Although it doesn't happen very often, we realize that even the best tools can wear out, or have a part go bad that needs replacement, (usually right before the big show). For this reason we make it a point to get your repair done fast, at a reasonable price.
If you are having any problems with your SMC tool that you purchased from PJL Enterprises, or any other dealer for that matter, please feel free to send me an email, or give me a call at 1-320-594-2811. Because PJL is SMC's sub-manufacturer, we can diagnose and usually repair your Optima burner or grinder, sometimes without you having to send in anything. When sending email, please state your name, address, day & evening phone numbers, product name,(Optima 1 or Optima 2, etc...), Date of purchase, and of course it's symptoms.
Sometimes it is not necessary to send in your entire tool in to be repaired. If you just have a bad cord, for example, only your cord would have to be sent in or a new one sent out to you. Checking with us first can save you time, and sometimes money in shipping costs. If you have an emergency that requires that you have a working tool immediately, please give us a call. We can sometimes send you a shop model, or needed accessories overnight or 2nd day air.
Frequently
Asked Questions
Updated
11/8/97
Q: Why doesn't SMC make burners with higher wattage ratings? I see other brands that have units ranging from 50 watts all the way up to 130 watts.
A: Well Virginia, when it comes to burner power
supply wattage ratings, their ain't no Santa Clause.... There are
allot of burner wattage claims that are, in reality, fiction. You
should not let yourself be persuaded by such wattage claims, as
these wattage's are being produced by the manufacturer in a
somewhat dubious manner.... To see an in-depth detailed example
and explanation of wattage rating tests, click here.
Q: Are your wood burning pens compatible with Navesink Designer Deluxe model, and can they be used on this burner ?
A: Yes, our pen
bodies are directly compatible with most other brands (except
Detail Master). Most
burners use an "RCA" type of jack. Colwood and Nibs
also use this same type of jack to connect to the pen body. Your
pen cord should have a "female" type RCA jack that your
pens plug into (pen body has a male RCA). You should have no
problems using the Optima burning pens on the Navesink (or
Colwood, Nibs, etc...). You would, however, get better linear
control (doesn't go from too cold to too hot) with our Optima 1
power supply (Our power supply circuit design is superior to
other brands). By the way, we do sell a Detail Master adapter
cord, so that our pens may be used on Detail Master Power
supplies.
Q: Can I use regular as well as heavy duty Optima pens with the Detail Master using an adapter cord?
A: Yes, you can use either the Standard or Heavy Duty pens
with an adapter cord, but we now have two different Detail Master
adapter cords to offer. The cord and pen type you choose is
largely dependant on your carving style (high heat carver or low
heat carver) and which pen types that you get. Keep in mind that
our pens are detachable from the cord.
Q: What is the difference between the Standard and Heavy Duty pen styles, and which style should I get?
A: Our original slim line pens, "Standard", are
meant for doing ultra fine detailing at lower temperatures, and
are not meant for high heat or high mechanical pressure
situations. The Standard pen tips use the smallest diameter tip
wire available, and are therefore capable of doing finer
detailing than any other brand. The Heavy Duty pens have a larger
diameter tip wire, carve a wider line than the standard pens, and
can be used to heat carve, notch, and burnish for longer periods
of time. The tips are also more durable, and able to take more
mechanical pressure. For certain "bent" tips like
numbers 13, 14, & 15 we recommend getting a heavy duty pen,
and using a heavy duty cord. Any burnishing type tip that would
be "sinking" allot of heat to the wood benefits from
the heavy duty cord greatly, even in the standard type of pens.
As far as which style to get, it depends on how you are used to
carving. If you are a novice, like to heat carve, or intend to
use it to notch or gouge, then you should consider the Heavy Duty
style pens. If you are looking to get the finest detail possible,
then our original Standard slim line pen style is what you want.
Q: Which type of cord should I get? The Standard 18 gauge, or new Heavy Duty 16 gauge?
A: The new 16 gauge Heavy Duty cord is
recommended for use with the Heavy Duty style pens, and will give
remarkable heat recovery when using the Heavy Duty style pens.
The 18 gauge cord will supply ample power to most of our original
"Standard" slim line pens. If however you have a
burnishing tip(#8), writing tip(#9), Guge tip(#14 or #15), or
flat work / fish scale tip(#13) in either style of pen, I would
recommend getting the Heavy Duty cord. Any tip that will have
allot of its surface area contacting the wood will
"sink" allot of heat to the wood, therefore you would
benefit greater heat recovery with the Heavy Duty cord. The down
side of using a Heavy Duty cord with our Standard original slim
line pens, is that you may not get as low of a "low
end" range on most tips styles as you can get with the
Standard 18 gauge cord. This is especially critical when using
our Standard pen tips in conjunction with someone else's power
supply, as almost all other brands do not let you set the
"low end" of the power supply output.
