Guest Schramm Posted March 25, 2009 Well thank God this thing is on wheels as that way I can call it a ROLLING TURD! I have had this for going on 10 months with so many issues that it is not funny. The people that work there make you feel like they are there to help but honestly they are NOT. I bought a 50" cutter, logically you would assume tht I wanted to cut big items right? Well this thing does not cut big items as each time I go to cut it does about 1/2 the job and quits! I have had this issue on and off for about 8 months. Today was my final straw and I called them and said I want it fixed and they gave me a download saying that the Flexi software that came with it originally did not funtion correctly with it. I asked how long has this been out and why didnt you tell me before and they said almost 6 months! So lets see for the last 6 months I have been fighting software that they knew damn well was not compatable? WHAT!!! So then I down load the software and when I cut a small items man was it fast and everything seemed perfect and then I went to cut a 40" x 14" image (medium in intricasy) and that damn thing once again stopped 1/2 way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR So I call them back and say there is something seriouly wrong so they say that there is something with either my USB cable or the mother board and then they said OR it could be static electricity (What?) so they went on to tell me that vinyl causes static shocks to the mother board confusing it and having go off track. Ok I said so how do I fix that? They said wipe it all down including the vinyl I am cutting. Now I will say that I am not the brightest SOB on the planet but I can definatly tell that I am going to need a reach around for the butt slamming I am going to take! Never the less nothing fixed it so I say I need this fixed TODAY as I have 17 things to cut out and the machine is not working properly. So they said it sounds like a mother board problem and I said ok send me a mother board - here is where they got my last nerve... They said it cost $75 as the unit is only under warranty for 6 months. I said no I bought this on ebay and printed the paperwork which clearly says 1 year but they wont stand behind it! Here is what I am going to say out loud right here... If you are thinking of buying a cutter do not buy a Cutter Pro!!!!!!!!!!! They are junk, the tech support is not good and though they say they are helping NOTHING EVER GETS DONE!!! I think that I am done with low cost machines and I am going to upgrade to a graphtec as from what I was told US cutters lower costing machine is made by the same company. If anyone else has had problems let me know as I would love to get them somehow!!!!!!!!!!!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoeDirt 5 Posted March 25, 2009 what about memory? maybe its a 1 mb and you can upgrade it to 4mb? just an option that I took with my bridge cutter because of the same problem cutting larger detailed cuts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest fivestar Posted March 25, 2009 Yup Joe I was writing the same thing. Sounds like a memory issue to me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Schramm Posted March 25, 2009 Duke said the same thing as did Flexi when I talked to them but how do I add memory to this? Moneys not a problem the problem is not knowing how. The company is NO HELP so I am kinda stuck but I really need this going as I wasted my entire day on the phone doing nothing but getting pissed off. Do either of you have this machine or the smaller version? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
midwaste 4 Posted March 25, 2009 Dont write off the static issue.. I had the same problem with my USCutter, and proper static dissipation by putting a ground wire from the stand to one of the screws on the bottom of the machine solved it. There have also been posts about putting something dragging the vinyl to dissipate the static buildup on the vinyl itself. I think it is probably the main cause of the weird problems experienced by all of our cutters.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Schramm Posted March 25, 2009 MidWaste, Can you do me a favor and take a picture of how you grounded the machine? At this point I will try anything to keep this from happening. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
knucklehead 530 Posted March 25, 2009 Schramm, put up a picture of it, is it just a re-branded p-cut? Sounds like static, and memory issues. Can you even add more memory? I've got an old p-cut, and I don't think I can add anymore memory to it. Or can I? I saw something called a anti static mat on flea bay, might be worth checking. GraphTec's are great! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Schramm Posted March 25, 2009 Ok I checked out the anti static mat and they are not for equipment to stand on they are for you to stand on so that the machine does not zap you. It wont help this issue but I think taking a copper wire to one of the screws under the mother board and running it to a screw placed into my base board may. I am going to try it as now that I have read more it makes more scense. Yesterday I didnt want to hear anything but I'll get it done! