Smartboard pen makes jagged vertical lines

[bghs]

One of our smartboards has an odd problem which is whenever a teacher writes on the board it makes very jagged random vertical lines. I have tried orienting/calibrating/resetting the board with the notebook but that hasn't worked. Attached is what the lines look like. Has anybody else had this issue or know of a solution to it? Could there be something interfering with the pen to the board?

We're currently using the 600 series SMART Board Interactive whiteboards with a Macbook running OS X 10.5.7. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[timbo343]

Have you got anything metal behind the smart board. We had the same problem with that the screws were passing a current from the metal wall to the metal brackets that bring the board to the wall.

[imiddleton25]

If you have more than one board can you try pen from a differnet board and even the macbook on a different board to narrow down were the problem is.

[bghs]

Yes a whiteboard is currently behind the smartboard which has metal basically all around it.

[SYSMAN_MK]

Also had this when the screws that hold the board to the wall (underneth the pen try) are to tight.

[neon]

can i point you towards this thread?

Smartboard Alignment Problem

looks quite similar, if you want more detail or info please pm me.

[DaveP]

We saw something similar on one of our boards [connected to PC not Mac and Promethean not Smartboard but it might give you a starting point?]

It turned out to be the pen which a replacement resolved but Promethean helpdesk suggested these remedies should the new pen not work

Disconnect the board from the power supply and the PC (USB not serial connection) and leave for 5 minutes.

Recalibrate the board.

Clean the board thoroughly but not aggressively and try to ensure that there is not static build up on the board.

Update the board firmware (firmware would have been sent out by Promethean after we let them know the board serial number and model)

[called the helpdesk because initial attempts to resolve this ourselves (including trying a brand new pen on the board) did not work]

Hope this helps.

[Fatima]

Uninstall all SMART files and reload new files. We had the exact same files and thought that it was electrical. We went to SMART customer service who tried a lot ot things, and eventually told me to dump the software and reload. It has worked like a charm ever since.

On a Promethean board we had a similar problem which turned out to be the electronic on the board, but with SMART the problem was with Mac and update conflicts. Give it a try -- it only takes about a half hour.

[Chris_Jones]

We sometimes get similar issues with our Hitachi Cambridge boards - its always the power supply on the way out and not supplying correct/consistant voltage.

[tazz]

We had this problem with a new install of 10 boards - it was some of the metal screws contacting the "metal" wall (old school)

Used industrial strength double side Velcro in place of the screws that were causing the problem. Worked a treat - not sure how long they will hold up for, but has been 18 months so far.

[Paul_L]

Have you got anything metal behind the smart board. We had the same problem with that the screws were passing a current from the metal wall to the metal brackets that bring the board to the wall.

Yep same here, plus had one that had been mounted to an 'old uneven wall', loosened the screws at the bottom (600 series) and it stopped it!


Paul

[TechMonkey]

First thing I have found to try is up the calibration points. Had one doing this, upped it from 9 points to 12 and all was fine. This was with a 'step' in a straight line just in one section of the board even after reallibrating on the lower setting.

[timbo343]

In the end we just used some plastic washers to stop the screws acting as conductors, thinking about it just covering the metal holders with insulation tape would be good enough.

[DarrenC]

This issue is called spiking, it can occur for a number of reasons but the most common is definitely the screws into the wall issue.

To check for this remove the pen tray (slides off when you release the two plastic catches underneath) and you will see 2 screws pinning two metal brackets to the wall. Unscrew these and see if the issue continues if it doesn't timbo343 is correct, plastic washers are the best fix.

I would recommend contacting your av supplier as well in case this issue reappears.

[technatude]

We had this problem with a new install of 10 boards - it was some of the metal screws contacting the "metal" wall (old school)

Used industrial strength double side Velcro in place of the screws that were causing the problem. Worked a treat - not sure how long they will hold up for, but has been 18 months so far.

Thank you so much! This worked perfectly! We had 4 boards that were installed on top of metal marker boards so we were experiencing the dreaded jagged lines. I took out the metal screws and put double sided industrial velcro where the board met the wall surface and the problem is fixed! I'm looking for some nylon screws to put in the holes but it is holding in place just fine with the velco.