Lisamckt

Blade not moving up and down is not touching vinyl. HELP!!!!!!

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Just got my Laser ll 24', survived set up with only a few bruses. Got the pen plotter to work but unable to get the blades to cut vinyl.  The arm that moves the blade while cutting will not move up and down so the blade will cut nor does it move up and more when it goes to the next letter. It stays stationary.   Anybody got any ideas to help me out. My husband is grounding it to the stand as I write this, because  we read that is what someone else had done and it helped them.  Nest we are going to put a little WD 40 and see if that will help.  But would love any suggestions anyone has.  Thanks Lisa

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does the arm move at all up and down,  if you take the blade holder out of the machine? Try that. Send a design to the machine and try it, like your going to cut something. Does it move up and down then?    Just making sure you don't have it tightened down against something. Is the carriage head firmly in the track, the white wheels?  Make sure the carriage head can be moved left to right ok. . 

 

Are you send it a vector image?   Have you tried just using the TEST Button on your cutter?

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Relax. Take your time (in terms of weeks, months). Read all the documentation, written by Chinese who never took a day of English lessons. Haha

 

But don't panic, your cutter doesn't work like a printer.

 

Relax. Take your time. Once you formulate the question, the answer will appear. (I stole that)

 

Mark

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35 minutes ago, RUSSEL said:

Blade not moving up and down is not touching vinyl. HELP!!!!!!

if this is on a laserpoint as this thread is about I do not believe the z chip is in a socket and the entire mainboard has to be replaced.   by the way welcome from the USA

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Hi everyone, i am new here but have insight into this issue.  Hopefully by now you have resolved this. i myself went into full panic mode last night when i finally got everything hooked up and my arm wouldn't go up and down either. Just In case you still need help, or for anyone reading this in the future i found some info that could help, but didn't find it on this forum, so here is what i learned. Luckily for me, the fix is super EASY and fast, one flat head screwdriver could solve your issues.

First if you didnt know, the carriage holding the blade if pushed down toward the vinyl, should spring back up by itself, if it doesn't, try this. Remove the carriage housing by pushing down on the two tabs on top of the carriage box, and leaning it away from the machine. you will see a solenoid, and here is a link to a video that will show you what might be the issue, apparently its fairly common.

Laserpoint II repair

This fixed my machine and it works great now :D only difference for me was mine was stuck from the opposite side as the video, quick pry on the left side and the arm popped right up.

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14 hours ago, wiseheart65 said:

Hi everyone, i am new here but have insight into this issue.  Hopefully by now you have resolved this. i myself went into full panic mode last night when i finally got everything hooked up and my arm wouldn't go up and down either. Just In case you still need help, or for anyone reading this in the future i found some info that could help, but didn't find it on this forum, so here is what i learned. Luckily for me, the fix is super EASY and fast, one flat head screwdriver could solve your issues.

First if you didnt know, the carriage holding the blade if pushed down toward the vinyl, should spring back up by itself, if it doesn't, try this. Remove the carriage housing by pushing down on the two tabs on top of the carriage box, and leaning it away from the machine. you will see a solenoid, and here is a link to a video that will show you what might be the issue, apparently its fairly common.

Laserpoint II repair

This fixed my machine and it works great now :D only difference for me was mine was stuck from the opposite side as the video, quick pry on the left side and the arm popped right up.

keep in mind that doing this may void your warranty  - contacting support would be the best idea - i believe we had a moderator adjust with loosening some screws instead of prying on plastic parts - wiseheart65 assumes all risk for this procedure they recommended as it is not recommended by uscutter in any way.

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you make good points sir, thanks for adding that, i guess when i heard the guy in the video say he was from uscutter i just assumed it was ok to do it lol. you should definetly should double check your warranty before doing that. the video starts with 'this is Kyle from uscutter?"

 

P.S. i was only ever trying to help, put something i learned out there, there are probably plenty of machines past warranty that could encounter something like this IMO and like i said just trying to be helpful.

