JethroMc
New Member
Not sure where to post this as I don't know exactly what is causing my problem...
For several months I have been experiencing random registration mark detection issues with Caldera and our Graphtec FC8600-160 plotter.
This occurs when contour cutting printed vinyl.
90% of the time it works flawlessly, but every now and then it simply will not be able to register. It will read all of the registration marks up to a certain point, then fail to read one (often the last one, but not always). If it fails to read the last mark, it will give an error code and will not start cutting. If it fails to read one of the other marks, it will skip that mark and go to the next one. When this happens often it will end up cutting, but with the cut contour distorted to fit within the marks that were actually scanned.
When we have these issues, sometimes I have been able to fix it by putting masking tape over the registration mark and re-drawing it with a sharpie. Sometimes this has no effect at all.
A couple of times I have succeeded by rotating the graphic, or by restarting both the plotter and rip computer and trying again.
Sometimes absolutely nothing will work, but just leave it and try again the next day and it works perfectly!
Most of the time when we have this problem, we end up having to reprint. This almost always works, even if the new print is absolutely identical to the one that would not register.
I can find no pattern in this, no common denominator, no reliable solution or preventative measure...
Is any of this familiar to anyone?
For several months I have been experiencing random registration mark detection issues with Caldera and our Graphtec FC8600-160 plotter.
This occurs when contour cutting printed vinyl.
90% of the time it works flawlessly, but every now and then it simply will not be able to register. It will read all of the registration marks up to a certain point, then fail to read one (often the last one, but not always). If it fails to read the last mark, it will give an error code and will not start cutting. If it fails to read one of the other marks, it will skip that mark and go to the next one. When this happens often it will end up cutting, but with the cut contour distorted to fit within the marks that were actually scanned.
When we have these issues, sometimes I have been able to fix it by putting masking tape over the registration mark and re-drawing it with a sharpie. Sometimes this has no effect at all.
A couple of times I have succeeded by rotating the graphic, or by restarting both the plotter and rip computer and trying again.
Sometimes absolutely nothing will work, but just leave it and try again the next day and it works perfectly!
Most of the time when we have this problem, we end up having to reprint. This almost always works, even if the new print is absolutely identical to the one that would not register.
I can find no pattern in this, no common denominator, no reliable solution or preventative measure...
Is any of this familiar to anyone?