Nitsuj

So is there a known and proven fix for this? I can't believe Graphtec is ok with this. My plotter died at 3 years old. Graphtec referred me to an "authorized repair person" that seemed to be just some guy working out of his basement. He said that it could be any number of parts, and no way to test them, just have to keep replacing stuff until the problem is fixed. According to others I've spoken with, this is a common issue. I realize my warranty is up, and don't expect a freebie, but with less than 3 years of light hobby use, I wouldn't expect a "pro level" unit to be basically worthless. I may as well have bought a cheap knock off plotter. Graphtec should be ashamed. And US Cutter, as my retailer, should be pretty annoyed at Graphtec as well.

Got it, thanks man! When I get some time I'll see if I can possibly trouble shoot this myself.

So closest repair facility to me returned my call this morning. He said my error is common, and is one of 4 things. 3 cheap things and an expensive thing. (his words) The three cheap things add up to $300 with labor. (sheet switch, flexible cable, and panel relay) The expensive thing is $700 with labor. (main board) Trouble is, there's no way to diagnose it. So I have to pay the $300 to find out if I need to pay the $700. So it most likely will cost $1000ish to fix. I'm beyond disgusted right now. I'm not paying someone $300 to guess if I need to spend $700. I'll take a look at that repair manual and see if it has enough info to diagnose this myself. I have enough to a technical and electronic repair background to do my own labor. I just need a little bit of info. I'll post up updates in case it can help anyone else. Jaybird, my email is duc1098desmo at gmail dot com

Jaybird, think you'd be willing to part with a copy of that repair manual?

Figures it's a rare problem and I'd be the one it happens to! I did have it plugged into a surge protector, actually, and didn't suffer any other equipment failure of anything plugged in my office. Must be a fluke. I imagine I'll just end up fixing it. It's a bitter pill to swallow, but logically, it would make more sense to fix a $1200 (or whatever, I don't remember) rather than buy a $400 one to replace it. I'm just a little miffed that it needs done, and more upset about the reaction of the guy at Graphtec I talked to about it. He didn't seem too concerned about helping me get it fixed. It was like I was calling a Honda dealer with a Toyota problem. I told him my issue and he just told me to go to their site and look for a service facility. I realize it's not a warranty item and I'll be out of pocket, but I'd have hoped to talk to someone a little more informative. Oh well, customer service isn't what it used to be. Thanks for the help gents.

Until I decide for sure what I'm doing and until I get a final repair price, I'm going to hang on to it. If I decide to get rid of it, I'll let you know. Thanks for the offer.

Really? A $350 motherboard? That's a bummer. I'm sure I'm out of warranty, and I don't expect things to last forever. But gosh, I spent the extra money to supposedly get a "good" machine. I got 3 years out of it, and when I tried to call their customer service, I got a guy who was zero help, and he directed me to call a third party, who has also been zero help. I think I'll spend the $350 on one of the no-name machines. At least I know up front those may only last 3 years, and I won't feel like such a chump for spending the extra money for a name brand with the illusion of "you get what you pay for".

For fun I did some graphics for a friend for his son's pinewood derby car. My graphtec was able to cut them and I was able to weed them, but it was finicky and time consuming. Some of the logos we did were in your size range. Things got a little dicey on some of the real fine detail stuff, but we managed to work it out. It was a lot of screwing around I wouldn't want on a paying job, but for a couple of guys to do it on a rainy sunday over beers, it wasn't bad. If I was charging someone for that job, it would have cost far more than anyone would pay to do pinewood derby graphics.

Bought a CE5000-24 from US Cutter about 3 years ago. The unit has performed well as a hobbyist machine. Recently, I turned it on, and it won't respond to anything. The display reads "NOVRAM INIT". Any ideas? I tried calling Graphtec, but they just told me to call a local service center, of which there is one, 40 miles away in another state, and he's not home at the moment. I tried US Cutter's live chat, but it keeps disconnecting me. I'm really glad I decided to spend the extra money on the Graphtec, rather than buy one of the much less expensive machines. Sure, it's more money, but what you're really getting is the longevity and fabulous customer support. ;-)

Of course! Distort! I knew it would be a simple solution. I've been away from Flex for awhile, so some simple things are eluding me. Thank you very much!

This must be a very basic question, but I'm having a heck of a time making it work. I need to make 2 stripes, 29 1/8" long, starting " wide at one end tapering to 1/4" at the other end. I cant get it to work in Flexi Pro. Any suggestions?

Midwastes is probably better than mine, but I was in a hurry. I got a window screen kit from Lowes. It's 4 pieces of aluminum material made to hold window screen. It comes with corner connectors. I cut it to the size I wanted, then put it together. I use binder clips to hold the app tape on. It's hard to explain, but I can take some pics when I get out to the shop later.

There was a guy that made a home brew version. I think his screen name is Midwaste. I don't remember if it was here or on Vinylforum. I made one out of window screen frame from Lowes.

I recently did a long job and it's the first one where I wish I has a catch basket. So, I whipped one up with some steel flat stock, all thread and some material. Then I stuck my logo on it. I'm pleased with the results.

I've been extremely plasec with Clean Cut 60degree blades in my Graphtec. They last longer for me, and I think I get a littler better quality on the very small fine cuts.