FC7000-160 Cut Path Skewing

I'd say it's either the pinch rollers need adjusting, or there is a material slant problem...






Sorry, couldn't resist....It's friday...

 

It's probably not the mark sensing tackle. If it were then all of the cuts should be off by the same offset.

It's probably not that the media is initially skewed, if it were the marks would not have been read. If the marks are read then any initial media skew would be mitigated by the software and/or firmware remapping each and every point to the proper location on the skewed media.

Since the marks were read, there is no error in the Y direction, the maximum error is at the point farthest from the origin, the point of maximum X and Y travel, and the the error represents a gain in media feed not a slippage, the question to answer is why is the plotter feeding more media on one side than the other?

Most interesting is that the cuts are only off in the X direction, not in the Y direction [assuming the picture is accurate]. If the media were dynamically skewing one would expect the cuts in both the X and Y directions to be off.

Interesting problem. There doesn't seem to be a ready solution that fits all of the evidence. It's almost as if something is adding a constant to the X position of the farthest mark. Highly doubtful.

 

Try doing the Sensor Position Adjustment

http://www.signwarehouse.com/support/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=347

 

It's perfect; you're spot-on. If you're still off, it's a tracking and not ARMS problem. You might have a bad pinch-roller .. or ???? I'd check with our support, if you got it from us ( www.signwarehouse.com/support/ ) They're there until 11 CST tonight.

Good luck,

Jim

 

Check all of your pinch rollers, if you ever cut punched material make sure there are none of the little circles stuck to any of the rollers, as this will change the diamater of the rollers, and cause the material to track incorrectly...It's happened to me a time or two.

 

Email the first picture to Graphtec America

They can also help you out

tech.support@graphtecamerica.com

 

Assuming then that the deviation is in the Y direction, carriage travel, and not the X direction, media travel. Does it gain or lose? In other words, does the carriage travel too far or not far enough?

Since the error seems to increase with speed, this would indicate some some sort of mechanical problem. Not that it couldn't be electronic, but unlikely.

How is the tension on the drive belt? That would be the first thing to check. Next would be all of the moving parts associated with that belt. Pulleys, drive mechanism, etc. Then perhaps a malfeasant drive motor and/or its control mechanism.

 

Interesting. A simple mechanical failure generally fails in the same way every time.

You might confirm that the carriage drive belt mechanism is solid by marking one tooth on the belt and the corresponding tooth on the drive wheel. No matter how much of what you cut the marked tooth on the belt and the drive should always line up right where you marked them.

I should think that the motor and perhaps it's control circuitry might well be the prime suspect. Hard to prove without instruments or merely replacing the suspect pieces.

 

Replacing the Pulley itself isn't hard to do, the question is if they are going to send out a replacement Pen Board or just parts that need to be soldered onto the Pen Board. Graphtec has sent them both ways. When you update the Pulley you will either have to replace or solder parts onto the Pen Board, if you don’t feel comfortable in soldering then you might want to wait for a tech.

 

You should be able to replace that pulley.


I though it was a X axis issue rather than a Y axis issue,what kind of testing
they had you do to determine it was a Y pulley issue ?

 

Got you gamerxr72 !!

The initial picture confused the hell out of me.

Yes, the Y axis pulley you have it is made of plastic and after a few years the plastic shaft separates. The new pulley stile it is aluminum made and should last longer.

Pretty easy to replace, just like any other machine, you loose the belt tension on the left hand side in order to replace the belt.