Cleaning the carriage is an important job to make sure your Kniterate knits at its best. Clean and oil the knitting cams and the notches in the carriage every 6 months for daily use.
Taking off the carriage
Always perform this action with two people.
Always switch the machine to the symbol “O” position to turn it off when handling the carriage.
Always hold the carriage from the bridge.
Start by taking off the side panel on the side where you want to take the carriage off.
The carriage consists of a front and back carriage that are connected by the bridge as one piece. It only has two connections to the machine, which need to be disconnected to take the carriage off. Once disconnected the carriage is not attached anywhere and can easily slide off and drop down. Make sure that the carriage is always held by someone.
Start with someone in front of the machine, and someone behind. From the front, hold the carriage still while the other person disconnects the cable of the electronics box and unscrews the three screws from the belt coupling. The carriage can now run freely to either side.
WARNING: Do not let go of the carriage when it is disconnected.
WARNING: The carriage weighs around 30 kg / 66 lbs, and its weight will be suddenly released as soon as it is off the rails.
Be ready to hold that sudden weight.
Pull the carriage to one end, while one person holds the carriage from the front and the other one from the back. Carefully take it off the rails straight, without tilting the carriage. Once the carriage is off, put it upside down onto a firm surface.
Cleaning the carriage
Placing the carriage back
Insert the carriage back onto the rails. Do this very slowly and make sure the four bearings are surrounding the rails, both in the front and back.
While one person holds the carriage from the front, the carriage can be reconnected from the back. Place the side panel back.