Tempermental plotter

[usitrent]

I am using a 'new' Graphtec fc8000 plotter. As i roll out vinyl it makes a "ticking sound" on occasion (sounds like a static discharge). The cutter will start cutting fine but somewhere between 50 and 75% of the cut it will stop cutting, the screen on the cutter still shows "working" on the display. After a long pause (sometimes as long as an hour) it will resume and act like nothing happened.

I wonder, is it building up static and shorting itself out, or do I have something else going on. I have tried to contact their customer service but get no answer. Any help will be vey much Appreciated.

 

[signmeup]

Sounds like a communication problem. Maybe you got a bad cable?

 

[Noonan]

definitely static, ours does it too but only on long runs with wide rolls. graphtec sells a antistatic kit which we have yet to buy. i believe there are 3rd party antistatic solutions out there as well. i get around the problem by putting my hands on the machine which i guess grounds it properly?

 

[usitrent]

Thank you!

Thank you Noonan, I think you hit the 'head on the nail' we are trying the 'hold on' idea now. I am also in the process of ordering the anti-static kit now. If it helps I will let you know..

Thanks again.

-UsiTrent-

 

[blueben]

I had the same problem a while back with our cutter minus the ticking sound. Turned out our cable was bad and needed to be replaced. Since then, no problems. I was also told by the tech guy that you should keep your cable to the cutter as short as possible. He said a lot of static can be transferred to the machine if you have the cables lying on the floor or coiled up. He suggested to us not to have the cable longer than 6' if possible. ours is 4' right now and have had no issues.

Not sure if that helps at all.

 

[usitrent]

Thank you blueben, I will give that a try also. We do have a long cord, that has a dual connector, running on the floor. It would be great if that is all it was.

Will also let you know if it helps.

 

[usitrent]

Problem solved

Found that our trouble was static, we turned off the lights and cut a panel and found our 'short' very quickly. We had a discharge comming from the front bar of our drop basket to one on the side rail. We added a small piece if wire from the one to the other, basically allowing the static charge to continue along to the ground instead of having to 'arc'. Works wonders and saves us $599 (the cost of the grounding kit).

Thanks for all of your help.