VG-540 Scan Motor Replacement (Scan Motor Error 0020 0020)

[RichardWad]

I am planning to replace the scan motor on the VG-540 at our shop and was hoping for any general tips or tricks to be aware of during the process.

Hello Everyone,
Classic longtime lurker here finally made an account to chat with all you sign nerds out there!
Thanks to everyone who has posted and contributed to the forms I certainly have solved issues over the years with info I found here and this is truly one of the only places I trust the general info I come across. THANK YOU!
Intro Rant over.

The encoder strip and all the other tips and tricks I found related to scan motor errors have already been tried with no luck to get rid of the error when printing (cleaning the strip and cleaning/oiling the specific rail/flipping the encoder bottom to top). Short of replacing the encoder strip which is absurdly costly direct from Roland (please correct me if I am wrong, but I think they are somewhat generic as they are just a liner encoder strip), so if your encoder is your problem I would recommend finding some random site online that sells generic encoder strips with the same specs. Warning to anyone doing that be sure the length is correct and you're alright with cutting/making a hole in the new strip to reinstall into the printer. Costs from Roland for the encoder strip are $400+ for a plastic encoder strip!?! Cost more for the encoder strip vs a new scan motor... like wtf?

The ONLY thing that has the VG-540 currently working without throwing a scan motor error code 2 inches or less into a print was SLOWING DOWN THE PRINT SPEED. So, if you're having these issues and need to wrap up a job or are in the middle of a larger job SLOW the print speed (and check all the encoder stuff too). I took ours from 1016 mm/sec in Versaworks down by 50% too 508 mm/sec and we have been printing without issues (obviously way slower, but still printing jobs while the motor is on the way).

Shout out to this post which seems to be almost exactly the same issues: https://www.signs101.com/threads/roland-vg-540-scan-motor-error-0020-0020.158252/ (this post helped me confirm the motor should be replaced)

Now before people start staying blah blah blah about getting a tech to install this or whatever. I have already took the machine apart and put it back together inspecting things to the point I could simply see where to detach the motor and reattached the new one. I have a B.S. degree in EET, worked on lots of electronics, and I am super comfortable with working on electronics and computers in general. I am looking for any major things to watch out for or if there is some strange unforeseen procedural way this must be done beyond unscrewing the old one, disconnecting the spring and plug to the motor/mounting place and putting the new one in it's place. (Obviously done with the machine powered off, unplugged, and still grounded)

Any additional info to help me during the replacement process would be awesome!

NOTE: I highly recommend against non-roland tech replacement of any internal parts on a machine that is newer or still under warranty!

Our machine was working just fine prior to these issues, but it's years old and no longer under warranty so at the point it's going to cost thousands more I will just replace the printer all together.

 

[DARRELL OAKS]

We had a tech come out and replace ours. scan motor & encoder strip. cost about $900.00 including the install. that was a whole lot cheaper than me trying to do it and then call them. food for thought.

 

[Signature Sign Guys]

we had some issues with our xr-640, from a print head replacement, dampers, and then finally the scan motor all within a 2-week span (not a fun month lol). We had the tech come and change out the print head and dampers but after they left the scan motor went so we had one order from Roland and installed it ourselves. It wasn't complicated at all. The tension spring would be the biggest thing to ensure the gears set correctly but I had the new motor in and out in 15min. Once you have the new motor in, I believe you need to set the limit so you will need to know how to get into service mode. After that, you are good to go. I did do some research on after-market motors and they all looked the same but after talking to the tech it could be a gamble on motor life and also the crazy chance that it could short out the board. I would recommend an OEM motor and if you're willing to do the install it could save ya cash. you might also be able to get a tech to talk it thru over the phone just to make sure.

 

[RichardWad]

We had a tech come out and replace ours. scan motor & encoder strip. cost about $900.00 including the install. that was a whole lot cheaper than me trying to do it and then call them. food for thought.

Honestly, solid advice. I figured it would cost more.

Turns out the encoder strips from Roland cost more than the scan motor.
The scan motor for the VG 540/640 cost me about $330-ish a little pricey, but the prices was very similar from random websites or direct from a vendor that drop shipped via Roland (took the safe bet with a sign supply shop is inside the country/near my state). Was unable to find that specific motor anywhere for a sub 300 price.
The motor was pretty quick and easy to change. Spent more time opening/unscrewing the machine vs changing the motor itself.

 

[RichardWad]

we had some issues with our xr-640, from a print head replacement, dampers, and then finally the scan motor all within a 2-week span (not a fun month lol). We had the tech come and change out the print head and dampers but after they left the scan motor went so we had one order from Roland and installed it ourselves. It wasn't complicated at all. The tension spring would be the biggest thing to ensure the gears set correctly but I had the new motor in and out in 15min. Once you have the new motor in, I believe you need to set the limit so you will need to know how to get into service mode. After that, you are good to go. I did do some research on after-market motors and they all looked the same but after talking to the tech it could be a gamble on motor life and also the crazy chance that it could short out the board. I would recommend an OEM motor and if you're willing to do the install it could save ya cash. you might also be able to get a tech to talk it thru over the phone just to make sure.

Thanks for the info. I did get an OEM motor.

