the deeper side. 

So I guess I would like to know where some of you buy your stones and which kind if you are not having this problem. It's just strange that it's only the clear ones I'm having problems with.


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## IslandGirl (Feb 17, 2009)

I don't know if this could be the issue since you are only have problems with the clear stones, but make sure you have that center knob in the hopper really tight. I was having the same issue with hopper one and after messing with it. realized that the knob was just slightly loose, tightened it up and I was good to go.

I still have to watch that side, it seems to want to loosen up every once in a while. Also, check that little silver sensor on the disk. While it's in the hopper push down on it and make sure it's flush with the disk. If it's sticking up at all it won't have good contact, that can also cause the stones to stand up on their sides.

Since I have watched these 2 things I'm not having that happen anymore


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## diana13t (Mar 11, 2009)

Thanks everyone, I will try your suggestions. I just think it's strange that is only happens with the clear stones.


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## MrRudeDog (Aug 24, 2010)

It is very strange that it only happens with clear stones. I also purchase most of my stones from Shine Art, The Pellosa and the Korean cut. I have not tried Korean cut crystal colored yet though. What size stones are you having trouble with? Along with the other suggestions I might whichever wheel you're having trouble with on the opposite side and see if the trouble follows. If it doesn't act the same on the other side, might be a vibration issue. Might also be a bad batch of stones.

Keep us posted please.

Ray


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## ifusion (Jun 3, 2011)

MrRudeDog said:


> It is very strange that it only happens with clear stones. I also purchase most of my stones from Shine Art, The Pellosa and the Korean cut. I have not tried Korean cut crystal colored yet though. What size stones are you having trouble with? Along with the other suggestions I might whichever wheel you're having trouble with on the opposite side and see if the trouble follows. If it doesn't act the same on the other side, might be a vibration issue. Might also be a bad batch of stones.
> 
> Keep us posted please.
> 
> Ray



I know this thread is 2 years old, but did you ever figure out a solution? I have a cams 1v2p, shineart stones, and another batch from somwehre else. I'm having issues with my ss6 stones. maybe 1 out of every 20 flips upside down. Spent over an hour trying different stones and putting the wheel both ways, aligning it... adjusting the air flow, etc.....

I put my ss10 wheel back in, and they go perfectly... ss6, not so much.

Plus I just did a full lube job on the machine too.

steve


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## jasmynn (Sep 16, 2011)

ifusion said:


> I know this thread is 2 years old, but did you ever figure out a solution? I have a cams 1v2p, shineart stones, and another batch from somwehre else. I'm having issues with my ss6 stones. maybe 1 out of every 20 flips upside down. Spent over an hour trying different stones and putting the wheel both ways, aligning it... adjusting the air flow, etc.....
> 
> I put my ss10 wheel back in, and they go perfectly... ss6, not so much.
> 
> ...


Steve, 
sounds like you are having an alignment issue. I don't own a cams, but have a decor. When you change stone sizes, you may have to adjust your alignment a bit to make sure it's picking up the stone right in the center, and handing it off directly in the center. If either one of these is slightly off, the stones will flip.


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## lifestar (Mar 18, 2007)

ifusion said:


> I know this thread is 2 years old, but did you ever figure out a solution? I have a cams 1v2p, shineart stones, and another batch from somwehre else. I'm having issues with my ss6 stones. maybe 1 out of every 20 flips upside down. Spent over an hour trying different stones and putting the wheel both ways, aligning it... adjusting the air flow, etc.....
> 
> I put my ss10 wheel back in, and they go perfectly... ss6, not so much.
> 
> ...


Steve... We own a CAMS... this might sound simple but we have less "flippage" issues if the hopper is full. Have you tried filling up the hopper with stones? Please feel free to PM us with questions about your CAMS- . Happy to help!


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## ifusion (Jun 3, 2011)

Thanks for the reply. I tried that too. I'm thinking it may be related to the tip of the nozzle or allignment. I'll hae to play with it this weekend, since I had to go back to my ss10 wheels to get my other orders done...

SS10 and ss20 work perfect.

ss6 - 1 in 20 stones gets placed on its side or upside down, or thrown around.

I've tried VERY FULL, and lightly filled bowls, ss6 rhinestones from 2 different brands, the shallow and deep sides of the wheel, adjusting the air valve behind the 2nd hopper and I made sure that I had good pressure from the compressor coming in.

I made sure I didnt have anything stuck in the nozzle, and finished a maintenance on the machine. 

