Help, Please.... Roland XC-540

[susiestrickline]

Ok, I have a Roland XC-540 and need to know how to tell the machine where to start printing.

When I put in any media (banner, vinyl etc), I secure it in place with the clampy-thingys and the pinch rollers are in proper places. Then I hit the button "set up" to get media width. All is good at this point.
Then sometimes (every third print job) when I send something to print via Versaworks, sometimes it rolls the media all the way back and off the machine (getting me the out of media message).

How do I set "where I want the machine to start printing"? How do I operate the base point button????

Thanks for any replies.

 

[Signed Out]

Not sure what you mean the media rolls out the back all the way?... the basepoint button controls where you want to start printing left or right... might be a file issuse with stray anchor point or text boxes ect. are you using versaworks?

 

[airborneassault]

Am I correct in thinking when you say "it rolls the media all the way back and off the machine" it's feeding all of the material off the roll? Like All-SignZ said possibly a stray anchor point, etc, is your size in Versaworks correct? Is it possible you are near the end of the roll & prefeed is enabled?

 

[susiestrickline]

Yes, am using Versaworks.

what I mean by it rolls back....

The media is inserted from the back into the machine and held into place with the pinchrollers. Normally it should begin printing where I have locked media in place. But instead, when something is sent to print, the machine pulls the media backwards (rolls backwards), often all the way back and off the machine.

I will attempt to take video and post. wish me luck with that!

oh and THANKS for your speedy reply!

 

[jfiscus]

It's been a year since I had the use of a Roland, but my Graphtec plotter does the same thing...

I think it has to do with where the machine stopped printing/plotting the last piece. Then, once it is done printing you feed more material through (manually advance the roll) then cut off the print manually. (for lamination purposes or whatever)

Then, you tell the machine to print again, and the material comes off the rollers backwards. The machine is trying to go back to where it last stopped printing (to conserve you material), but that material is no longer there, hence it proceeds to go on past the end of the roll to where it thinks the end of the roll should be.

Also, use the base point whenever possible.

 

[susiestrickline]

Am I correct in thinking when you say "it rolls the media all the way back and off the machine" it's feeding all of the material off the roll? Like All-SignZ said possibly a stray anchor point, etc, is your size in Versaworks correct? Is it possible you are near the end of the roll & prefeed is enabled?

Ok, so you mention "prefeed" where do I find this option to enable it?

 

[susiestrickline]

Also, use the base point whenever possible.

ahh... this makes sense.... . now, how does the Base Point button work? When should I press it? any additional steps to take to ensure that it accepts the point where I press it at?

When I press it, I get a letter "B" under my Width information (ie: W 36.2" )

 

[jfiscus]

That should mean that (width wise) you have that much area from that basepoint to the left edge of the media, it should also be the basepoint linearly.

So, if you're using 54" media & print something, then feed the material back through manually(using the arrows) & then move the carriage across to beside it & press basepoint, that readout shows how much room you have to print there beside the first piece...

I think it beeps & shows up like you said in the readout window, that should indicate acceptance of the basepoint by the printer.
Not sure what RIP you're using & if you have to type that number in there (or if it gets it automatically) for it to understand though, but verify that also.

 

[Sticky Signs]

When you hit set up, what do you have the machine set to? I'm not in front of my machine right now but I think the options are - roll - take-up - piece, etc. Set it to roll.
This will only measure the width of the material. Once it's completed the cycle, the material should advance to the line where the vacuum platen meets the main heater platen. This is where the printer will start printing. This will waist a few inches of media every time so I like to use the up arrow to move the media back until it stops. Once it stops, you can hit Base point and the printer will now start printing from this spot. You can do the opposite if you where looking to leave a larger gap between prints. Down arrow will advance media to desired position. Set base point and now you will print from that spot. YOu can also set a base point by moving the right or left arrows. This will detach the cutting head and move it across the media right to left. Pushing base point will start the top left corner of the print right about where the blade sits.
The base point button will light up anytime you use it other wise the light should remain off.
Part of me also thinks that you may have a bad or dirty censor. If you remove the media, you will see 2 censors just to the left of the capping station. One in the front and one on the back. The one at the back is a little harder to find because it's covered by the top section of the printer. Make sure both censors are clean. If you still have the problem, I would suggest getting a tech in to determine if the censors are working properly.

 

[susiestrickline]

Thank you all!
I just use the BasePoint button to tell it where to start now!

Thanks again-

 

[petepaz]

clampy-thingys....i get confused when you use technical terms...haha

is it possible you had it set to cut only and it was searching for prop marks
(never had that happen when trying to print)