I was able to change the motor without going into service mode, and also found out that I cannot get into service mode after the trash changes to the firmware (TR2 ink upgrade changes) that requires the peck2 tool or whatever. I only was hoping to get into service mode to reset the hours on the motor for future reference.

GETTING INTO SERVICE MODE NOTE: I cannot confirm yet (plan to try in the near future), but I called our local Roland tech from the vendor that sold us the machine and I was told that by calling the actual Roland tech support directly that it's possible for Roland to issue you a temp peck2 or something that will allow access to service mode (not sure how long they last or how this works, but will update if I find out).

For anyone else working on the VG-540 scan motor here are my steps broken down (DO AT YOUR OWN RISK):

1. Open the machine - I took the right side top panel off and removed the cleaning bag & mounting plates/fixture. (careful with the needle & tubing)
2. Removed Right hand side plate covering access to the right most area when opening right side door (covers access to one side of the scan motor also can see an encoder disc & a bit of electrical runs and tubing once the plate is removed)
3. Most remove the top very tiny rivet clip that holds a small black plastic shield that blocks debris of ink coming off the belt/gear and landing on the encoder disc below (careful with the disc, I certainly touched it or wiggled in around while doing the work, but did read other places that this is fragile)
4. Unplug ribbon cable that goes to the control/button display (needs to be removed before the top plate because top plate has a ribbon cable tie/mount to it)
5. Back on top side of the machine, there is a plate that is below the cleaning bag mounting plates that covers encloses the rear side of the scan motor. Removed this plate (the rivet clip goes into this plate remove it first)
6. Unplug motor, remove spring, remove motor mount plate with motor attached, remove old motor from mount plate, attach new motor to old mount plate (I drew red sharpie lines around the plate before removing so I could ensure it was in a similar position when the new motor was attached)
7. Place new motor and mount plate back into position, attach mount screws LIGHTLY, now attach the spring to ensure the spring can help position or alight the motor to the gear wheel. Tighten screws after you're comfortable with the gear/motor abutting connection.
8. Put everything back together, test motor. I left the large top part of the case off until I was sure it worked.

Not sure if I got lucky, but it seemed really easy. Talked about the process with the tech I spoke with and they told me "you would know by now" if the motor/gear wasn't in the right position. I guess it will make a bad noise or strip out the plastic gear if not seated correctly.

Cheers all you signage DORKS!
Best of luck out there.
Hit me up if someone has questions or needs help with a VG 540 motor issue.

 

[chaz design]

Thanks for the info. I did get an OEM motor.

I was able to change the motor without going into service mode, and also found out that I cannot get into service mode after the trash changes to the firmware (TR2 ink upgrade changes) that requires the peck2 tool or whatever. I only was hoping to get into service mode to reset the hours on the motor for future reference.

GETTING INTO SERVICE MODE NOTE: I cannot confirm yet (plan to try in the near future), but I called our local Roland tech from the vendor that sold us the machine and I was told that by calling the actual Roland tech support directly that it's possible for Roland to issue you a temp peck2 or something that will allow access to service mode (not sure how long they last or how this works, but will update if I find out).

For anyone else working on the VG-540 scan motor here are my steps broken down (DO AT YOUR OWN RISK):

1. Open the machine - I took the right side top panel off and removed the cleaning bag & mounting plates/fixture. (careful with the needle & tubing)
2. Removed Right hand side plate covering access to the right most area when opening right side door (covers access to one side of the scan motor also can see an encoder disc & a bit of electrical runs and tubing once the plate is removed)
3. Most remove the top very tiny rivet clip that holds a small black plastic shield that blocks debris of ink coming off the belt/gear and landing on the encoder disc below (careful with the disc, I certainly touched it or wiggled in around while doing the work, but did read other places that this is fragile)
4. Unplug ribbon cable that goes to the control/button display (needs to be removed before the top plate because top plate has a ribbon cable tie/mount to it)
5. Back on top side of the machine, there is a plate that is below the cleaning bag mounting plates that covers encloses the rear side of the scan motor. Removed this plate (the rivet clip goes into this plate remove it first)
6. Unplug motor, remove spring, remove motor mount plate with motor attached, remove old motor from mount plate, attach new motor to old mount plate (I drew red sharpie lines around the plate before removing so I could ensure it was in a similar position when the new motor was attached)
7. Place new motor and mount plate back into position, attach mount screws LIGHTLY, now attach the spring to ensure the spring can help position or alight the motor to the gear wheel. Tighten screws after you're comfortable with the gear/motor abutting connection.
8. Put everything back together, test motor. I left the large top part of the case off until I was sure it worked.

Not sure if I got lucky, but it seemed really easy. Talked about the process with the tech I spoke with and they told me "you would know by now" if the motor/gear wasn't in the right position. I guess it will make a bad noise or strip out the plastic gear if not seated correctly.

Cheers all you signage DORKS!
Best of luck out there.
Hit me up if someone has questions or needs help with a VG 540 motor issue.

Hi, where did you get the motor from? I’m having the same problem

 

[cornholio]

Most of these motors fail much too early. I had some failing after 170 h. (They should last 3000h)
I opened one, to see what is causing these issues an found out, it was dirt on the internal encoder disk. I cleaned it and they run ever since.
To open, you need to unsolder the stator coils and remove the PCB