Roland SP-540V - contour-cutting off

[ChiknNutz]

We cannot seem to get the contour-cutting back on track. I think it MAY be that some parts are simply starting to go (machine is 4+ yrs old now) and that may be it. Seems like we can only get about 24" in the Y-direction (as the material feeds) to cut with any amount of accuracy. Beyond that, and stuff begins to get WAY off (1/4, 1/2 and more). Any ideas what parts might need to be replaced? Of course, we've tried the usual of calibrating the machine and all that. Starting to wonder if we'd be better off getting a separate cutter and going that route rather than spend the money fixing a sub-par cutter (prints great, but cutting has never been it's forte). Comments?

 

[chopper]

did you clean the encoder strip?
//chopper

 

[ChiknNutz]

Brand new encoder strip a coupla months ago...along with a new black/cyan head...and a pretty through "once over" by a good tech.

 

[Replicator]

All materials or just certain materials ?

 

[ChiknNutz]

Seems like all mat'ls

 

[houseofgrafix]

can you show a pic of what it is doing..

like how much it is off


and (im sure you have) but did you do to the auto on print/cut?

 

[chopper]

the encoder strip can get dirty in a few months I would clean it if you didnt..
//chopper

 

[ballgame]

The cable that the cut head is attached to is loose, it needs to be adjusted. Over time it stretches causing the cuts to be off the more the head travels to the left

 

[ChiknNutz]

Maybe I called it out wrong as the Y-direction. The direction it is most off is the length of the material as it feeds out of the machine. This leads me to believe it may have something to do with the feed motor and/or associated gear train.

 

[GTSTech_1]

Check the pinchrollers, They can wear out from use, or if they have run over wet prints, the ink will expand the roller and you will get media shifting/skewing and cause ur cuts to be off.

my. 02

 

[bbeens]

+1 on the pinchroller suggestion. Especially when talking about Y-axis shifting. I assume the cut gets worse as the media is feed more? If you have a particularly glossy media and something more matte or even a canvas, see if the shift is more or less between the two substrates. I would expect the glossy to be affect more so then a more varied textured media.

Bryan

 

[Matooba]

The cable that the cut head is attached to is loose, it needs to be adjusted. Over time it stretches causing the cuts to be off the more the head travels to the left

the Flat Data Cable? or the Metal Cable that rides on pulleys?

 

[Zoogee World]

the Flat Data Cable? or the Metal Cable that rides on pulleys?

I assume he was talking about the metal wire that the cutting carriage is attached to.

 

[Sean@CedarHouse]

Are you using all the pinch rollers or just the two outside?

Those pinch roller carriages do get hairline cracks in them and can cause the pinch rollers to not grip evenly.

https://www.signs101.com/attachments/pinch-roller-jpg.115686/

If you use all of them it can help.

 

[Solventinkjet]

Anytime I have print/cut issues on an SP series, I run the encoder setup and calibration in service mode, and then the environmental match in user mode. That syncs the linear encoder and motor encoder so that the print/cut alignment can be done properly.