No Valid EPOS reference found

[ChadHighland]

I am using an Ultima SC-1400D cutter and Mutoh VJ 2606 printer with Flexi Print DX software.

I get the contour cut all set up in flexi and rip it into onyx. everything looks good. it prints fine and loads the cut job into production manager.

I load it into the cutter after printing and it attempts to read the registration, which is just a black box around my images. It stops on the black box and detects it being there. it looks like everything is working correct and then it goes back to its home position and says...

"No Valid EPOS Reference found"

I have went though all the steps in the Cutter manual and think I have tried everything.

what can I do ?!?!?!

please help, i'll try anything!

Thank You

 

[randya]

Most commom cause is not leaving enough white space outside the box.

Credit card length (approx 4in) top and bottom (so that it can read the back and front sensors and still cut the top and bottom of the box)
Credit card width left and right. (this is less critical) but is to give it enough room left and right to cut around the hold down rollers.

The front edge needs to be cut pretty evenly.

EPOS is an electronic posistioning error.

There is also an EPOS alignment procedure in the manual.

 

[ChadHighland]

EPOS error

Thank you,

I have done all of that. the manual said between 3 and 10 inches of white space and to not let the box exceed the width of the rollers. I have left plenty of space and have straight cut media.

I also ran the alignment and it does fine.

However, the sensor recognizes the black box outline but then stops and says EPOS alignment error.

Not sure what else to try, everything else on the cutter is working fine and i think it is a cutter issue.

 

[jc1cell]

I get this error on occasion. The solution that Randy gave is accurate. Leave enough white space between the black box and the rollers. Also leave plenty of white space at the end, about a foot should be plenty.

Another thing that has caused it is having the the material loaded with a slight angle. When nothing related to the spacing works I just move the rollers around to position the media at a different location. Sometimes only moving an 1/8" has worked.

jc

 

[randya]

too much media on the front end may give the error as well, somewhere between 4-6 in on the front should do it.


Make sure that your media size in the RIP is equal to the media size in the cutter in the RIP.


You say you are prepping the file in DX but printing in Onyx and cutting in DX?
Or are you cutting with Mutoh Cut Server?

If so why not print and cut in DX

Size differences will also give EPOS errors.

 

[ChadHighland]

Ok, I am now preparing the file and sending it to print and cut through DX. it prints fine and everything looks ok. the job then goes to production manager and is put on hold for me to cut. I am going to check all the media sizes and make sure my white space is enough and not too much all around my print.

Thanks to all for your help so far

 

[ChadHighland]

Got it!!!!

What I had to do was make sure that the black box around my images was 3 inches or more away from the left and right pinch roller. Also make sure that there was less than ten inches of white space in the front and six inches or so in the back. My problem was that I had my middle pinch roller in the middle still, this was causing the sensor to not be able to rread the entire black box. You can only use two pinch rollers, one on the far left and one on the far right.

Thanks again for the help guys.

SUCCESS!!!

 

[randya]

Great,
You should find that you really only need enough on the sides for the rollers and about half an inch.

About 4 inches on the front, but it needs to be fairly straight.
About 4 on the back.

If you ever cut it too short just tape an extender on to it.

 

[ChadHighland]

Thanks

Ok cool. Thanks again!

 

[Craig Malmberg]

After reading this post and trying a few things, it got me thinking. I need to check the lenght of the printed job. It was too long. I adjusted the length of the image to match that of the print, re-ripped it, and it completed the job fine. This is do to the feed rate on the printer not adjusted properly. I know you are suppose to adjust it for every roll, but who does. Lesson learned on long jobs, check the feed rate and measure the print, and all is good.

 

[Graphics2u]

I'm going to throw something in here that isn't in the manual. I have been using the ultima cutter for 7 years, it's awesome. Contrary to what the manual says you do not need as much space around the box as it says. As long as you can have at least .75 inches on the sides and 1 inch on the front and 3.5 inches on the back it will work. At least it does with Flexi. I consistently print 33.75 in wide graphics w/ contours on 36" wide material without any problems whatsoever. that leaves only about .75 - 1" on each side of the box. Just make sure your pinch rollers are outside the box. Too much (more than 10") on the front will not work, less than 3.5" on back will not work.

As to the OP's mentioning that you can only use 2 pinchrollers, no disrespect, but that is not correct. The third pinch roller can be used but it must be on the vinyl not just running on a roller off the vinyl or it has to be postioned all the way to the left side of the machine, thus not being recognized by the cutter. In fact it should be used for contours over 5-6' long just to keep the alignment good.

After reading this post and trying a few things, it got me thinking. I need to check the lenght of the printed job. It was too long. I adjusted the length of the image to match that of the print, re-ripped it, and it completed the job fine. This is do to the feed rate on the printer not adjusted properly. I know you are suppose to adjust it for every roll, but who does. Lesson learned on long jobs, check the feed rate and measure the print, and all is good.

This is a IMPORTANT point. If your page feed is too long on your printer and your print ends up over .75" longer over 8', you will have problems. The cutter will not travel far enough to find the back of the box and it will give you an error. You can overcome it by stretching your contour cut file and resending it but it's a pain! Best to get your printer setup right.

Hope this helps someone in the future.

 

[henryp]