Gsx gerber plotter

[signgirl]

Doing contour cuts with this older plotter and something is off. Do these plotters need calibrated and if so how would I do it. All I need it to do is contour cut me edge print. Sadly my graphtecs main board went out so until new comes in I need to use this. Thank you!

 

[TammieH]

How long is your run that you are printing, I use to work at MetalPhoto, and we would keep the run down to like 30" if I can remember correctly, there is a bit of stretch, I believe, but we worked with .02 tolerances on everything.

 

[signgirl]

Thanks, I ran circles to just test it out..... Area maybe 2 x 11 inches. I just remember when researching I remembered a few talking about calibrating the plotter

 

[Fred Weiss]

Doing contour cuts with this older plotter and something is off. Do these plotters need calibrated and if so how would I do it. All I need it to do is contour cut me edge print. Sadly my graphtecs main board went out so until new comes in I need to use this. Thank you!

The main thing they need is cleaning and lubrication of the chrome shafts and the main bronze bearing in the toolhead. You might also check the theta belt in the toolhead to see if it has lost any teeth.

 

[signgirl]

The main thing they need is cleaning and lubrication of the chrome shafts and the main bronze bearing in the toolhead. You might also check the theta belt in the toolhead to see if it has lost any teeth.

Thanks Fred! I was hoping you'd see this post. I'll give everything a good look over

 

[James Burke]

The theta belt to see if it has lost any teeth.

Quick FYI:

The Gerber GSx is a swivel (or drag) knife plotter. It has no tangential cutting capabilities. The knife does not turn under power from the plotter, it simply drags along and changes direction in conjunction with the directional changes of the head and drum.

Hence, you'll go crazy looking for a theta belt because there is none.

The GS and HS plotters are 100% tangential cutting, and the GS Plus has both tangential and swivel knife cutting capabilities.


JB

 

[signgirl]

Cleaned all I could see, oiled things. Decided to just cut some circles because I noticed the cut was not completely closed. Now it doesn't even come into contact with the vinyl..... This would have something to do with Z right?
I don't understand how it goes from contacting with the vinyl and now it doesn't

 

[Jase]

I had a similar problems with one of our cutters, very annoying and we only ever keep this machine as a back up now. If you open up the motor side of the back panel. The axis are joined to the motors with a clamp. This works loose and needs to be tightened. Make sure you use the correct size allan key when you check these and pop a little bit of glue on them when it is working properly.

Good luck

 

[signgirl]

Thank you chase... I'm opening it up now. This plotter came with the edge and I never hooked it up until now. Main board blew on my graphtec and other graphtec for some reason will not work in my flexi so yes I'm really annoyed at the moment..

 

[signgirl]

Update.... After several hrs and loads of vinyl the plotter is working pretty smoothly. I took it apart, cleaned and oiled. Found a couple loose thing that needed tightened. At first it did not want to lower the blade at all but somehow it just started working (scratch my head).

It still has a small tick in different areas where it doesn't completely close. I'm scared to go any further to fix that..lol

thanks to all for all the help. Truly appreciate it!

 

[signgirl]

Never fails... Started incomplete cuts again and halfway thru job it wants to cut completely thru the vinyl. What is the bar called that raises and lowers the blade carriage? I know it's the culprit and is binding. I was looking in the manual to see where I can drop a little oil but I've either overlooked it or ??
thanks for all the help!

 

[Jase]

It's been a while since I resolved this on our machine. You need to have a look at the manual and reset the axis, this involves loosening the bracket and turning it on (be careful with the elctrics and shocks) you then retighten and set it back up.

Good luck, they can be fixed, it is a bit frustrating as you think you have it working and it just plays up again

 

[signgirl]

Thanks jade, I'm going to perform the x y and z axis.......contour cuts are off and it goes from not cutting thru vinyl to cutting perfect depth to cutting all the way thru the vinyl all in same job! I will get this!