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by golly you are correct once I put on the sound - I am forwarding this to the appropriate person at uscutter

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4 minutes ago, Dakotagrafx said:

by golly you are correct once I put on the sound - I am forwarding this to the appropriate person at uscutter

i was hoping i wasn't hearing things lol. You are still probably right about warranty stuff, so again please do not attempt to open your machines if still under warranty! May have shot myself in the foot for my machine, but i like to fix stuff and getting my machine was a LONG time coming and i just wanted to get it going. I sure hope i don't get anyone in the video in trouble or anything, he saved me big time.

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to my surprise this is a sanctioned "fix"  - now have to wonder how many people will try this when they have other problems and cause damage to their cutters but it is a uscutter tech in the video and it is approved :o

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THANK YOU for saving my fanny!

I've been a MONTH waiting to get what I paid good money for.   So, a month ago, my first Laserpoint II arrived.   I spent a couple of hours fiddling around with assembling that stand only to THEN plug the unit in and find out it would not boot up.... no display.. NOTHING.     So called customer support; received an RMA four days later.   Was also advised USCutter would REQUIRE me to ship that darn stand BACK.   So disassemble the mess; packed it up (fortunately had the original box, big PIA... ..   had to ship to WASHINGTON state...   (Of course, not Memphis.. that would be expected).   So that was almost a month ago...  meanwhile, USCutter had already run my card....They of course, would wait to receive the unit BEFORE shipping another....    

FINALLY, the 2nd Laserpoint II arrived last Friday.    This time, I had the foresight to plug the unit in.... yep, powered up.   So .... I proceed to assemble the stand for This unit.   

So 2 hours later, after re-loading software, etc,   I loaded a piece of 12 x 24 oracle 651 in the new machine;  turned her on and hit the test button... AFTER spending 1/2 hour studying USC's scattered instructions, videos, etc. .. how to load a blade...

So.. hit the Test button --- and the carriage runs back and forth, the feed runs back and forth and the blade carrier does nothing.... NO movement up & down... Not a lick on the vinyl.   So.. I've just spent 3 days waiting for these idiots to return from the long weekend... anticipating the answer and staring at that shipping box -- dreading packing this thing up and already anticipating how I'd convince PayPal to possibly return my money!  

So, I come home tonight ---  long day in my real office --- too busy today to call USC and ALSO be at the machine......and find this thread...   screw the warranty;  I need a machine that works!   So, I took the carriage off; adjusted the magnet and presto -- IT SEEMS TO BE WORKING. 

ALL I CAN SAY IS 1) Thank Goodness SOMEONE had the kindness to publish this.;   2)  I will NEVER purchase ANYTHING from US Cutter again.    This has been a ROYAL pain in the ASS and no one should EVER have to go through this much b.s. after paying $500 for anything.    3) If I can adjust this thing in 10 minutes, why the hell didn't US Cutter do that BEFORE shipping the unit.    For ANYONE considering buying ANY machine from USC, I HOPE you read this in advance.

So burn me once guys, and I WILL spread the word!    

DAVE C / North Palm Beach, FL

 

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45 minutes ago, Flightrider said:

   3) If I can adjust this thing in 10 minutes, why the hell didn't US Cutter do that BEFORE shipping the unit.   

 

I believe the answer may be in that they are tested in china before being loaded into shipping containers and sent by ship, bouncing across the ocean, before being unloaded and transferred by truck to the warehouse - that before they are shipped by us carrier fed ex  - so things may get jostled in the trip around the world.   I understand your frustration but for the thousands of these they sell the ones with problems are a surprising small number.

with all that said let me state I am a moderator - I am not an USCUTTER employee and am not paid by them - just a long term user that tries to help people on the forum when we can and help direct them to the info that we have gleaned over the many years along with a great group of other volunteer moderators and long term users that stick around volunteering to help
may your experience get better from this point on not that you have a working plotter

the video that wiseheart linked to turned out to be an actual uscutter employee  . .  .

