JV3 media sensor

[eforer]

Like most mimaki owners, the retaining tabs for my media sensor on my jv-3 160s have long since departed this earth. I've been using a good ol' reliable zip tie to secure the sensor for awhile with no problems. Tonight however, my media sensor seemed to go completely haywire. I would stop and detect edges where their were none, and skip over the actual media edge. I'm using arlon 4000 for junky stickers so its not a wierd media or anything. Should I just replace it? Thoughts??

[iSign]

my retaining tabs are gone too... but the sensor just floats there & works. When the tabs broke, it got dislodged & created some concern until I located the source of the trouble.

I bought a new one right away, but it's sitting in a drawer, & won't be installed until I have firther problems.

For how cheap it was (I don't remember, but I'm guessing around $40) ...if a problem surfaces some day, having that thing in the drawer could easily prevent loses equal to far more then I paid for it if timely completion of a good job might otherwise have been interfered with.

[thewood]

Ours is broken, too. We have it rigged up with some vinyl. It's worked this way for 3 years!

[asignstop]

Eforer, is the black strip that runs along the length of the machine, (under the media) dirty? I think this is how the sensor knows how wide the media is (it sees the contrast between white media, and this dark strip). Try cleaning this (a q-tip and alcohol?) it may work, the retaining tabs are just to keep the edges of media from curling I belive.

[eforer]

Thanks for the replies guys,

I ended up getting a new sensor fedexed to me today as the other one was really F'd up. I clipped it in the bracket properly, and now it hits the philips head screws on the media retainers! WTF!?!? I usually run my head height high as I'm paranoid about crashing them, even still the media sensor clips the screw! I don't remember that being a problem before.

Thoughts??

[iSign]

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[eforer]

Fixed it, the height adjustment screws (for the media sensor/blade mount, not the head height) were stupid tight, once I got the vice grips on them, I gently backed them off, raised the bracket and replaced the hardware. Everything is a-okay now.