Last Broken Cricut, Fixed!
Woo woo, I'm now 6 for 6 on repairing the "broken" Cricuts I got off eBay. (ok, Danny M. gets 95% of the credit for the one with the busted middle-layer board traces)
The last holdout was a Personal model, which would beep three times when powered up. Nothing from the LCD, all the keyboard lights would come on.
I started by plugging a known-good power supply into it, just in case, but it didn't make any difference.
Next, I removed the bottom cover where the motherboard lives, and immediately spotted the culprit. The LCD header was unplugged.
After plugging it back in and powering it back up, angels sang, it started right up and gave me the "Cricut 1.0 OK"!
Incidentally, I had been wondering if the earliest firmware versions had perhaps not been read-only, so I plugged in my handy programmer card and attempted to download the firmware.
At first I thought I had hit paydirt, the file was NOT all 0s like the others, but alas, I realized the bytes were all sequential numbers in an interesting pattern (high-byte increasing across, low byte increasing downwards).
This machine looks pretty much unused and gleaming. I wonder if it was bad right from the factory? How else could a header just come unplugged like that?
August 13th, 2011 - 05:57
Hi,
My wife is now the proud owner of a semi-dead CRV0001 (Personal). The power button light illuminates, the LCD panel is dead and the keypad blinks a few keys on the right a couple of times then fades away. Do you think this sounds like a loose wire connector/bad solder joint or is it more likely to be electronics? I’ve pulled the base off and checked the voltage to the power connector which is 18v.
It’s out of warranty, so I’m just trying to work out whether to pull it apart completely and investigate or send it off for certified repair. I prefer the first option but was stumped as to how the side panels come off without too much force. Any hits on the disassembly procedure would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers.
August 13th, 2011 - 06:56
I haven’t seen that one before, but it’s not hopeless. For the end caps, try something thin and strong like a credit card (that you don’t care about). Push it in between the end cap and the trim ring from the sides and use it to release the “fingers” one at a time, pulling outwards at the same time to keep them from snapping back in.
Chances are these won’t really help you, sounds more like a power problem. I had one that would flash on and off over and over again, the power adapter was putting out 18v, but as soon as there was any load on it, it would shut off and start over. So, if you have access to another (known good) adapter or power supply (18v 2A I think), I might try that first if you possibly can.
Next, take a photo of the board to keep track of the connectors (there are one or two that can fit in 2 possible places), unplug them all, and remove the board from the base plate. Look very closely for bad and broken solder joints, especially around the power section. One of mine had a broken lead at the inductor next to the 5V regulator, which had come disconnected from two middle layer traces leading to the regulator. Test with your voltmeter around the 5V regulator and CPU power pins to see if it’s getting the proper voltage. Earlier 2-layer boards are easier to troubleshoot than the 3-layer ones which can be a drag.
Let me know what you find!
August 15th, 2011 - 19:35
Thanks for the tips. I’m hoping to have another shot at it this weekend.
October 9th, 2011 - 21:38
Same problem with us. I took it apart and sketched out the schematic a bit. I think I shorted something in the relay with my scope probes on the power card that caused ‘er to kick right back in and start working again
December 28th, 2011 - 13:57
The size dial on the machine moves but the size on screen doesn’t. its stuck on 3 inches. This machine is out of warranty and and only used twice, so I am baffled. Any suggestions on what I can try? its an expressions machine.
December 30th, 2011 - 14:33
The dials often break if the machine falls over, you could also try popping off the right side cover to see if theres anything obviously wrong with the dial or its wiring. I’ve found more than one with a wire broken at the connector, or simply come unplugged. The dials are plugged into the main processor board which can be seen by removing the 7 phillips screws on the bottom of the machine.
January 3rd, 2012 - 17:37
I opened the bottom today and took a look, everything looks like its is connected properly (but I am just a house wife)
Maybe you should open up a shop and fix these things for other people……………could make some good money that way, sounds like lots of people are frustrated with their broken cricuts.
May 4th, 2012 - 18:30
Help the little piece that dose the actual cutting is stuck and it makes a loud noise when you turn it on. I can move it with my hands and it will return back to the starting position but won’t move on it’s own it lights up and everything else works fine. when looking on line lots of people have this problem but haven’t seen any solutions on how to fix it any suggestions? ( out of warranty don’t want to have to mess with or have to send it back.)
May 4th, 2012 - 22:16
This one totally sounds to me like the wires for the little home switch have a disconnect somewhere. Take off the bottom cover and first check that all the cables at the right side are firmly connected. This one has two wires, red and white I -think-. Next you’ll need to get the right side cover off and check inside there. I had one once where the wires had gotten caught between sharp metal edges and the plastic side cover.
August 21st, 2012 - 17:40
Hi!
Any suggestions on this problem: One prong from the power supply broke off and lodged itself in the mother board, any suggestions on removing it? If we can do that all I need is a new power cord and my cricut imagine is up and running! Thank you hope to hear from you soon!
September 9th, 2012 - 22:30
I have the 6 inch machine. A few days ago the lid with the reader board won’t illuminate. Any suggestions?
September 10th, 2012 - 08:29
I don’t understand what you mean by “lid with the reader board.” Does the machine still work otherwise, or is it failing to power up completely?