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You stated "AFTER spending 1/2 hour studying USC's scattered instructions, videos, etc. .. how to load a blade"...

And just curious after all of that.  How did you set your blade correctly? 

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On 5/31/2017 at 1:23 AM, MZ SKEETER said:

You stated "AFTER spending 1/2 hour studying USC's scattered instructions, videos, etc. .. how to load a blade"...

And just curious after all of that.  How did you set your blade correctly? 

Trial and error, basically.    Finally, settled on something between 1/2 and 3/4 a credit card thickness -- as best I can guess.    

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On 5/31/2017 at 1:06 AM, Dakotagrafx said:

I believe the answer may be in that they are tested in china before being loaded into shipping containers and sent by ship, bouncing across the ocean, before being unloaded and transferred by truck to the warehouse - that before they are shipped by us carrier fed ex  - so things may get jostled in the trip around the world.   I understand your frustration but for the thousands of these they sell the ones with problems are a surprising small number.

with all that said let me state I am a moderator - I am not an USCUTTER employee and am not paid by them - just a long term user that tries to help people on the forum when we can and help direct them to the info that we have gleaned over the many years along with a great group of other volunteer moderators and long term users that stick around volunteering to help
may your experience get better from this point on not that you have a working plotter

the video that wiseheart linked to turned out to be an actual uscutter employee  . .  .

@Datkotagrafx...    I admit, I was a little bent when I wrote that.   Having cooled off a little now, I appreciate your response.     Realizing you're not their keeper, I DO think USC could pay more attention to quality control though.     So onward we go.      I appreciate this forum; people like yourself, and looking forward to learing more about the cutters, software, etc.    Thanks again.

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Skeeter will be along in a bit with the correct way to set the blade depth that has been posted well over 1000 times - Glad to have you aboard and people here love to help those that want to learn

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I will add that if you decide to keep doing this and want to upgrade to a rock solid servo cutter with incredible support the graphtecs  are the choice of most of the old timers . . . but they do cost 4 times what the value cutters do . ..   I started with a p-cut - had some MH, Copams , Titan2 and several roland and graphtecs so I didn't start with the graphtec but put money aside and moved up the chain every year or two

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24 minutes ago, Flightrider said:

Trial and error, basically.    Finally, settled on something between 1/2 and 3/4 a credit card thickness -- as best I can guess.    

That is way too much blade exposed.  This is the correct way to set your blade depth,  No guessing to it. 

To start with, you should set your blade depth correctly, by taking the blade holder out of the machine, and firmly cut across a piece of scrap vinyl, you will be cutting. You should only be cutting the vinyl and barely a mark on wax paper backing, Adjust blade to get there, You should barely see or feel the blade tip out of the blade holder.  Then put the blade holder back in machine, and use the force of the machine to get there, same results, only cutting the vinyl and barely a mark in wax paper backing.

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28 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said:

That is way too much blade exposed.  This is the correct way to set your blade depth,  No guessing to it. 

To start with, you should set your blade depth correctly, by taking the blade holder out of the machine, and firmly cut across a piece of scrap vinyl, you will be cutting. You should only be cutting the vinyl and barely a mark on wax paper backing, Adjust blade to get there, You should barely see or feel the blade tip out of the blade holder.  Then put the blade holder back in machine, and use the force of the machine to get there, same results, only cutting the vinyl and barely a mark in wax paper backing.

@MZ SKEETER...  Thanks for the input.   I had actually done exactly as you state, trying several cuts and adjustments with the cutter out of the carrier on vinyl test pieces -- by hand.    Seems fairly straight forward and I tried several different settings until I got consistent cuts (by hand).   After arriving at what I thought was the proper depth...  just cutting the vinyl and with hardly, if any scoring on the paper backing (at moderate hand pressure);  I placed the blade holder in the carrier, set the pressure at 100g and tried several small pattern cuts with the LaserPt2....   Only to have several lines not quite through the vinyl of a couple of test pieces.     Remember at this point, I had experienced quite a bit of inconsistency in upward motion of the solenoid on the carrier -- and quite honestly, I'm still not sure that carrier is working correctly.

