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Need Help cut being stretched from one edge

Koksan

New Member
It could be the cable is worn and stretching slightly. It has to move more weight when printing rather than just cutting where the heads detatch.
There is nothing software related that would make it print in the wrong place, so is most likely hardware, so I would be looking at replacing the cable
Sorry for the late answer. I tought it might be the cable and replaced it with new, the problem remained. As you mentioned - doesn't really seem to be a software problem since menu settings does not change anything, so I agree with the hardware suggestion.
 
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Koksan

New Member
I hate issues that are so hard to correct...
Just throwing things out there... Have you done a crop mark sensor adjustment? There is also a separate tool/ crop mark sensor adjustment, and that one can throw print-cut positions off even when not using crop marks. There's also a crop mark sensor adjustment if it's only happening using crop marks. If it's that far off because of a stretched scan cable, I'd think you'd get some sort of other issue like vertical banding when printing too.
That's the only way I am print-cutting for the last few months. Still some discrepancy, but it's better than the common print-cut option. I found and bought an SP 300V with old printheads (that I don't need) for around $200. It will be shopped within days - its in my country, so shipping will cost me less than $50. I will dissasemble both SP540 and SP300 and see where the problem might be and use the smaller one as a donor. The main reason is the lack of free time to do it, to stop my printer from working temporarily and I am looking for help here, just to save this "operation", that unfortunately I cannot avoid. I am pretty sure it can be something minor and I will be laughing and being angry in the same time for loosing so much time and nerves
 

damonCA21

New Member
I had a similar problem on my SP years ago. It turned out it was cutting in the correct place, but it was the actual print that was drifting out over the width of the vinyl. Try printing and cutting some test squares an equal distance apart, say 10mm, then when it finishes measure if it is the cuts or the prints that are 10mm apart, then you can narrow down which is causing the problem.

One other thought if you had changed the encoder strip is it could be a failing print carriage board. The encoder sensor plugs into this and a failing board can cause problems with the alignment.
 

Koksan

New Member
I had a similar problem on my SP years ago. It turned out it was cutting in the correct place, but it was the actual print that was drifting out over the width of the vinyl. Try printing and cutting some test squares an equal distance apart, say 10mm, then when it finishes measure if it is the cuts or the prints that are 10mm apart, then you can narrow down which is causing the problem.

One other thought if you had changed the encoder strip is it could be a failing print carriage board. The encoder sensor plugs into this and a failing board can cause problems with the alignment.
I just tried it. I set two squares 1 cm in a distance of 1000 mm from one another. The print was exactly 1000 mm, but the cut was 1003
 
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