registration mark error

[mtrider]

hello all
plotter is a fc8000...i have been using this plotter along with a valuejet 1614 for 3 years now with little to no problems... recently it has been having trouble recognizing the 2nd registration mark? i am using mark type 2 . the plotter scans the 1st mark no problem, then it stops about an 1 1/2 short of the 2nd mark,tries to read the mark that is not there, resulting in an error... im pretty sure no settings were changed as i am the only person doing the cutting? i tried the search function on here , but found nothing this specific? the weird thing is this happened about 2 weeks ago, luckily, it was just square decals, and we just hand cut them.... then i sent a couple of short lettering jobs, they cut no problem.... it seems this is happening on longer length jobs ...i referenced the user manual, but it seems there could be a bunch of settings i could try, but am afraid of throwing the whole thing out of whack?? i am cutting out of flexi .. i checked all the settings in production manager between the print settings, and the cut settings and they all seem to match i was wondering if anyone else encountered this ?? im and thanks in advance... john

 

[bob]

i assume by '1 1/2 short' you mean an inch and a half.

The first clue would be you saying that this occurred longer jobs. How long is a 'longer job' to you? Regardless, longer being the case, the plotter probably stops 1.5" short of the second mark because the print is 1.5" longer than it should be.

The plotter moves to where it thinks the mark ought to be and then scans around in a inch or so square looking for it. If the print is physically longer than it's supposed to be the plotter never finds the mark. It either stops short as in your case or goes too long if the print is physically shorter than it's supposed to be.

You might want to check the output feed compensation on your printer. It sounds very much as if it's not set quite right. It doesn't but a tiny error to build up to a really impressive difference between what the length is supposed to be, the logical length, and what the length actually is, the physical length in longer prints.

The sure fire way around encountering this most annoying error is to use your own registration marks and do not use Flexi's automatic marks. It's no big deal to do this, it's explained in excruciating detail somewhere in these waters.

Once you learn how to do it, you'll never, as in ever, have to toss a print away because the plotter couldn't read the registration marks. It takes a few more seconds to set up than merely invoking the contour cut tool but it's worth it for largish prints. The only way it can't work is if the sensor itself is broken.

 

[mtrider]

bob... thanks for the speedy response....( yes 1 1/2" typing fast out of frustration).. thats what i was wondering.. if it was something with the printer... by longer, i meant i was trying to plot a print about 36" long
yesterday i cut some door lettering and it was only 12"-14" long.. no problem.. just now i printed a test and cut it no problem... so it seems that it could be something with the printer..( also thought that maybe the tension was set too strong when we laminated the print.. but it seems fine) i'm gonna dive into Mutoh's manual now and see how i can test the output feed compensation, and or reset it.... i'm going to assume that if this is the case, that i will have to trash this print and redo it? it isn't something that we can hand cut.... i am going to search here for what you recommended printing my own marks( anyone have a direct link?) , and not relying on flexi to do it automatically... am i correct in assuming that the settings on the plotter need to be adjusted, and if so do you know which ones? thanks again

 

[omgsideburns]

Is the print too short/long? You can always stretch the graphic in your software to match what came out of the printer just to get you by if something got flubbed..

 

[mtrider]

Got It Working... :U Rock: bob; i dont know if it was the pf adjust that i did or the sensor adjustment that ProWraps suggested in a previous post...it was a matte lam. and most all the post were about people having issues with gloss? but changed the sensors to read x=70 y=70 on the plotter, and did a new media setting with the pf adjustment accurately measured.. and the reprint seems to register. i didnt lam the print yet, but ran it thru the plotter with the blade removed and everything seems to jive!! thanks for your help.. i dont post here often, but when i am in dire straits, its great to know that i can count on this great community for help....Be well... thanks again!!

 

[mtrider]

ahhhhhhhh laminated the prints... not registering!!! same problem... any other suggestions?

 

[digitalwoodshop]

I have the FC 7000 and just to add another place to look... I had my pinch roller set too far over and it physically stopped it....

Just something else to look at... I don't do much vinyl so it was just a pilot error for me.... and it was for cutting not marks....

I am back looking for info and buy a Direct Jet 1324 and doing this, cutting with registration marks...

AL

 

[dj_elite]

I had a similar incident today. I am running Flexi, I dont know what you are running? But, I printed something on Friday and went to cut today, only to find out I accidentally deleted the file from production manager. I went ahead and resent the file as cut only, but every time it would go to read the registration marks it would stop about 2" away and try to read them. I was getting really frustrated. I then realized the material size was setup wrong in Flexi, so it was thinking it was a two part print. I have included 2 photos to show you what I mean. Hope it helps.

 

[dj_elite]

The second picture is the correct cut. I kept sending the first one and getting errors. Make sure your media is setup for the correct size.

 

[mtrider]

DJ: yeah, we finally figured it out after i was on the phone with tech support for about 45. minutes.... seems flexi assigned different media settings between the 2 files ( print & cut)... really weird, because we have printed and cut hundreds of files and it was never an issue.... the tech recommended reinstalling the software, but im a little hesitant, as i would lose all my settings ( i'm assuming).. my problem wasn't exactly as yours, it wasn't paneling an extra print, it was setting the margins different, so when it went to read the 2nd mark, it was reading the dimensions of the cut file, that was different from the print file..... we got it to work, but had to trash the 1st batch of decals, as i deleted the file from the production manager also one thing that i am going to look into , was what bob had suggested... printing my own registration marks , and not relying on flexi to assign them... just have to figure it out...anyways... thanks for the replys, and i'm gonna keep my fingers crossed for now.... nice star of life by the way... i have done something similar for the local fire departments here ... Thanks guys:U Rock:

 

[boxerbay]

we had similiar issues when allowing the colorburst rip to print the registration marks and output a .plt file. graphtec recommend using illustrator CM2 plug in and built the layout in illy then have illy add the crop marks. save as eps. run eps in colorburst. then go back to illy to cut same eps from illy. this way your sending the same eps to print and then to cut. never had another problem finding crop marks. our color burst was printing crop marks that did not match the plt colorburst was generating. graphtec phone techs are AWESOME.