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Master Cutter Won't Cut. Grrrrr

thmooch

New Member
Look underneath the control panel(front & back of plotter). there should be some screws...well there on my Tiger1000 anyway.
 

signmeup

New Member
haha problem resolved. That was a cable issue!!!!! the cable in the port/com 1 was loose. duh. great cutter great cutter :) hahaha
So it was a loose nut at the controls. eh? (refer to post #2, first suggestion) Glad you got it working.
 

cutkiller

New Member
So it was a loose nut at the controls. eh? (refer to post #2, first suggestion) Glad you got it working.

Not a loose nut. Don't know if you guys have the same set up then me, since i am on mac osx. I needed a special usb adaptor called keyspan. And there is 2 port on it. One port was loose.. dont remember the name SCSI something like that. Thank you guys for all your fast response!
 

Conor Knoxx

New Member
I just replaced my panel (cheap piece of junk) master cutter 2 days ago. The part was only 30 bucks (40 after shipping and taxes) - unbelievable how cheap these things are. I'd get a new teflon strip while you're ordering... never hurts to have one of these on hand, keeps things cutting nice.

There's ( I think) a merchant member here, who sells blades that fit perfectly. Great quality and great prices, as well as a great guy to do business with!

6 screws under the panel, which are really hard to get at. Panel lifts straight up. Then there's a circuit board you pretty much need to remove as well - 4 screws there. The actual replacement part is simply "peel and stick" - so unplug the ribbon cable, peel the old one off, stick the new one on and plug in. I replaced 4 of the 6 screws, and tossed the other two in the garbage with a big grin :p

I hate it, but it just keeps working!
 

cutkiller

New Member
hey conor knoxx, thank you very much for your imput. I also think they are peace of junk, since they look cheaply made. But actually, i never had big trouble with mine, aside the common offset value issue. Noisy as hell thought. Btw, to opperate mine, i have to follow specific steps to avoid some issues, like the diagonal cut and $hit like that. i have to highlight "current" on my cutter display before sending the job. Once it is selected, i send the job. When the job is 100% sent, I then press enter (on the plotter) to confirm the "current" location of my carrier. And the job begin. Otherwise, i have a lot of issues.. is it the same for you guys????? A guy at Desay show me this technic to avoid bug.
 

AKWD

New Member
Yeah, I've heard of this trick. I have a Master as well, and I've already learned this trick. The problem I run into is jobs that take multiple buffer 'fills' (IE: more complex/curved cuts -- Much of which is over a foot or two long I find) is when I run into the severe risks of a random cut, return-to-origin, or worse, it going for a run straight up my vinyl until I stop it. Every time the issue happens, it is right after the buffer finishes filling.

Do you have a possible solution for this issue cutkiller or Conor? I've been looking for a solution to the mid-run buffer refill issues, and so far nadda.

I can't wait until I've earned enough to get a new (used) machine. I keep finding what seems like good deals on the PC-600, but alas I keep seeing everyone say 'great machine, prone to head wear and ribbons are expensive'. Problem is, is that the area I live in, I don't think that the volume isn't great enough to dish out $20k-$30k for a full rig and pay it off at a decent rate while still paying myself enough to survive. I'd love to play with a Summa DC4sx or an eco-sol setup, but I really don't know yet. I guess I'll see how traffic picks up and see about alternate income sources off of such rigs.
 

cutkiller

New Member
AKWD i have the same damn problem. I can only do small jobs, ortherwise my plotter goes crazy. I would like to explain what the problem is but my english isn't very good. Well, i'll try anyways... First, i usually do small decals, something like 6"x6". I run a XY-300P, so 24" wide. My problem happens when i duplicate the graphic to send many copy at the same time. My cutter doesn't cut them 1 by 1. He goes from one to another and then just stop before the job' is complete. So if i sent 6-7 decals, they are all scraped. What a waste!! So i have to send them 1 by 1.. kinda tired of this shit.
 

AKWD

New Member
Cutkiller: Might be your sign settings. I can actually do 2 rows safely of 4x4/6x6 cuts without batting an eye, What I'll do is just queue up a couple and fire them off one by one.

