Edge 2 printing but nothing shows up

[SellersSign&Design]

Ah I forgot about the hard reset... I'll try that first. My new cable came in today, has anyone ever replaced one of these? Any pointers would be appreciated, the last thing I want to do is tear it up more than it already is!

 

[Jburns]

here you go. but I would write down all the settings fisrt in the setup meu ( pressure, overprint, ect) before re-setting.

BTW- how much was the print cable? I may need one also from my Edge 2 issue I posted last night:

The EDGE 2 has certain parameters set at the factory. If you change these settings, or if an
incorrect checksum alters the settings, the EDGE 2 may not operate properly. If you suspect a
problem, reset the EDGE 2 to factory parameters and send your job again. If you still have a
problem, contact the Gerber Field Service Department.
To reset the factory parameters
1 Turn off the EDGE 2.
2 Press and hold the RESET key.
3 Turn on the EDGE 2 and keep the RESET key pressed until the LCD reads
“OFFLINE”.
4 Release the RESET key. The EDGE 2 is reset to factory parameters.

 

[SellersSign&Design]

here you go. but I would write down all the settings fisrt in the setup meu ( pressure, overprint, ect) before re-setting.

BTW- how much was the print cable? I may need one also from my Edge 2 issue I posted last night:

The EDGE 2 has certain parameters set at the factory. If you change these settings, or if an
incorrect checksum alters the settings, the EDGE 2 may not operate properly. If you suspect a
problem, reset the EDGE 2 to factory parameters and send your job again. If you still have a
problem, contact the Gerber Field Service Department.
To reset the factory parameters
1 Turn off the EDGE 2.
2 Press and hold the RESET key.
3 Turn on the EDGE 2 and keep the RESET key pressed until the LCD reads
“OFFLINE”.
4 Release the RESET key. The EDGE 2 is reset to factory parameters.

It was in the $100 range, I'm wanting to say $120. It's a lot for a little short cable, but if it fixes it it's much better than the $3,000 they hit me with for a printhead!

 

[Jburns]

cool - thank you- keep us posted.

 

[SellersSign&Design]

Well the reset didn't work. This cable doesn't look like it's going to be fun. It goes through a grommet at the back hinge that the cable ends probably won't fit through, and I can barely see where it plugs into the printhead. I may be calling tech support again to at least get me going in the right direction.

 

[Jburns]

I just swapped mine- you have to remove the foil squeegee - and dancer bar for better access.
then unplug- let the thin part of the cable by the brass part- then fanagle the connector out past the head in the wider area.
The black plug grommet- just push it straight up to get out.

 

[netsol]

i suspect your problem is not the head. it is probably the drive circuit that heats the head to make the image transfer.. i would follow the cable going to the head to the other end, where they plug into circuit board. to fix someone will probably need to inspect and resolder the connectors or components surrounding the connectors.

[video=youtube;9VYA9ufb4Jc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VYA9ufb4Jc&app=desktop[/video]

watch a few minutes of this video i found on youtube, so you can ser what i am talking about. once you see how soldering fails it will make sense to you.

the only edge's i repair are my own, but i have 45 years experience repairing various electronics
including zebra printers (same technology as gerber edge, the head is just larger)

if you can remove circuit board and examine the connections i am betting you will find "ringed solder connections" repairable by resoldering. i just don"t want to see you buy a head and then still need a board, after a head is installed.

if you want to pm me, perhaps i can help you identify the problem. if there is a local tv repair shop, or someone else experienced with soldering, this. could probably be a very minor repair. i have gotten quite a bit of useful info from signs101 and try to help when someone's problem comes into my experience

andy

 

[SellersSign&Design]

I swapped in the new head cable this morning, it didn't change anything. So now I'm looking at the boards as netsol suggested but other than that I'm stumped. I know I'm not getting heat, but I'm not sure how to narrow that down to pinpoint a problem. The tech at Gerber told me the thermostat is in the printhead and is not serviceable, does anyone know if that's true? If so that's a horrible design. I'm definitely not paying Gerber $3,000 to put a new head in this thing, it only has 1,400 print minutes but it's still not worth that. And honestly I don't know if I trust them enough to send it to them to check out, I feel like they will just tell me it heeds a head even if that isn't necessarily true.