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Schramm Posted March 25, 2009 For the most part the problem is fixed thanks mostly to here and a couple of other good people that wanted to help me out. Here is how I fixed it: On the CutterPro CS1200 on the right side unscrew from the stand (just on the one side so that the head does not fall off) then on the inside part of the side panel next to the cutter blade there is 2 screws in the front and 2 screws in the back unscrew them and then lift the head and pull off the end cap. Once that is off you will see 2 yellow wires grounded to the inside frame, loosen that and get 3' of coated COPPER wire and put on end under the loosened screw and then tighten it and the other to the stand screw in the same fashion running that wire through the bolt hole for the stand. Once you have that done re-attach everything and start it back up and now the actual internal motherboard is grounded to the stand. I ran the stuff that wouldnt cut and it cut perfect!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kenimes 42 Posted March 25, 2009 I think they are re-branded PCut's. Are you cutting a weed border around your large file as well? Maybe try the file without any weed borders.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Schramm Posted March 26, 2009 On the image that was not cutting I was not cutting a weed border. Why would that make a differnce? I have over the last ten months been told every excuse in the book from vibrations, carpet, bad mother board, not enough memory, to long of a usb cord and the list goes on and on! What no one until yesterday did is gave me a solution! I have friends with Rolands, Sumas, graphtec and more that all have the same problem so let me pose this question to you - what is being done to help educate the people buying these cheap machines? I posted this yesterday and called your team yesterday and explained the issue hoping from help from you. What I got was a sales spill about a new cutter.... Just once I would love to see a company other than mine answer the phone and actually help with an issue even if there is nothing in it for them. Insted of turning me into an attempt at a sale! Honestly I am saying this to you not because it is your problem but as a lesson of what your message board is about - learning and sharing knowledge but if you are not willing to share knowledge whether someone calls you or post unless there is money in it for you then you are part of the problem and not the solution! It wouldnt had cost you 5 minutes to help me fix the issue with my plotter but if you would of even made the attempt I probably would of bought a plotter from you... food for thought! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
midwaste 4 Posted March 26, 2009 I think the main reason the weed border is a main culprit in the static issue is that when the machine cuts the border, it runs the vinyl all the way out and back in again, thereby accumulating a ton of static charge. I have heard that the newer USCutters are being shipped with ground wires, hopefully there is an Instructable, if not, we should def make one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Schramm Posted March 26, 2009 Well I was able to add a grounded wire from inside the machine to the ground section to the aluminum frame, so far it is working but the problem is that a lot of what I cut goes in and out a long way other then just the weed boarder. I understand the static issue but that should be something that is addressed at the time of purchase or be an add on to those that dont have it. We as consumers deserve to know any fixes to issues without the constant need for calling or loosing money through lost vinyl. Rob Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kenimes 42 Posted March 26, 2009 A weed border adds more info. to the job being sent. If the job being sent already is packed with nodes and info., cutting a weed border may just be overkill, which we see with some of the units we offer as well. Might need to clean up larger files, to reduce the amount of nodes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Schramm Posted March 27, 2009 The images I am cutting are professionally done, the ground wire seems to have fixed the issue as I have cut a bunch since then with no issues. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kenimes 42 Posted March 27, 2009 Chalk another one up for grounding a Chinese import vinyl cutter!~ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mkp 4 Posted April 28, 2011 I have been on mission lately to debug a problem I had with parts of my file not being cut. In summary, it wasn't static or memory but more likely Signcut Pro. I have a US Cutter Refine MH 721. I running XP and CorelDraw X4. I was using Signcut Pro but was having difficulties on larger file size cuts. It would skip over large portions. Sometimes it would just misbehave. So I grounded everything, didn't fix it. I bought the larger memory, didn't fix it. I installed Signblazer 6.05, fixed. Not exactly sure what the root cause is but has to do with how data is being transfered to the plotter. Signblazer 6.05 does not have the Refine drivers but I'm using RedSail RS720C which is working very well (note: The DMPL driver worked by the scaling was slightly larger than actual size (1"x1" was more like (1.01" x 1.01")). After all this research, I decided to make it more simple for newbies. If you want the latest and best version of Signblazer Elements with a crack that gets rid of trial mode, visit www.mystat.com and scroll down to the bottom. cheers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
