jagged lines when using pen

[Sylvia Duckworth]

Did a workshop for 25 teachers today at my school, first day back from summer holidays. Didn't check ahead of time that SB was working properly (duh). Couldn't align the board properly no matter how many times I tried. SB pen wrote in jagged lines. Total disaster. Had to switch classrooms in the middle of the presentation to use a different SB.

After much web research and emails to [e-mail] (who could not resolve the issue), I removed 2 screws underneath the ledge below the SMARTboard which apparently were causing some kind of magnetic disturbance. Now the SB works perfectly.

[anne marie]

That is the ultimate nightmare when you have 25 teachers sitting in front of you waiting for you to dazzle them and everything fizzles due to a technical issue that is not easily (or quickly) resolved. :( I feel your frustration. So how did you discover that the two screws were causing all of the problems? As they say--- keep smiling! :) anne marie

[Sylvia Duckworth]

My web research suggested that there may be issues with nearby metal surfaces/objects so I removed the only 2 screws that were removable without the SB falling off the wall!

[Matt Granger]

The mystery is why it didn't cause a problem before. My district didn't put those screws in. They put velcro on the big gray feet on the back and another piece on the chalkboard. It works well. Maybe something to try to secure that board.

[Sylvia Duckworth]

I know, totally weird. For 2 years my SB worked properly, then all of a sudden it stopped. Ah, the joys of technology...

[Lloyd Summers]

I was just going to recommend that :D It probably didn't occur before because the metal frame in the wall (behind the drywall) hadn't become grounded yet (humidity can cause this in your walls, its actually quite common. I saw quite a few people zap themselves in demolotions when a wall was damp.) Or, overtime, the SMART Board got closer and closer to a contact point.

Whats happening is a small grounding issue. The SMART Board registers your contact by measuring the resistance (analogue resistive technology). What is happening is those metal screws are touching something conductive in the wall, and the metal frame of the SMART Board.

SMART Boards should be installed with two nylon washers that are included around these screws, these nylon washers protect the screw so it cannot contact the metal frame of the SMART Board to an aluminum frame common in commercial buildings. If these nylon covers are missing the issue can occur.

Typically you get a zigzag pattern when drawing left to right and a dashed line drawing top to bottom.

Temporary solutions are to use electrical tape (or anything, I've even had teachers use nail polish as a temporary solution until the nylon covers arrive) to stop the end of the screw from touching the metallic board. A long term solution is to contact SMART or your local reseller and request two nylon washers. They cost about 13 cents if I remember correctly per washer.

Note as well: Third party metallic sliding racks can cause the same issue. As these metal sliding racks are often coated but the coating can wear down. This will cause the metal on metal contact that can potentially (over time) cause the screws to get just close enough to the aluminum embedded in the wall.

I'm sorry that support didn't support you with this issue, this is a pretty common occurance as many people are unsure of what these two washers are and skip them in the installation process.

-ls.

[Matt Granger]

Thanks for the explanation, Lloyd. That makes it easy to diagnose in the future.

[Obe Hostetter]

We just recently moved a SMARTBoard to a different wall because the jagged lines appeared in the bottom right corner making it very difficult to use the board. I took the SMARTBoard off the wall and reset it using the blue button to the right of the SMARTBoard near the green light. The board worked perfectly. I put the SMARTBoard back on the wall and it drew jagged or dotted lines. We finally moved the SMARTBoard to a different wall. We discovered that electrical cables running near the SMARTBoard were causing the SMARTBoard to react.

[Nancy Conkins]

I also encountered the zig zag lines on a SMART Board. We unscrewed the screws and it is better but there is still a "bump" in the middle of the page while writing with the pen. I also noticed that it is difficult and near impossible to orient the screen. The +'s are super touchy and often skip to the next point. The SMART Board is mounted on top of a white board like many in our district. Could be the problem? I look forward to you suggestions.

[Nancy Conkins]

Me again. I tried your ideas, Obe and they didn't work. What I found out though is if I only had the USB connected and wrote on the board it worked. (I was watching the monitor on my computer.) When I connected the VGA that connected the Epson projector, I got the zigzag lines again. Tried this with a Mac and a Windows machine and it did the same thing with both computers. Any ideas?

[Obe Hostetter]

Move any magnets or electrical devices away from the SMARTBoard. I would then take the SMARTBoard completely off the wall. Unplug the usb cord for at least a minute. Reset the board using the blue reset button on the right by holding in the button for 10 seconds. Lastly, I would update the SMARTBoard firware through the SMART Control panel. See if it now works.

Finally, I would contact SMART support at http://www2.smarttech.com/st/en-US/About+Us/Company+Info/Contact+Us...

[Sudhir Maharaj]

Hello Nancy. You might want to check out this forum: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/hardware/35243-smartboard-alignment-p.... Some people have found that projectors with 2 pin plugs (no earth) may cause interference via the VGA cables, and found that earting the VGA cable using a wire from the ground pin of a 3 pin plug to one of the silver screws on the VGA cable plug, has helped with interference coming from VGA cables.

[Nancy Conkins]

Thanks so much. We did narrow it down to the projector. Now with the information you gave me, we know why!