Need some help with an FC9000 Graphtec

[Notarealsignguy]

So, any chance to put a pc out there, or is that a nonstarter?
I'm really surprised the plotter itself will make the adjustments necessary for a crooked/stretched print, but as I think about it I don't know if the pc or the plotter makes those calculations when it's traditionally set up. It's not surprising that the machine can do it, more than they would put enough electronics for it to do it without adding too much cost. Then again the unit is probably spec'd for 'office use', so it may be susceptible to moisture and dust as a trade off to using more expensive parts. Is this in a totally uncontrolled area of your shop?
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Had to pull this out of the service manual oddly enough.

We have A/C in our shop and a big dehumidifier, try to keep it around 78 and 50% RH

 

[Notarealsignguy]

If the plotter is having troubles just reading the barcodes, and you are doing everything manually correct as far as loading the vinyl and positioning the head, then the fix is to adjust the scan mode for that condition so that it can read it easier. I know we use a different scan mode for reflective than we do for regular vinyl.

I tried adjusting the scan mode as well with no luck. I did not read deep into that part of it so maybe I will try to do that again to rule it out.

I would also add get of rid of cor-hell. Hire a IT person to get your graphtec on the net work.

Corel works fine. Honestly, whatever my rationale is for wanting to use a thumb drive shouldn't matter but without diving into detail, it works for my workflow and employee base. Additionally, if I purchase a product with a certain feature, I expect it to work and not be overly buggy. That and barcodes were the top reason I bought this machine over others. I could have bought a UScutter and wasted time getting that thing to work right, I wasn't really expecting it from a machine that costs 6x the price. Not for nothing, there's quite a few posts here from people with similar issues with their FC9000.

 

[JBurton]

So did using a thumb drive with a handful of files help any?
And your guys are spoiled working in sweltering 78F, mine are lucky to leave without heat stroke every day.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

So did using a thumb drive with a handful of files help any?
And your guys are spoiled working in sweltering 78F, mine are lucky to leave without heat stroke every day.

I deleted it all and it didn't make a difference. I don't allow the paint shop guys (no A/C) into where we make the signs to keep things clean plus that A/C is for me. I also made sure that the bathroom did not get it, pinch it off and get back to work. I run a tight ship here.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

So today we ran the exact same print cut file through the plotter, there were about 15 of them, say 30" long. It scanned the 1st 2 barcodes and no more so we had to manually do each one after. Then it randomly skewed these things, not like the material shifted because 1 would be good and the next bad, I'm talking like 1-2" off. This thing is a real POS and not the first time it did this. I had some long cuts before, 4 of the same file that it did it with too but I chalked it up to being a longer cut but honestly that was only maybe 5-6 feet. I have decided that I am going to sell it and get a Summa. I can already foresee months of back and forth over warranty and do this, try that, adjust this, some random excuses, questioning my files, material etc etc with this thing and more and more money wasted. I'm really annoyed. I'm just glad it wasn't a $100k machine.

 

[KEYSER SOZE]

So today we ran the exact same print cut file through the plotter, there were about 15 of them, say 30" long. It scanned the 1st 2 barcodes and no more so we had to manually do each one after. Then it randomly skewed these things, not like the material shifted because 1 would be good and the next bad, I'm talking like 1-2" off. This thing is a real POS and not the first time it did this. I had some long cuts before, 4 of the same file that it did it with too but I chalked it up to being a longer cut but honestly that was only maybe 5-6 feet. I have decided that I am going to sell it and get a Summa. I can already foresee months of back and forth over warranty and do this, try that, adjust this, some random excuses, questioning my files, material etc etc with this thing and more and more money wasted. I'm really annoyed. I'm just glad it wasn't a $100k machine.

I watched this thread but didn't want to contribute a "you shoulda bought this / GM vs Ford fan boy" type of reply.

Graphtecs are a great cutter for vinyl lettering from coloured vinyl, we've had at least 8 starting with their first 500mm unit in the early 90s.
For profile cutting printed graphics though, particularly laminated polymeric prints, they are not in the same galaxy as the Summa S class.
After years of frustration with the Graphtec FC7000s and FC8000s, we'd just come to accept that that was as good as profile cutting gets.
It's not.

I picked up a 6 month old barely used Summa S2160T for a steal 3 years ago (AU$5,000).
Knowing what I know now, I'd gladly pay the full $24k for a new one if I had to.

We profile cut 5 metre + jobs every day on laminated poly as well a big cast truck sides, 10 metres is the longest we've done.
I usually add a little bleed to jobs, but honestly it's that accurate it doesn't need any.
It was an absolute game changer for us.

 

[JBurton]

So today we ran the exact same print cut file through the plotter, there were about 15 of them, say 30" long. It scanned the 1st 2 barcodes and no more so we had to manually do each one after. Then it randomly skewed these things, not like the material shifted because 1 would be good and the next bad, I'm talking like 1-2" off. This thing is a real POS and not the first time it did this. I had some long cuts before, 4 of the same file that it did it with too but I chalked it up to being a longer cut but honestly that was only maybe 5-6 feet. I have decided that I am going to sell it and get a Summa. I can already foresee months of back and forth over warranty and do this, try that, adjust this, some random excuses, questioning my files, material etc etc with this thing and more and more money wasted. I'm really annoyed. I'm just glad it wasn't a $100k machine.

Are you going to run the summa off a flash drive too? Might want to see how other's experience is in that exact scenario.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Are you going to run the summa off a flash drive too? Might want to see how other's experience is in that exact scenario.

I don't think that they offer it.

 

[JBurton]

I don't think that they offer it.

Then I'd hold up, buy the pc that you will need to drive a new summa, and try to drive the graphtec with that pc first. I don't think all your shortcomings are from the flash drives, but since you are already going to need to invest that much, you may find the graphtec does just fine with a pc.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Then I'd hold up, buy the pc that you will need to drive a new summa, and try to drive the graphtec with that pc first. I don't think all your shortcomings are from the flash drives, but since you are already going to need to invest that much, you may find the graphtec does just fine with a pc.

It's just the time factor. If I didn't see a bunch of other threads with people having this issue I'd be more inclined to point the finger at whatever I am doing.

 

[JBurton]

It's just the time factor. If I didn't see a bunch of other threads with people having this issue I'd be more inclined to point the finger at whatever I am doing.

I will say there are those with this fancy machine that claim to blow through whole rolls of material with assorted prints and no interaction, but they're likely using Onyx to handle everything and have the production machine networked to the rip computer.
Here's a thought, have you tried not using any barcodes? What are the barcodes for in your setup, I suppose the machine could be smart enough to scan a barcode and find a filename to match to, but if there is just one repeated print on a roll, what's the point? (other than trying to dummy proof the process)