I actually had great success this week with cutting some extemely intricate 22"x96" banners, one after another, and it went great. I always do the 'Current' trick, but doesn't seem to help all the time. What was different this time is that my room was hot earlier in the day, so I had a fan blowing. Not just blowing in the room, but it happened to be aimed RIGHT under the cutter. I watched the cuts like a hawk so I didn't end up with a long run. I was surprised that I managed 2 8' lengths without an issue. Maybe the issue with this unit is heat? I've cleaned out the cutter a few times to ensure it is clean, but it does make me wonder if part of the problem is heat, and not 'static' as is so commonly blamed here. If static is an issue, manually grounding the shield on the cable/card/cutter should fix it, and longer cables should theoretically be worse than shorter if it is due to cable static (Attenuation maybe?). Heck, if it is, a premium cable with a double shield could even help -- IF the static theory is even remotely true.

Techman -- Instead of selling; Keep it around for short run decals and use the money earned on a better machine, and let the better machine run the bigger jobs and digital cuts. I tell you what; For the price, it isn't bad; It's just not a good long-term product and should more be used to decide of that is the business for you and save for the next rig up. I know I'm not sticking to it for long, but I'm also not going to kick it to the curb either.

Now if only their keypads weren't so junky... I've already figured out the pin-out for the keypad and been contemplating making my own keypad/switch systerm.

Now if only there were any/many Canadian Merchant Members to discuss choosing the next step up. I'd hate to order out of the US, but the few Canadian suppliers I've looked at are 30%-50% over US prices for the exact same model (One company is almost double!) I don't want to hear them explain that they bought the stock when the dollar was weaker; Their customers shouldn't (And likely won't) take that as a great reason, and many I know even drop-ship anyways.
 

AKWD

New Member
Oh, and cutkiller; Make sure you're using the right driver. First few days I had a lot of problems until I found the right driver (Proggie I use it wasn't quite so clear on which driver, and the suggestion I've seen of using a generic/Graphtec driver does NOT work and results in a lot of errors with the cuts).
 

cutkiller

New Member
thanks AKWDfor all the infos. For my part, i never had the "static" problem with mine. Like you said, i won't sell it.. its a good machine (for the price i paid for on ebay). It has been paid many times yet. I could use it only for small job. And YEAH, their keypad are so junk!! I can't believe how it's hard to target the good spot on the arrow... sometime it just dont work at all.. so i pull my blade holder manually. is this could break something???
 

GmanDesign

New Member
cutkiller i have the same plotter. now im scared im gonna have this problem. the problem with mine is i cant run large signs. cutter off tracks alot. and it seems to get confused and cut things in the wrong spots.
 

cutkiller

New Member
cutkiller i have the same plotter. now im scared im gonna have this problem. the problem with mine is i cant run large signs. cutter off tracks alot. and it seems to get confused and cut things in the wrong spots.


This cutter is a mistery...................................
 

AKWD

New Member
My left-right does not work right now. The gent I bought it from had been running the same downforce for a year+ by manually moving the head. I temporarily made a switch for doing the left/right, but I tend to find myself manually setting the left/right origin anyways as since it is far quicker to set accurately that way. I will be ordering a replacement keypad and teflon strip next week or two. If the next pad goes out, I think I'm going to build a permanent switchset of my own onto this unit.

I don't have much in the way of loss of tracking (On longer runs, hand-feed out some vinyl while it's running, especially on larger rolls of vinyl - Just too heavy), avoid weed boxes/vertical weed lines (Unless you manually add in the weed lines) and make sure you have the optimize path turned on (if using Flexi) and set under a foot (I usually do 4" to 10" depending on the detail level and run length.)

As for the mis-cuts, it doesn't happen often, but when it does, I've never had an issue with it destroying the vinyl; Only when it decides to run up the vinyl or reset to origin.
 

Techman

New Member
its a good machine

Is not a good machine, no matter what any one paid for it. Its got severe limitations that will haunt users down the line. There are hundreds of posts across the net about this machine and its reputation. One poster will brag how good it is then later another post from the same user about some problem causing too much stress. This very thread does the same thing.
 

cutkiller

New Member
Is not a good machine, no matter what any one paid for it. Its got severe limitations that will haunt users down the line. There are hundreds of posts across the net about this machine and its reputation. One poster will brag how good it is then later another post from the same user about some problem causing too much stress. This very thread does the same thing.

Techman, you're right. thats not what i meant. My english is kinda restricted :( well if i remember i paid 4-500$ for it with Flexi software and i make 2000$ of incomes each month (as a side line, i have a full time job). Im really happy with it since i have some trick to avoid all the well known problems. Aside the the junk key pad issue (just another one), it works great LOL.. this machine is so ridiculous...but it is intresting. i agree, they are peace of shit, real junk, but hey, it does the job!!! Of course, i plan to get a better one, but Master's worth their 300$ beater. :)
 
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