Q: My pen cord gets hot near one of it's jacks, and my pens do not seem to work very well or not at all.
A: First of all, check to see if the pen
is fully plugged into the cord jack, and that the other end of
the cord is securely inserted into the power supply chassis mount
jack, (it happens). Otherwise you more than likely have a bad
cord. Do NOT use it, as you may melt either the plastic jack body
of your pen or the power supply face plate. To see if this is the
case, you can do one of two things. If you have a friend or a
local dealer that will let you borrow a new (or known to work)
Optima or compatible cord, use it to see if it now works with the
new cord attached. If the borrowed cord works, obviously it was a
bad cord problem. If it did not work (with any of your pens) then
you may have a power supply problem.
If you cannot borrow another cord, then you need to rule out any
problems with the power supply. Turn the power supply adjust knob
to the lowest setting. Turn the unit on. If the red indicator
light does not light up, check to see that the unit is plugged
into the wall properly, and that your fuse or circuit breaker is
not blown (it happens). Then plug your largest tipped pen
directly into the power supply chassis mount jack (be careful not
to turn the adjust knob above 3, as it may burn out the tip). If
the pen doesn't get hot now, you definitely have a power supply
problem. Make sure it is not a faulty pen, by using more than one
pen to carry out these tests. You may send any cord or power
supply repairs (via UPS or US Mail) directly to PJL Enterprises,
PO Box 273, 720 Perry Ave. N. Browerville, MN 56438. Give me a
call at 320-594-2811 if you are not sure what the problem is.
Q: I use my Optima 1 burner, (or Ultima), at home and take it to carving classes. Its low end range is very different from place to place, and it sometimes even seems to shut off if I turn it down too far. Why is this, and can this be remedied?
A: Most people are not aware that voltages
can vary widely from building to building, and sometimes vary
greatly from inside the same building. In the old SMC shop, we
had voltages that could vary from 95 volts all the way up to 130
volts, depending what other electronic devices were attached to
that circuit. We had this in mind when the Optima 1 burner power
supply was designed.
On the newer units, you will find a small hold drilled in the
back panel. Inside that hole, you will see what looks like a 1/8
inch long thin slot in the middle of a round white plastic piece
surrounded by a black round case with metal leads. This is known
as a "surface mount" potentiometer. This potentiometer
is used to adjust the "low end" of the power supply.
This access hole is located on the left side of the newer Ultima,
or the right side of an older metal Ultima box. If you have an
older Optima 1 in the small "all black" plastic box,
the access hole is on the side usually facing you (opposite the
110 A/C cord). All Optima 1 and Ultima power supplies let you
have access to this potentiometer, give me a call if you cannot
find it (320-594-2811).
To adjust your low end, first find a small flat screw driver that
will fit in this slot (preferably insulated). Plug in your
smallest tipped pen (like a #10 small skew) onto the pen cord,
and set the front dial to it's lowest setting. Use a light wood
like Tupelo, or if need be, a thick paper (like tag board). Turn
the unit so that the adjustment hole will be easily accessible to
you during adjustment.
1: With the screw driver (inserted into the adjustment slot) in
one hand, and your burning pen in the other, turn on the unit.
Lightly press the side of the pen (not the sharp edge) to the
wood or paper.
2: If it is running way too hot, slowly turn the screw driver
clockwise ever so slightly (the adjustment is somewhat sensitive)
until you reach a point where it can just barely brown the wood
or paper after 2 to 4 seconds of contact.
3: If there is no heat on the tip at all, or you went too far in
step 2, (test by wetting a finger and quickly tapping the side of
the tip, listen for a "ssstt" kind of sound),
"very slowly" rotate the screwdriver counter-clockwise.
When the circuit turns back on, it will probably be too hot. Go
back to step 2 and try again.
4. At this point you should have a suitable adjustment. If you
unplug the burning pen from the cord, and plug it back in again
(without shutting off the power supply unit) and you find that
you again have no heat on the tip; you need to go back to step 3
again (you adjusted into the "gray area" of the circuit
threshold in step 2). Or (with the pen plugged in) you could try
and turn the unit off, and then on again, (this sometimes brings
the control circuit back to life), At which point you would need
to turn the screwdriver (very slightly) counter-clockwise to
bring up the low end to the point where it will not shut off when
changing pens.
Q: Why don't you have replaceable tips? Wouldn't it be more economical for your customers to have this option?
A: Although
we've been asked to carry replaceable tip versions of our pens,
we do not, for several very good reasons. These reasons are as
follows: A non-welded tip will have bad intermittent conductive
properties between the nichrome tip and the brass carrier, and
our customers would not be satisfied in the long run. These
conditions are high heat, electricity, and two dissimilar metal
alloys (a very bad combination for preventing corrosion).