I even went as far as thinking maybe my stones were too close together so I just made a few straight lines and circles with the stones set farther apart, and I still had the same issue.

I was reading some other forum posts and possibly a coldesi tech states that if a nozzle has a chip in it, the stone may not sit flat on it and shift during transfer. I havent had the chance to look at my gun closely enough yet, so maybe that could be my issue.

thanks!
steve


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## lifestar (Mar 18, 2007)

ifusion said:


> Thanks for the reply. I tried that too. I'm thinking it may be related to the tip of the nozzle or allignment. I'll hae to play with it this weekend, since I had to go back to my ss10 wheels to get my other orders done...
> 
> SS10 and ss20 work perfect.
> 
> ...


Yes, try blowing out all of the nozzle and guns with a dust blower.... both ways. We have even used a needle to clear the actual arm. We have found that the machine might run normal on one pot and run odd on another just with a small chip in one of the gun arms.


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## jasmynn (Sep 16, 2011)

Do you have a way of adjusting your nozzles (positioning)?


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## api (Nov 22, 2009)

*ifusion*, first a stupid question: Did you check the brush inside the hopper? If the brush doesn't brushes off the upside down stones, you can have this issue.

One more thing: Once I had a relatively old nozzle on the swing gun. It was "lazy". The spring wasn't able to push the nozzle tip back to its original position during the time of the swinging motion. Because of that, the spin gun had to reach too far up and it caused some flipped stones. I replaced the swing gun nozzle (the new spring was definitely stronger) and it solved the problem.

Another times I pushed the CAMS to the limit putting down about 1 million stones in a continous run. All of a sudden it started to put the SS6 stones sideways. The problem was the spin gun. It became "lazy" too. I had to disassemble the spin gun, clean and re-lubricate the O ring, and it started to work again. 

I hope it helps...


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## api (Nov 22, 2009)

*jasmynn*, 

Yes. There is a way of adjusting the nozzles. Check this out:

CAMS Rhinestone Machine Support | North America | Table


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## ifusion (Jun 3, 2011)

api said:


> *ifusion*, first a stupid question: Did you check the brush inside the hopper? If the brush doesn't brushes off the upside down stones, you can have this issue.
> 
> One more thing: Once I had a relatively old nozzle on the swing gun. It was "lazy". The spring wasn't able to push the nozzle tip back to its original position during the time of the swinging motion. Because of that, the spin gun had to reach too far up and it caused some flipped stones. I replaced the swing gun nozzle (the new spring was definitely stronger) and it solved the problem.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the reply. 

1) The brushes
- I must first admit, I bought my cams 1v2p off ebay from a leasing company. I know for a fact it was missing the hopper caps that slide into the grooves. As for the brushes, I've never seen a picture of the cams looking differently then how I have it, except for the caps, so I may be missing those?

2) When I first got the machine, I had a lazy tip. It would lock up and it wouldnt extend far enough to pick up the stone... then I found a good lube for it, and that did the trick.

I dont run nearly the volume that you do. On a good week, I run 50-100 designs from 500-1000 stones each that we sell online, or through referral. I clean it every 2 weeks and I'm current on all that.

I put in an email to coldesi to see what they can suggest. I'm going to go and order some ss6 stones from another supplier and see if it makes a difference.

My ss10's and ss20's work perfect. After putzing around with the ss6's with alignment, flipping bowls, etc.... still getting the bad placement, I switch right back to the ss10's and start her up again, and it goes perfectly.

steve


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## api (Nov 22, 2009)

I probably misinformed you about the brushes. I have a CAMS 1v6p and the position of the brush is important there, but I think that the 1v2P has a different hopper cup and there is no brush on that. Sorry.

I told you it's a stupid question...


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## ifusion (Jun 3, 2011)

no problem... all your help is appreciated. On my crystalpress there was a "brushing" piece of plastic. 

I bought my cams used so I dont know... maybe there was something that the original owners didnt return to the leasing company.

I just ordered a pack of ss6 stones from colman and company. I should have them here tomorrow... at least it will help me determine if the issue was related to the stones... my last batch was from shineart...

steve


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## diana13t (Mar 11, 2009)

On the Cams 1v-2p there is a black half circle piece of plastic that goes over the hoppers that has a "brush" attached to it.


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## ifusion (Jun 3, 2011)

thanks. I dont have that piece! .. I'll check with them to see how much it costs.


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