So.... I extended the blade to the above reference and increased the pressure to 110g.   That seems to be working -- although I'd really like to get where you suggest.

What I will try next is going back to your above procedure and then upping the cut pressure until I get consistent cuts....  hopefully.

I'm glad I'm doing this for "pleasure" and don't have a customer waiting for something.    Certainly, if I were doing this to put food on the table, I'd seek out a local dealer and pay for a more "qualify" machine; along with local support. 

Hopefully, however, this will get to be more "fun" once I get the bugs worked out and I can get some good results with this machine.  

Thanks again for everyone's help.

 

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It's less blade, more force.  You are only cutting with the very tip of the blade. and the vinyl is only 2-3 mil.  Too much blade exposed will start lifting your vinyl while you cut.  Then you can end up with a mess. Vinyl getting stuck in your blade holder. or parts of vinyl sticking to the rest of your design and ruining it. Too much blade will cause the sides of the blade to cut instead of the tip, and the cuts won't look good. 

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9 hours ago, Flightrider said:

@MZ SKEETER...  Thanks for the input.   I had actually done exactly as you state, trying several cuts and adjustments with the cutter out of the carrier on vinyl test pieces -- by hand.    Seems fairly straight forward and I tried several different settings until I got consistent cuts (by hand).   After arriving at what I thought was the proper depth...  just cutting the vinyl and with hardly, if any scoring on the paper backing (at moderate hand pressure);  I placed the blade holder in the carrier, set the pressure at 100g and tried several small pattern cuts with the LaserPt2....   Only to have several lines not quite through the vinyl of a couple of test pieces.     Remember at this point, I had experienced quite a bit of inconsistency in upward motion of the solenoid on the carrier -- and quite honestly, I'm still not sure that carrier is working correctly.

So.... I extended the blade to the above reference and increased the pressure to 110g.   That seems to be working -- although I'd really like to get where you suggest.

What I will try next is going back to your above procedure and then upping the cut pressure until I get consistent cuts....  hopefully.

I'm glad I'm doing this for "pleasure" and don't have a customer waiting for something.    Certainly, if I were doing this to put food on the table, I'd seek out a local dealer and pay for a more "qualify" machine; along with local support. 

Hopefully, however, this will get to be more "fun" once I get the bugs worked out and I can get some good results with this machine.  

Thanks again for everyone's help.

 

I have a LaserPoint2 cutter as well.  I can tell you now that 110g will give you a head ache when you want to weed out the cut.  Mine is set at 230g right now, and it weeds like a dream.  The ONLY issue I have is sometimes the vinyl does not want to come off the carrier paper when transferring to the surface.  So, I'm going to back off the pressure a bit, and try 215g and see if that improve's my dilemma there.  I'm not sure how much of the forum you have read, but I read a thread someplace that said all vinyls are not the same.  They're not kidding there!  You may need to adjust your blade depth a bit when switching from colors, or suppliers.  

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Do not try to use someone else's settings.   Every cutter is going to have it's own unique settings.   

Even if they are the same model.   Take the time to find your own settings and you'll be golden.  

 

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Update...   Last night I removed the blade holder on the LPT2,  set it to "just cut" the vinyl when cutting by hand, then reinstalled into the carrier.    Tried four cuts of Oracle 651 on the machine, increasing the pressure each time.    At about 250g, she's cutting the best I've seen.    Seems to be consistent and very clean.     This was before reading @JLS Design's comments above.    Sounds like we're about on the same page.    

In reading @MS SKEETER's comments, I recall now that at the longer blade length, I was getting what now I realize was probably a lifting of the vinyl;  it for sure wasn't impressing me whatever was happening.    Experience counts.

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