Cutter tapping and missing in spots

[rydods]

Hello. I have a Roland Pro 4 XR 640 with print/cut capabilities. Recently it started tapping the cutting carriage/blade during prints and print/cut jobs. Also, while cutting, it skips cutting in random places.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

 

[oksigns]

make sure heat is turned off.. media will not always rest flat so some deviation will be expected. Skipping is usually attributed to too much or too little force. If it just appears to flat out not cut certain lengths than the speed may be too fast and not enough pressure applied.

Additionally, the cutting strip may be damaged in those areas causing the blade to skip and ricochet around.

Lastly, the blade tip may have broken off- if so, the blade will always give an unreliable cut.

I have a bad spot on my cutting strip that I can avoid by centering the media, but if you know how your cutting strip acts, you can power through it- just depends on how much you want to put up with it.

 

[ActionGraphics]

Also, for the skipping issue, the problem might not be in the printer itself. Double check your cut contour lines in the artwork.

 

[rydods]

The contour seems to be good in the design plus it does this on every job so it's not centralized to one job. I don't believe it's the heat or cutting strip the cutter holder actually lifts when it skips and taps up and down during printing and/or cutting.

 

[niksagkram]

I know this might sound silly, but have you tried unplugging the power cord for a few minutes? I had a similar problem a couple of years ago with my XC-540. It would randomly go to the far left of the printer and start cutting in a 1" area, almost like there were thousands of nodes there and it was trying to plot them all. I tried everything to figure it out, and out of desperation I unplugged it for a few minutes. After I plugged it back it, I never had the issue again! Coincidence? Maybe, but it's worth a shot.

If that fails, call a tech.

Good luck.

Mark

 

[Ragnabrok]

100% cut carriage cable, i've seen it on a few XRs. There is a revised part for it actually.

 

[rydods]

Thanks! I'll try unplugging and if that doesn't work I'll replace the cut carriage cable.

 

[ChaseO]

Make sure your .eps margins are also set at .01.

 

[LaurisGr]

Sorry to bother. I'm experiencing the same issue on my XR640. From your experience, is that complex to replace cut carriage cable, maybe you happen to have instructions on how to do it?
thanks, Lauris

Thanks! I'll try unplugging and if that doesn't work I'll replace the cut carriage cable.

 

[LaurisGr]

Sorry to bother. I'm experiencing the same issue on my XR640. From your experience, is that complex to replace cut carriage cable, maybe you happen to have instructions on how to do it?
thanks, Lauris

100% cut carriage cable, i've seen it on a few XRs. There is a revised part for it actually.

 

[bob]

Before you start replacing parts try removing any dust cover over the cutting mechanism and then blowing all of the dust and crud from the cutting tackle paying particular attention the the blade up/down mechanism.

 

[Pewter0000]

All the suggestions above are awesome, I would also suggest a tiny bit of oil on the blade to make sure it's rotating smoothly as it's cutting, otherwise sometimes curves end up "skipping" over the surface.

Just one little drop of 3-in-1 oil in the tip (unscrew it, remove the blade, and put the drop in where the blade goes, put the blade back in and out a few times to make sure it's spread around). We put a little oil in our XR-640 blade once every 4 or 5 months if we notice our weeding getting a little frustrating around corners/curves.

 

[LaurisGr]

Thanks for your input. I was hoping that might help, unfortunately not in my case, still having the issue :/

Before you start replacing parts try removing any dust cover over the cutting mechanism and then blowing all of the dust and crud from the cutting tackle paying particular attention the the blade up/down mechanism.

 

[Jim Hancock]

I would suggest you have a tech check and calibrate the upper and lower pressure settings on the cutter head (2 different strain gauge tools and dummy white pen are required). I had the same issue on a VG that was cutting random depths. When I attempted to calibrate the pressure settings, I discovered the lower pressure setting wouldn't hold the cutter solenoid down. Replacing the cut tool assembly fixed the issue.