October 11th, 2012 - 19:52
Have an expression that would get a green light but that was it. messed around some and got it to do something by playing with the BD327 power transistor.. I thought maybe it had gotten loosened up orsomething, so I traced the traces, put jumpers to make sure no broken traces etc.. Now what it will do is turn on, the lcd will flash, the stepper motor will move the cutter a short distance to the left (away from home) then the LCD will go out.. about a second later, will flash again (very briefly, MAYBE .10 / .25 sec, if I pay attention I can tell it has firmware 2.31
) it will just do this forever.. I’ve looked at the power input and it’s not moving, staying right at 18v.. the main voltage reg has a nice constant 5 v out.. but the one mentioned above, and some other components you can put the meter on them and see the voltage build to about 10, the LCD will flash, the stepper will step and then the voltage drops to about 5.. then builds again over the next couple of seconds and do it over and over and over.. ANY thoughts?
October 11th, 2012 - 20:26
Not clear what you’re saying – is the input power stable 18v, or does it drop to 5 when the stepper tries to pull some current?
This sounds exactly like what mine acted like when it had a faulty power adapter…
Any chance you’ve got a spare you can try?
October 11th, 2012 - 21:16
No, it stays nice and steady 18v.. so not that easy..
the voltage reg is putting out 5v constant (the one with 5 legs on it). There is the adjustable voltage reg that is mounted by itself with the 3 wires running to it, and then the power transistor…
October 25th, 2012 - 18:35
Well, doing more checking after actually replacing one of the adjustable voltage regs and still didnt make a difference, just started probing.. found the Vcc pad on the far end of the PCB *away from power input* probed it and still was getting the rising and falling voltage.. Knowing the Vcc is a constant and should normally be in the 5v range or so… I jumpered from the 5 pin regulator to the Vcc pad.. and BAM it worked!! So now, I have an extra expression on the way because I had kind of given up on this one lol.. Not 100% sure it’s fixed ‘right’ but everything works well, so whatever I’ve bypassed, works for me
November 4th, 2012 - 12:21
Hi.
I have just tried to combine two faulty Cricut Create machines to make one good one.
My first problem is that the motherboard on one has a fried L4 component located near to the power inlet and just a bit below that and over to the left is a cracked C44. Do you know the value of these components so that I might be able to replace them. (photo available)
Second machine has just one line (top) of the LCD showing without a backlight.
After testing the LCD from a good machine it is not the LCD at fault, and after testing for voltage on the feed cable I appear to be missing 12volt between the red one and the one at the far end, it is around 4.5 volts instead (12 v on the good one) all other voltages match. Any idea where the missing supply could be hiding?
Brian
December 7th, 2012 - 09:15
Hi,
My Cricut Expression makes a grinding noise when it powers on. Everything looks like it will work it even tries to cut but it doesn’t move properly and is all messed up. The grinding has gotten worse and it acts like it is cutting but, alas, not correctly. I tried the reset button tricks with no luck. Any ideas? ProvoCraft says it will have to be replaced…”but even if you did have it repaired it would cost as much as our reconditioned one that is on sale”. So, maybe it can be repaired?
Diana
December 7th, 2012 - 11:07
I suspect the carriage belt is loose – check the tension with your finger, it should be fairly tight.. see if the carriage is straight on the track and all the wheels in the groove.. etc.. Secondly do check those limit switch wires.
Yes, the problem with repair is it’s just not cost effective for the customer or repair shop; its generally cheaper to buy a working one from ebay ($50?) or perhaps PC’s reconditioned one (how much are they?). You could likely save a little money by getting one that doesn’t come with cartridges, blade holder, and so on.
December 10th, 2012 - 09:23
Hey there. I’m wondering if you have an email address where I could contact you? I have a cricut personal cutter that is not working (not powering on). Problem is, I borrowed it from a friend so if I can’t get it working, I’m going to have to buy them a new one!!
December 25th, 2012 - 13:23
HI – I now have 2 faulty cricut expression 2 in my posession and wondering if I could fix either before I send them back. The first one isn’t cutting. It is making all the correct movements and is even lightly scoring in places – after googling it appears its a common problem to do with pressure in the blade housing, but can it be fixed???
The second cuts TOO well!! When the blade is moving across the mat to starting point, it is scoring the paper along the line travelled and its also doing the sane when it’s finished cutting and returning to its home position. Again I’m guessing its a pressure problem, but opposite to the first!!! Any help would be appreciated if possible xx
December 26th, 2012 - 08:12
The “not enough cutting pressure” problem does seem to be a common problem! Unfortunately none of my machines have this issue so I haven’t been able to try diagnosing it. If you were in the US I’d offer to buy it from you to give it a try
On your second issue, “cutting TOO well”, have you tried the fix I wrote about in the “Cricut Repair Tips” article regarding bent leaf springs in the carriage?
December 25th, 2012 - 20:02
We purchased a Provo Craft Cricut Image. It goes through all of the startup functions until it get to where the cartridge needs to drop down into the cartridge carriage. It will not go any further. Do you have any idea how to correct this problem?
December 26th, 2012 - 08:09
I’m sorry, I’ve never played with any Imagines or Expression 2′s.. If you figure it out please do post a follow up!
May 6th, 2013 - 11:58
Hey There, have you ever found a solution for the failed USB port problem? PC doesn’t even know something’s plugged in, port seems dead so no PC based cutting options which is why I bought it in the first place…please email if you have any thoughts…thanks!
May 6th, 2013 - 14:13
Many people have posted about this, only one has reported a fix, which was (I believe) actually replacing the USB connector on the board. I’d be willing to make the attempt and document it if you want to pay for shipping both ways.