Pinch Roller problem or Lack of Flange Guide?

[jmmccann]

I have an issue with my Roland CJ-60. When it starts cutting and feeds out the vinyl for the job, I notice by watching the white guides on the front of my cutter that the vinyl moves slightly to the right as it feeds out. It generally moves back to the same place when the vinyl feeds back in before the cutting starts. At first It thought this was because I do not use the Media Flange guides. Does anyone know if these connect to the back roller bracket to keep the vinyl straight? Or do I need to replace my pinch rollers?

 

[Ken]

I'm not really familiar with the machine.
How much deviation do you get over ,say, 10 feet? Does this happen with sheet fed material or vinyl that is on a core? With my plotters if the material is skewing to the right I release the pinch rollers and tweak the material a little to the right then reset the rollers. Yep, it could be the pinch rollers. I try to release them when not it use to avoid flat spots.
Cheers! Ken

 

[jmmccann]

I'm not really familiar with the machine.
How much deviation do you get over ,say, 10 feet? Does this happen with sheet fed material or vinyl that is on a core? With my plotters if the material is skewing to the right I release the pinch rollers and tweak the material a little to the right then reset the rollers. Yep, it could be the pinch rollers. I try to release them when not it use to avoid flat spots.
Cheers! Ken

Hey Ken, It happens with vinyl on the core, I haven't done much with sheets, so I don't know about other methods, but i would imagine it would be the same.

I would say over 10 feet, bear in mind it's not all the time, but when it's bad, it's maybe an 1/8th of an inch....sometimes slightly more?

I have gotten into the habit of releasing the pinch rollers as well, when I'm not using it.

Maybe it's time for some pinch rollers and a new cutting strip as well (I noticed that was pretty well worn).

 

[sfr table hockey]

Just to confirm, on the back of the CJ 60, you have two roller bars that you can set your media on?

One nice thing with flanges on the media roll and using them is that when you load the media, you can get it started through the front a foot or so and then roll the media roll backward to snug up the media while holding the center of the media slightly in the front to create tension. This helps straighten it right off the roll. From there you lower the rollers. Also with the flanges you would have the two collars that sit on either side of the flanges (over one bar) to keep them from wandering. I think you would notice much better feed and much straighter.

Seems when you set media right on those roller bars the weight of the media makes it hard to track straight.

If you can set a piece of media that you know is cut straight into the printer and line up with the front edge of the cutting strip or platten (using outside rollers only) , then move the media back and forth several times. If it comes back still perfectly lined up with the same line you lined it up to start with, the rollers are still good.

I would say find some flanges first. May be an easier fix than the rollers.

 

[jmmccann]

Just to confirm, on the back of the CJ 60, you have two roller bars that you can set your media on?

One nice thing with flanges on the media roll and using them is that when you load the media, you can get it started through the front a foot or so and then roll the media roll backward to snug up the media while holding the center of the media slightly in the front to create tension. This helps straighten it right off the roll. From there you lower the rollers. Also with the flanges you would have the two collars that sit on either side of the flanges (over one bar) to keep them from wandering. I think you would notice much better feed and much straighter.

Seems when you set media right on those roller bars the weight of the media makes it hard to track straight.

If you can set a piece of media that you know is cut straight into the printer and line up with the front edge of the cutting strip or platten (using outside rollers only) , then move the media back and forth several times. If it comes back still perfectly lined up with the same line you lined it up to start with, the rollers are still good.

I would say find some flanges first. May be an easier fix than the rollers.

Thanks so much. I'm going to try that first. I've been wondering if that would help a lot.

Thanks again! Love these forums.

 

[jmmccann]

Is it possible that this could be fixed with media stoppers? When I bought this machine used, it did not come with the media stoppers.

 

[jmmccann]

In answer to your question, yes, there are two rollers on the back to set media on.