Question Vertical lines on printout, x-axis shifting

[chinaski]

Hi,

I've got a Chinese flatbed printer that's been acting up and has gotten progressively worse. I was originally getting "vertical lines" in printouts and now printouts are not even recognisable. Carriage is also periodically "pausing" in the middle of printing for 3-5 seconds, before continuing return motion. This is random and not a possible setting change on my part. X-axis will also "shift" print to left in middle of printing. Any suggestions other than "don't buy Chinese"

I've already cleaned encoder and decoder with isopropyl alcohol, switched out decoder for an old spare I had, rotated encoder, and didn't notice any difference. Also reinstalled printer control software and drivers. I've got a new encoder coming on Monday, just doubtful all these problems can be attributed to a bad encoder.

Connections all seem fine. Maybe a bad board?

 

[chinaski]

Figured I'd update this post with my solution. I had to break open the plastic housing that connects the fiber optic cable and tighten a bracket which was causing poor connection.

If anyone else has similar looking printout issues, save yourself the trouble and just change the board. If you buy from China, you may not even have that option, if manufacturer stops supporting certain parts!