GS6000 Bizarro Skew Issue

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We purchased a used Epson GS6000 a few months ago and have been relatively pleased with it. The print quality is very nice and it has been running error free for the most part. We have had issues with the auto take up reel which I hear isn't uncommon, but recently an alarming skew has been happening on a lot of the jobs I run. The paper remains secure, but a dramatic skew of 4 or 5 inches will swerve the image off the media and on to the platen. I'll get phantom paper jam errors on some of those jobs, but more often then not I get the service call error 1136 - CR MOTOR step-out error. I'm not positive, but it seems to happen more when images of different sizes are printed one after the other. This is a recent development. I haven't had any issues like this one before, even printing the same jobs. I'm thinking it might be some sort of home position error for the printer head? We use Wasatch Soft-rip for our software. Has anyone else had problems like this? Any ideas as to what causes it or how to rectify it?

 

[Solventinkjet]

Does the actual vinyl skew or just the image? If the image skews and not the vinyl and you are getting phantom paper jam errors, you most likely need to change/clean the encoder strip and/or sensor. If the material is skewing, I would check into some new pinch rollers or try to get rid of any static that may be causing the vinyl to stick to the platen.

 

[ColoPrinthead]

To solve the CR Motor out of step error, you will need to pull your right end cap off, loosen the 4 screws around the Motor (partially shown in the top right of my pic) add tension to the belt by pulling the motor toward the back of the printer, and tighten the screws. I had to do this several times over the year and half I worked with GS6000s.

Sorry that I can't help you with the skew issue.

 

[rdm01]

Sounds like an encoder strip issue. Clean or replace the encoder strip.
Ryan

 

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So far so good

Thanks for the quick replies. I cleaned off the encoder strip with some rubbing alcohol. It looked like some of the light oil from the carriage rails had accumulated on the strip. So far so good! The skew issue hasn't cropped up yet, even when changing between print dimensions. I'll have to keep an eye out for the tension on the belt. We'll see if we get any more CR motor errors. Thanks for all of the pro tips! I sure appreciate it.