Contour Cut Is Off... Have New Cutter???

[DIGITAL DESIGNS]

Hello everyone!!

I have been having an issue with my contour cut being off. I am using a mutoh valujet 1204 & was using a Vinyl Express Q54 cutter. After going through Sign warehouse tech, I was told my cutter needed to be repaired. I have sent the cutter to be repaired & in the meantime bought a Graphtec CE5000 to keep production going while the Q54 is being repaired.

I am using Flexi 10.0.2 software. The contour cut is still off using the new cutter! I have ran the sensor adj. test that plots a crosshair, reads it & then plots another crosshair over it & have it set up dead on!!

I am printing a panel approx. 4x8 & using type 2 area reg. marks. the cut is fine left to right, but is off a little high & it increases as it goes to the end of the panel??

Any suggestions would be great!! I am going in the morning to print & cut a different file to see what happens as well. Also am taking the file I am trying to print & cut to our vinyl supplier & use their printer & cutter to see what happens there. That way matbe we can eliminate a few things??

Thanks again for your help!!

 

[DIGITAL DESIGNS]

Okay... after thinking about this for a while & looking at some other threads, I am wondering if I may know what is going on here.

Is there a possibility that my printer is not printing exactly what is says as far as size goes? For example if I am printing a job that is say 12x12 can the printer be printing it 11.90x11.90? If so, this would then maybe throw off the contour cut.

I have heard & seen on here something about an output size compensation test as well as a media feed test? Is this some of the test I need to run? If so where & how?

Thanks again

 

[401Graphics]

i have the same set up as you. When i do a large contour cuts i dont put the cut right on the edge of the image, i either put it further away or a bit into the image, or just dont do something that large. Also slowing the cutter down between 20 and 40 helps. Make sure you dont have crap like pieces of vinyl stuck on your grit rollers.

 

[DIGITAL DESIGNS]

The last try I did do a -.010 contour cut & it was still off. As far as speed I run it at 30. With it being a new cutter the grit rollers are clean as can be. I know that the machine/software/printer etc... is capable of doing this as I have done plenty of 6-8' panels before???? Just not sure what is going on here

 

[DIGITAL DESIGNS]

I just got in this morning & ran the output compensation test in production manager & it was only about a 1/32" off. I print & cut another job enabling the compensation & still the same thing. The last test I just printed the word "test" approx. 6x2" with a zero contour cut & the cut was still about an 1/8" off.

 

[Matt-Tastic]

If you have Illustrator or CorelDRAW, i'd give the CuttingMaster2 plugin a try. On the whole, CM2 cuts more accurately than anything (although flexi is close, as it uses the same prod manager), and if you have the same issue, its not software related.

If changing your cutting solution fixes the issue, then there may be a patch for flexi you could add on to correct for the slight offset.

You also mention you did the distance adjust and it was slightly off. How long of a pattern did you print? the larger pattern you print, the more accurate you can get your printing.

A couple notes on using graphtec plotters. On occasion, i'll find that loading as sheet gives me better accuracy over loading as roll. I don't know why, but i get fewer errors like that. Also, if it is near a light source (window, overhead florescent, etc) it may be causing it to get bad readings on the mark scan. it'll scan, but it thinks its in the wrong place, and adjusts the cut accordingly. also, if laminated, the extra gloss can play havok with the sensor sometimes. buff off the sheen with a brillo pad over the marks, and see where that gets you.

hope some of this helps!

 

[Jim Doggett]

I just got in this morning & ran the output compensation test in production manager & it was only about a 1/32" off. I print & cut another job enabling the compensation & still the same thing. The last test I just printed the word "test" approx. 6x2" with a zero contour cut & the cut was still about an 1/8" off.

You can email our support @ support@signwarehouse.com, and they can give you some pointers. We also have some information here: http://www.signwarehouse.com/support/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=314

Best Regards,

Jim / SignWarehouse

 

[chrisphilipps]

Have you tried to do the PF Adjust on your ValueJet? This would adjust the length of the print.

 

[DIGITAL DESIGNS]

If you have Illustrator or CorelDRAW, i'd give the CuttingMaster2 plugin a try. On the whole, CM2 cuts more accurately than anything (although flexi is close, as it uses the same prod manager), and if you have the same issue, its not software related.

If changing your cutting solution fixes the issue, then there may be a patch for flexi you could add on to correct for the slight offset.

You also mention you did the distance adjust and it was slightly off. How long of a pattern did you print? the larger pattern you print, the more accurate you can get your printing.

A couple notes on using graphtec plotters. On occasion, i'll find that loading as sheet gives me better accuracy over loading as roll. I don't know why, but i get fewer errors like that. Also, if it is near a light source (window, overhead florescent, etc) it may be causing it to get bad readings on the mark scan. it'll scan, but it thinks its in the wrong place, and adjusts the cut accordingly. also, if laminated, the extra gloss can play havok with the sensor sometimes. buff off the sheen with a brillo pad over the marks, and see where that gets you.

hope some of this helps!

I do not have Illustrator or Corel Draw. I just went back & did an Output size compensation test at 32" & it was dead on. Just finished installing the upgraded Flexi 10.5 & still same problem. The final job I need to do is laminated, but all my test cuts here recently have not been laminated.

 

[DIGITAL DESIGNS]

You can email our support @ support@signwarehouse.com, and they can give you some pointers. We also have some information here: http://www.signwarehouse.com/support/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=314

Best Regards,

Jim / SignWarehouse

Jim,

Not to sound blunt... But not very happy at all with SW because one of the techs there was the one that told me my cutter needed to be fixed, so I sent that one off & bought a new one to continue production while that one is being repaired & still have same issue with new cutter!!

That just cost about $4k !!!

 

[DIGITAL DESIGNS]

Have you tried to do the PF Adjust on your ValueJet? This would adjust the length of the print.

Have not tried this Chris... nor do I know how?? Is this the same thing as the output compensation test where the printer will print 2 specified lines, then you measure them & put in the compensation if it is off??

Thanks

 

[DIGITAL DESIGNS]

Any ideas guys?? The weird thing is I came in this morning & print & cut two jobs of the same file I was having a problem with & the contour cut appeared to be dead on. I also had the cut set at a -.035 previously to compensate for the cut being off. But again, I did these 2 & they appeared to be dead on.... Kept on working (same file, changed nothing) then next thing you know the cut was back to being off.

I am doing a negative -.035 contour cut & in some places of the panel (4x8) there is as much as 1/8" of white showing where the cut is off???

 

[GraphicMasters]

I am having this same exact problem! I bought a complete package from sign warehouse and have had nothing but issues...... I am using the same everything.