Mutoh VJ1204 screeching noise when rolling media fast

[os101king]

Ok, this started years ago on and off. It was sporadic but now as of today it's constant. When the material runs on the higher speed, something inside SCREAMS, sounds like metal on metal screeching. At printing speeds there are no noises. What should I check for first? Any suggestions, ideas or folks that have experienced this? I purchased it in 2006.... so it's got a few miles and all but I'm way too broke to buy a new printer.

HELP!!


Opened it up and ran with the cover up, very little noise when backing the material in, constant squeal when running it out. The noise seems to be coming from both ends, I don't have a stethoscope to check the bearings... but that seems like the most likely point of noise.

 

[FatCat]

If it happens in both directions (forward/reverse) I would most likely suspect the bearings, but I have no experience in how to remedy that.
Unless some piece of something has gotten wedged along the roller somewhere and is riding/grinding along as it moves...?

 

[os101king]

If it happens in both directions (forward/reverse) I would most likely suspect the bearings, but I have no experience in how to remedy that.
Unless some piece of something has gotten wedged along the roller somewhere and is riding/grinding along as it moves...?

Very faint in one direction, but it's definitely there. I'm leaning towards downloading a service manual and trying this myself. Needs to be done, no money to do it and if I go down even LESS money as you all well know. Anyone have experience replacing bearings in a VJ1204?

How about suggestions for lubrication to extend the life a bit? I haven't seen anything anywhere in maintenance about lubricating those bearings. The race for the print head is clean and lubed, I do that monthly.