 

[netsol]

what edge is this? wondering if we have a head to swap for test. i'm tied up at my largest client today, we have outside vendors in for a big project. i can check what else i have later this afternoon

 

[Hielorojo]

I swapped in the new head cable this morning, it didn't change anything. So now I'm looking at the boards as netsol suggested but other than that I'm stumped. I know I'm not getting heat, but I'm not sure how to narrow that down to pinpoint a problem. The tech at Gerber told me the thermostat is in the printhead and is not serviceable, does anyone know if that's true? If so that's a horrible design. I'm definitely not paying Gerber $3,000 to put a new head in this thing, it only has 1,400 print minutes but it's still not worth that. And honestly I don't know if I trust them enough to send it to them to check out, I feel like they will just tell me it heeds a head even if that isn't necessarily true.

Buy a seconhand printhead and try it(I told you that there is a Ebay seller that sell one for about 100 dollars, he does not know if work or not but I would "take the risk" is "only" 100 dollars).
I will help you to change the printhead, is "easy". I helped to other member of this forum and his gerber print well.
Sorry for my English.
Best Regards.

 

[Jburns]

Netsol,

I think the power for the head comes from P886 and P888 on this diagram? the series of Black and gray wires each have their own tiny solder joint.

Sellers, I would check the connections at power supply, to capacitor board? ( I will check my own also).

 

[Hielorojo]

Aaah and a very important note, the "earth" connection is vital for any electronic equipment, a lot of fails about of "bad earth connection" on the electronics devices, check it.

 

[SellersSign&Design]

This is an Edge 2. I was wondering about swapping a head in like you say to test. Hielorojo, I searched eBay but couldn't find the $100 head. Maybe I wasn't using the right search terms to make it show up, I'll do some more searching. I called the plotter doctor earlier and talked to him about the situation. He more or less confirmed what we are thinking, it is almost impossible that the head is bad. He told me to take apart and re check all connections again and blow it out, and if that doesn't work he feels like it's a problem on one of the boards or in the power supply.

 

[netsol]

today was a very hectic day, working with outside people at my largest client.

if you want to discuss this tomorrow, I am available. 732 789 3576

the only edge heads I have are 300 dpi for trunion, le etc. the head for an edge 2 is 600 dpi so different. it may be possible to plug a 200 dpi in, if the connectors are the same, the output would be distorted, but it would print and answer our question.

I can talk to our zebra tech on Monday, (same technology, different size head, etc) troubleshooting should be the same. let me see what he has to
say. if one of my heads will be a valid test I can send you one.

we can also run the problem by jimmy, the plotter dr, to see what he thinks

 

[Hielorojo]

today was a very hectic day, working with outside people at my largest client.

if you want to discuss this tomorrow, I am available. 732 789 3576

the only edge heads I have are 300 dpi for trunion, le etc. the head for an edge 2 is 600 dpi so different. it may be possible to plug a 200 dpi in, if the connectors are the same, the output would be distorted, but it would print and answer our question.

I can talk to our zebra tech on Monday, (same technology, different size head, etc) troubleshooting should be the same. let me see what he has to
say. if one of my heads will be a valid test I can send you one.

we can also run the problem by jimmy, the plotter dr, to see what he thinks

The printhead is the same for both models, Gerber1 & Gerber2 and Trunion(and I think that fx is the same also), only the Voltage is different.
Regards.

 

[SellersSign&Design]

Just an update for everyone. After checking volatages and talking to Gerber today, they feel that my power supply is fine and they are leaning towards there being an issue with the big pc board. They quoted over $3,500 for a new board with a $500 refund if I send in my old one. I about dropped the phone... their pricing on parts is absolutely rediculous. I am going to work with netsol to check some things on the board and then worst case I will pull it out and send it to the plotter doctor. I definitely will not be paying Gerber $3,500 for a new board though.

 

[jfiscus]

Would an Edge 1 board work? I should have one of those.

 

[SellersSign&Design]

Would an Edge 1 board work? I should have one of those.

According to Gerber the boards are not interchangeable. Whether that is true or not I'm not sure. I bought an Edge LE yesterday just to get me back going for now, it looks almost the same as the Edge 2 so you would think the boards could be swapped.

 

[Hielorojo]

According to Gerber the boards are not interchangeable. Whether that is true or not I'm not sure. I bought an Edge LE yesterday just to get me back going for now, it looks almost the same as the Edge 2 so you would think the boards could be swapped.

What about of the problem? resolve it?

 

[signgirl]

I know this is a older post but wanting to know if this was resolved also. I had the same problem recently. I opened it up, pressed and checked everything I could, created the file over and just ran a ton of decals. At one point ( before it started printing correctly) I did get a warming up error. Actually I was getting beeping and small black squares on the display. Turned it off for awhile then back in business. Frustrating!