allenallen

I have a Vinyl Express Q100 (42") Signwarehouse's equivalent to a Graphtec 8000. My 4-year old son was in the shop this morning. While the cutter was ON, but resting between jobs, he slid the cutting head all the way to the left. I jumped up as he did this, and the machine powered itself off. Everything SEEMS alright physically, but the cutter will not turn on. When I press the power switch, I hear the normal internal "click" a second later, but the display screen never lights and the cutting head never moves. Nothing but that one internal click. I have 3 of these machines and have never seen this! Is there a top-secret reset sequence or an internal fuse?

WOW!! That's a $350 difference!! I could buy a new dishwasher with that much $$. But don't tell my wife that.

Well, I have the exact same problem - dead motherboard, and cannot go past the load media prompt. I am going to order the new mother board (I was quoted $633) and will put it in myself. It simply unplugs in about 6 places and 4 screws. It is the board on the right side of the machine. I heard nothing about calibration. Hmmmm. I will ask signwarehouse what is up with that. I will be watching this post as well, and will post what I learn. What were you quoted for the board?

Why can I buy any size Graphtec plotter with the Vinyl Express name from SignWarehouse, but can only get the media catch basket with an original (complete cutter with stand) order? I have searched Graphtec, SignWarehouse, USCutter, eBay....nothing! So I have one cutter with the basket and one without. It is absurd! They can sell any part, even a new motherboard, but not the media basket! I have seen the suggestions to make one myself. Having the fabric part made is easy - that's what mother-in-laws are for, right? But as for bending 1/2" conduit - now we're getting into homemade band-aids. Apparently, Graphtec's media basket is the most coveted, and guarded component!

Grounding the outlet is easy: Home Depot will sell you a little contraption that you plug into any outlet. It will tell you by different LED's any faults with the wiring. 99% of all electrical appliances will work fine with an open ground, but static-sensitive items like plotters (especially plotters since cutting can create static) will mess up. Once the static in the machine reaches the main / mother board, its all over: maybe it will just stop and do a data dump, maybe a diagonal line cut randomly, etc. You could also add a dedicated ground by running a wire from your plotter frame to a cold water pipe, IF you have copper pipes. One thing that I had a problem with years ago: I was using a Creation cutter then, and the media rollers had nylon bearings at the end. All the static build up was in the vinyl, and there was no way "out." I fixed this by taping one side of a 2" piece of steel wool to the brackets, and it just laid the other end on the rollers. Problem solved!

Well. Now I feel just silly. I could not find a source, and even called SW, and they played dumb. THANK YOU!!!

I had a problem with the random cuts across the vinyl, too. Yes, it was static electricity. I double-checked the ground for the outlet and it had an open ground. My problem was solved once the machine was grounded.

Well, SignWarehouse says they can send a new motherboard for $633, if I feel handy enough to install it (and I do). I have three of these cutters, two 42" and one 24". The 24" is really worn out, and has been used for some jobs in Hawaii, and UPS and the airlines have NOT been kind to it. So I plan to pull the mother board off of the dying 24" and swap the two. If that is it, then I will just part off the entire 24" cutter. $633 doesn't sound too awful when considering $3500 machine, but I have only bought one of these new from SW. The other two I got on eBay for $1200 used, with the stand. So I will replace the whole thing rather than get one part for $600. Thanks for everyone's help on this. We didn't find an easy solution, but I hope everyone will know of the terrible risk of forcing that cutter head!

I took the front long shroud off - access to the two fans, and the front media sensor. The rear shroud is nothing but access to the rear media sensor. I guess my next exploration will be the top shroud just above the cutting head. EDIT: Nothing found there. It has to be some sort of an abuse lockout sequence. Aaaagh! BannerJohn, do they actually have circuit boards to change out? I was under the impression that their parts were just blades and cut strips. Shoot, I can't even get a media basket for the one without!

Can't seem to find one - unless it is in the bottom - neither end have one. I did take the shroud off the cutter head and looked at the cut-off blade mechanics. This seems to be in order, and I have compared it to one of my other working machines (and then put that one back together!) I see how it works to engage and disengagee the cut-off blade by driving into the left-edge stud. All seems perfect up top. I guess I'll look underneath for an in-line fuse..

Yes, and it moves with the normal resistance. I unplugged everything, and removed the side trim. I am pretty handy with electronics - used to fix ham radios. So I know how to not get zapped. But I am really stumped by this. No fans running, nothing. I am guessing the internal "click" about a second after the power is turned on (or off) is the DC power supply. I have a huge job starting next week and am getting anxious.