Although other brands have friction fitted "brass to
brass" connectors, they too will eventually suffer from
corrosion, and eventually, have poor intermittent conductive
properties. Besides, for what our competitors charge for their
"replaceable tips" (not to mention what they then want
for the pen body), I feel that you are better off spending a few
dollars more for each pen body & tip to have a pen that will
work properly throughout its lifetime. Would you buy a new car
that is known to constantly have problems with its cruise control
or throttle control after only a year of usage?
Q: How often should I sharpen my pen tips, and what should I use to do it with? How can I make them last longer?
A: Usually, only once or twice a year
depending on usage. To knock off carbon from time to time,
lightly buff the tips occasionally with a leather strop or small
cloth buffing wheel (fits on a dremel wheel mandrel), with a
small amount of polishing rouge or buffing compound. An overnight
soak in oven cleaner can sometimes take off heavy carbon
deposits, but be careful that you do not soak the brass or silver
solder (read the directions for your oven cleaner to see what
metals it will safely clean). To determine if your tip needs to
be sharpened or "re-honed", examine your tips under a
magnifying glass. If the edge of the tip looks rounded or their
is not a well defined angle, you could probably re-sharpen the
tip. BTW, over buffing (using a "leather power strop"
wheel for example) will prematurely lead to the metal
"rolling over" the edge, causing your tip to get kind
of a rounded edge. To sharpen your pen, use a fine stone, (or if
need be, 800 or higher grit wet and dry sand paper). Sharpen your
pen tips at a 30 to 35 degree angle. Do NOT sharpen them at a
sharper angle, as you will then carve too deep, and have problems
in the painting stage of your carvings.
To make your tips last longer: NEVER use sandpaper of any sort to
buff off carbon. Burning at lower temperatures will keep carbon
build-up off of the tip in the first place, and keeps the tips
from oxidizing. Unlike what Detail Master recommends, NEVER turn
your power supply on high to "anneal" a tip. This will
just lead to premature oxidation, and may damage some of the
smaller Standard style tips. Put your pens back into their pen
tubes after each use, a pen tip hitting the floor is the most
common type of tip damage. Stick a small amount of foam or
Styrofoam into the pen tube's cap if you are transporting your
Optima allot. I have seen our tips last over 10 years, when
properly cared for!
Q: I currently have a hot tool ("soldering iron" type of burner) with screw on tips. Can this somehow be plugged into your power supply so I could vary its heat output?
A: Well, yes and no.... The standard Optima 1 power supply
puts out very low voltage at high amps, where your old
"soldering iron" type plugs directly into 110/120 A/C,
besides it wouldn't fit into the jack.... However, for an extra
$10.00, I can put an A/C plug on the back of unit. Then you could
still use your old hot tool for some things, and use our power
supply to vary its heat output (as long as it consumes less than
170 watts). I am not sure how this would affect our pens
performance / linear range, if you have it plugged in whilst
using our pens.
Q: I have recently completed my first decoy carving class. At the class, and in several publications, I have noticed two very different looking Optima 2 power carving tools. One design resembles the Optima 1 woodburner and the other is a square unit with the handpiece attached to the top. Could you tell me the difference?
A: The current Optima 1 wood burner and Optima 2 Plus
micro motor tool, use the same type of box (gray box with black
front and back panels, and white lettering) for the power supply;
(we're trying to keep our costs down). The black one that you
seen, with the jack connection on the top of the box is from a
few years back, (I'm assuming it was a smaller plastic box you
seen). Some publications still haven't bothered to update their
photo of our units, we no longer sell it in the old style box.
Their could be some slightly different electronics depending on
the motor being used with it, or whether it had been sent in for
an upgrade.
Q: I am thinking of buying an Ultima, Combination Burner & Micro Motor Tool. I am afraid that if the grinder side of the power supply stops working, then the burner would then also stop working (or vice versa).
A: The odds that either side of the power supply would
stop working are somewhat remote to begin with. The odds that
both of them would stop working a the same time, are almost
astronomical. The Ultima power supply is noticeably larger,
because it is basically an Optima 1 burner power supply AND an
Optima 2 Plus power supply in one box (2 different transformers,
2 different control circuits). The only known way for both sides
to go down at the same time, would be if you had a really bad
"Burn to Grind" switch (pretty rare), or if the 110V
A/C power cord itself was faulty (very rare). Otherwise, both the
motor handpiece coil cord and the burning pen cord would have to
go bad at the same time (extremely rare, I've never seen it
happen). This is why the Ultima now carries a full LIFETIME PARTS
& LABOR warranty against manufacturer defects; on the power
supply, cords, and pen body (Motor handpiece has a 1 year limited
warranty, pen "tips" are not warranted as their use or
abuse is beyond our control).
If you have a question not listed here, feel free to send me an email about your problem or question.
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