Major Edge FX Problem

[Kimdigo]

Hi. I'm hoping someone can help me. I've searched this forum, along with the gerber website to get my question answered to no avail. And it seems like the 4edgetalk website is down at the moment, so I'm turning to you.

While printing, the foil sometimes gets stuck to the vinyl, almost as if the printer head is getting too hot and the foil release gets stuck to the vinyl as well as the pigment. What ends up happening is that the vinyl can't rewind back through the machine because it is stuck on the foil cartridge and chaos occurs.

Has this happened to anyone? Does anyone know what the problem is? I'm really hoping it's NOT the printer head.....

 

[Fred Weiss]

Doesn't sound like a printhead. Most likely things to look at are:

• Foil defective or installed in cartridge wrong.
• Vinyl not suitable for printing.
• Foil clutches not advancing foil with vinyl.
• Cartridge sprocket has a broken end.

Isolate the problem ...

• Does this happen with more than one foil?
• Does this happen with more than one vinyl?
• Does this happen with more than one foil cartridge?
• Do you get a print at all before it sticks to the vinyl?

Although a rarity, I once had a foil that was wound backwards so that the printhead was in contact with the thermal resin instead of the plastic liner. More often, I've experienced defective cartridges that would jam.

 

[Kimdigo]

It has happened with different colors, and has only started happening lately. I did think that perhaps the cartridges weren't rolling forward correctly, but it has happened with a few different ones. Perhaps they are just aging tho? I did take the paper clip like wire out of a few thinking that might've been the problem. The horrible thing is it can be like the 10th color on a job and it ruins the whole thing because while it is trying to roll back the vinyl it rips all of the pin holes.

 

[Fred Weiss]

Is there anything common to the various times it has happened such as the same vinyl? What brand vinyl and foils are you using?

 

[Kimdigo]

Not really.... one was an old gerber translucent plum purple, one was a new zero nine white, and one a gerber grey..... I'm really scratching my head on this one..... but maybe there are one or two bad foil cartriges and I'm just missing it? And it happened on both clear and white convex, so I'm not sure.... thanks for trying to help...

 

[Fred Weiss]

I run an Edge LE so I don't ever deal with the higher speeds and resolutions the FX is capable of. My final thought would be to suggest that when this happens you set your speed and resolution back to 20 inches per minute and 300 DPI to see if it will happen then.

 

[Kimdigo]

I was finally able to get onto the 4edge talk site, and perhaps there could be a problem with the foil tension motor? But one important feature I found out that I have is the ability to "pause" before the vinyl rewinds.... at least now when it happens I won't lose the entire job. Not the solution to the problem, but a way to mange it for now. Thanks for trying to help..if that machine was any lighter I may have already thrown it out the window...

 

[Browner]

I've got the LE, and the only time something like this happened to me was when I replaced the power supply. Turns out there's an adjustment on the power supply that regulates the voltage to the printhead. It was set too high, and the printhead would either fuse the foil to the vinyl, or "melt" right through the foil.

Search for "voltage adjustment for printhead" on the 4edgetalk sight.

Call Gerber Tech Support, and get a voltmeter, and they should be able to walk you through how to check where it's at, and what it should be (it's based on what the impedance of your specific head is), and you can go from there!

 

[Browner]

... OR you could just try adjusting the print setting to "light" or "lighter" in GSPplot under: Print Options (F11) > Settings

... seeing as how it's just for a few particular foils.

 

[Kimdigo]

Thanks Browner, I'll try that in the morning, because I really need to print that job with the purple...