K
kevco
Guest
I recently bought an old gerber sprint II. Any of you well experenced sign hands have any advice.
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Fred Weiss
Merchant Member
I still run one. Not a quick machine but it doesn't require babysitting so it does just fine. Cut quality if just fine. Keep it clean and well lubricated and it will run forever.
Do you have the interface card so that you can drive it from a PC or do you just have the console?
Do you have the interface card so that you can drive it from a PC or do you just have the console?
K
kevco
Guest
interface card
Yes, I have the interface card. Any info you could give me on hooking it up and finding a driver for it would be a great help. I agree that the cut ouality is great. Also what sign program do you use with yours.
Thanks for all your help!
kevin
Yes, I have the interface card. Any info you could give me on hooking it up and finding a driver for it would be a great help. I agree that the cut ouality is great. Also what sign program do you use with yours.
Thanks for all your help!
kevin
Fred Weiss
Merchant Member
I use ours with Omega from Gerber. I imagine it will work with other software but I've never done it.
If you're looking for software, this ad was posted recently at 4EdgeTalk.com
Then a followup eight days later:
I'm not recommending for or against Omega software, but if you're in the market for it, $1500 is a fair price.
If you're looking for software, this ad was posted recently at 4EdgeTalk.com
Then a followup eight days later:
I'm not recommending for or against Omega software, but if you're in the market for it, $1500 is a fair price.
K
kevco
Guest
lubricated
Thanks again Mr Weiss, as far as keeping it lubricated-where, how offten, and with what? Do you know where I might buy a manual for it?
kevin
Thanks again Mr Weiss, as far as keeping it lubricated-where, how offten, and with what? Do you know where I might buy a manual for it?
Fred Weiss
Merchant Member
I would suggest you do a search at the GSP Website. They may have maintenance instructions with pictures that you can download. Having owned several of these machines, I can tell you that they're pretty straightforward and that a manual is probably not available and not really needed.
Lube with sewing machine oil (best) or 3-in-One (okay) after first cleaning all chrome shafts with alcohol. Remove all debris from the black tool lifter bar to the rear of the toolhead with alcohol. Open the cover on the toolhead and you will see a bronze bearing. Rotating it will reveal a hole into which one drop of oil every six months is recommended.
The most common part to fail it the toothed gear belt that turns the knife holder. They're good for five to ten years but eventually start losing teeth causing the knife to end up at an incorrect position to cut. You'll see snag & tear marks in the vinyl when this happens.
Other things that can go wrong:
Home position is set by a light hitting a photoelectric cell through a slot in a wheel that rotates. If you replace the toothed belt previously mentioned, you also have to reset the home position by adjusting the position of the slotted wheel.
Y-Axis belts sometimes break.
The lifter fork under the knife holder can wear down. Contact a Gerber distributor for Teflon "Theta washers" to place between the fork and the knife holder to compensate for wear and to prevent additional wear.
Lube with sewing machine oil (best) or 3-in-One (okay) after first cleaning all chrome shafts with alcohol. Remove all debris from the black tool lifter bar to the rear of the toolhead with alcohol. Open the cover on the toolhead and you will see a bronze bearing. Rotating it will reveal a hole into which one drop of oil every six months is recommended.
The most common part to fail it the toothed gear belt that turns the knife holder. They're good for five to ten years but eventually start losing teeth causing the knife to end up at an incorrect position to cut. You'll see snag & tear marks in the vinyl when this happens.
Other things that can go wrong:
Home position is set by a light hitting a photoelectric cell through a slot in a wheel that rotates. If you replace the toothed belt previously mentioned, you also have to reset the home position by adjusting the position of the slotted wheel.
Y-Axis belts sometimes break.
The lifter fork under the knife holder can wear down. Contact a Gerber distributor for Teflon "Theta washers" to place between the fork and the knife holder to compensate for wear and to prevent additional wear.
K
kevco
Guest
interface problem
I chose to go with Flexi 6. I have the sprint hooked to my computer with a 9 pin to 21 pin converter into my dongle in the parallel port. I have the sprint in GDS-PLOT mode. When I send a test cut through the flexi production manger it sends it and says cutting done 100%, but my plotter never moves. Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong? 9 to 21 pin converter maybe? Any help would be greatley apperciated.
Thanx,
Kevco
:Oops:
I chose to go with Flexi 6. I have the sprint hooked to my computer with a 9 pin to 21 pin converter into my dongle in the parallel port. I have the sprint in GDS-PLOT mode. When I send a test cut through the flexi production manger it sends it and says cutting done 100%, but my plotter never moves. Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong? 9 to 21 pin converter maybe? Any help would be greatley apperciated.
Thanx,
Kevco
:Oops:
Fred Weiss
Merchant Member
What kind of interface card do you have in the Sprint? You have to have one. It will be plugged into the motherboard of the Sprint.
I use a Gerber LMK card (Lettering Machine Kit). It is plugged into a slot in the motherboard and has a cable that plugs into the card and the other end is then connected to a COM port on my PC. If your are plugging it into the Flexi dongle, you are attempting to run it from an LPT printer port. Gerber doesn't support this kind of a hookup ... not sure about Flexi but I doubt it. COM ports are male and come in either 9 pin or 25 pin. You should be plugging your cable into a connector on the back of your computer that looks like this (black dots are male pins):
If you are attaching to any port on the Sprint which is on the back of the console, you are not attaching to a valid port.
GDS Mode is for bringing a digitized file in from an obsolete Gerber Tablet System. When I run my Sprint, I press the top left function key which is labelled "Online". The next function key to the right is labelled "Offline".
I use a Gerber LMK card (Lettering Machine Kit). It is plugged into a slot in the motherboard and has a cable that plugs into the card and the other end is then connected to a COM port on my PC. If your are plugging it into the Flexi dongle, you are attempting to run it from an LPT printer port. Gerber doesn't support this kind of a hookup ... not sure about Flexi but I doubt it. COM ports are male and come in either 9 pin or 25 pin. You should be plugging your cable into a connector on the back of your computer that looks like this (black dots are male pins):
If you are attaching to any port on the Sprint which is on the back of the console, you are not attaching to a valid port.
GDS Mode is for bringing a digitized file in from an obsolete Gerber Tablet System. When I run my Sprint, I press the top left function key which is labelled "Online". The next function key to the right is labelled "Offline".
K
kevco
Guest
thanks, mr. weiss, i'll try the com port and let ya'll know if it worked
K
kevco
Guest
still won't work
When I tried the com 1 port it locked down my production manger. I don't know what card I'm using the only writing on it is the # p42005a, I have it pluged into the acc 3 slot it has a 9 pin cable. I'm using the gerber unilink card driver in the flexi proudction manger. Thank you so much for helping me. It's nice to know there are people out there who don't mind answering dumb questions from a beginer.
Thanx,
Kevin
:U Rock:
When I tried the com 1 port it locked down my production manger. I don't know what card I'm using the only writing on it is the # p42005a, I have it pluged into the acc 3 slot it has a 9 pin cable. I'm using the gerber unilink card driver in the flexi proudction manger. Thank you so much for helping me. It's nice to know there are people out there who don't mind answering dumb questions from a beginer.
Thanx,
Kevin
:U Rock:
K
kevco
Guest
also don't see "online" & "offline" keys
Fred Weiss
Merchant Member
I'm at home today. I can take a digital pic tomorrow and post it as to where what plugs into my setup. You may want to do the same.