Need Help VS540 Drifting

[vinylobsessed]

Hey guys,

Printer is three years old never an issue.. the last few months we had issues with print quality and recently cuts drifting.. Print head was replaced last week due to a bad strike that well rendered it messed up.

BUt right now, when i print.. we are doing some logos for a client and if i print too many i get issues with cuts so i am doing one line of logos at a time.. 30 inch material logo is 5x3 inches, i turn the printer on send the print job, it prints and cuts the 8 logos perfect, Jump back into Versaworks hit print again ( Exact same job have not touched anything) well now that print job prints and cuts but cut off, if i sent the job a third time it would be off even more! BUt if i turn the machine of, and on again let it run through its thing and send the print job it prints and cuts perfect.. So basicly right now i am printing 100 logos 8 at a time turning the darn machine off every time.

I have done the calibration.. done the print cut calibration got it so it does that test perfect.. and it prints and cuts the first job perfect.. its when i do the next print job its messed up.

Anyone witness this or have any ideas on how to help?

 

[Jacob]

check the silicone on your clamp rollers. over time the glue gives way and the start to slide. had the same thing happen to me a few months back. replace the rollers )no the whole assembly) and it should go away. remember the two outside rollers are tapered.

 

[vinylobsessed]

its always off the exact same direction, and happens if i use just two clamps or three.. But i will contact my supplier and get new rollers ordered anyways just incase.
i know when the tech was here last week and replaced my print head he did the whole print cut alignment in the service menu.

 

[vinylobsessed]

Jacob, What does the taper do? I have a couple of rollers that have hardly been used and thinking i would swap the silcone rollers over for now just to see if it corrects the alightment on more than the first line of work. can't hurt i would just assume the tapers help keep the media feeding straight on longer jobs.

 

[netsol]

taper keeps tension on the material

it keeps the material taut along the width. no wrinkling

Jacob, What does the taper do? I have a couple of rollers that have hardly been used and thinking i would swap the silcone rollers over for now just to see if it corrects the alightment on more than the first line of work. can't hurt i would just assume the tapers help keep the media feeding straight on longer jobs.

 

[Jacob]

they pull the material out to keep it taught. they have a small red dot on them. google which side they go on.

 

[netsol]

it might be worth putting something like this rubber revitalizer on the rollers. you wipe it on with a paper towel, and it eliminates slippage. I use it on printers, fax machines, money counters, etc.

Rawn Rubber Drive Cleaner | 10008 | Rawn

rubber oxidizes so quickly...
in a perfect world, we just change the rollers, but I would probably opt for this, over an aftermarket Chinese knockoff roller. after you advance a few feet of paper, any residue is gone, then you can load vinyl with no fear of contamination. you are introducing a lot less variables into the situation than with an aftermarket roller upsetting the geometry of the way the machines feeds.

they pull the material out to keep it taught. they have a small red dot on them. google which side they go on.

 

[Sign and Print]

Don't know about the VS540, but I have a VP540 which was drifting in the cutting process a while ago. I got a wire brush and a bit of solvent onto the grit wheels and solved the problem. There was a lot of gunk embedded around the "pins" thus reducing the depth they were penetrating into the liner.

 

[IsItFasst]

I suggest changing the wheels/rollers if the other options mentioned above don't do it. Was having the same issue with my trusty SP-300V. Would cut fine in tests but long (even just a few feet) would cause issues. Would even cause the scan to be off by the time it was done. We are talking like be off by 1/8 of an inch on a 40 inch cut. Replaced the wheels and all is good. One wheel definitely had some flat spots in it and the "camber" was extremely noticeable on both. The job can be done yourself, though it's a little frustrating trying to get all the washers to line up with the shaft. Probably took me 45 minutes to do both wheels.

 

[vinylobsessed]

Thanks everyone, SO it seems that during a service something dumb was done.. I had replaced the rollers and still same issues.. exactly the same amount all the time.. if i printed a row of logos worked prefect printed two rows the second row was off by 1mm.. did three rows the third row was 2mm.

So decided i would pop it open thinking well its out of warranty and two maybe i can see a missing tooth or something. removed the front pannel to find this!!!! Seems before repacing the print head we tried a print head soak and after it soaked over night i ofcourse turned the printer on.. ran a cleaning before i remembered i had the drain to the bottle still pinched off Which blew off some cap on the lines and well as you can see from the image hosed down the inside of the printer!!! SO made my own cap no more ink spraying issues.. However i must have had just one dab of ink in the right place on that large disk wheel thing with the sensor attached.. as i took some 99% rubbing alcohal and cleaned it up.. and now the printer is working flawless again.. perfect cuts every time..

So if anyone ever happens to have a issue that wheels did not fix.. check to make sure this thing is clean! The service tech said it made no sense as it should have given a read error.. which it did not.