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lee157

FREDDY KRUEGER won't leave me alone-Blade cuts across work

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Hi,

Not sure if this is hardware or software but this is TOTALLY RANDOM,, the blade will decide to stay down when it changes position on the work. This yeilds my work being cut diagonally or straight across or what ever but a straight line from point A to point B.

This ALWAYS happens when I try multiple copies, maybe 1 out of 4 will end up perfect and the other 3 will have different slash marks, sometimes they share identical slash marks.

It's as if the cutter "Forgets" to lift it's self sometimes.

I saw this same problem mentioned in the PCUT forum but after 2 pages it was still unanswered so I figure I will ask about it here.

Obviously I am not alone with this problem.

THANKS, Lee

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Guest fivestar

Lee don't go to sleep and Freddy won't get you.  ;)  It sounds to me like it's either a buffer or communication problem.  Try shutting down every program you have running except for your cutting software and see what happens.

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Make sure you are not moving the status window around while it is cutting or switiching to another program while it is cutting, and it might also happen when you adjust the speed or force while it is cutting.

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OK,

THAT WAS FAST!

I have tried shutting down all programs and it didn't help.

I am running a 3Ghz P4 800Mhz buss hyperthreading with 2GB Corsair (fancy stuff) RAM

So I think the PC is up to snuff.

I did find that in Device Manager my COM2 port was not set to hardware so I changed it and am getting ready to cut again now.

I have it plugged into the front USB port on the PC not sure if it would help to plug it into the back, I have never had any issues with USB, even all my printers are plugged into USB hubs (we have 5 printers in the office here on 3 computers)

If it continues after my just mentioned setting change I will try plugging into the back USB ports just to say I did that.

THANKS FOR THE HELP!!

I will post back once I try this,,

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Same thing with the new COM setting only maybe worse now, have to cut more stuff to truly determine that, but it obviously didn't make it better.

Any more ideas?

Maybe spend the money on a better cutter? :-

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Guest fivestar

Does your puter and cutter have serial or parallel ports you can try?  I have heard ALOT of problems with USB and the cutters.

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I have a serial but it is being used by a weather station right now, have a parallel (I think, pretty sure) that isn't being used but the cutter only has USB and serial ports, would a Parallel / Serial adapter work?

I have a long Parallel cable I don't use anymore but I don't have any long serial cables, well maybe this cutter came with one, yes it did but not too long,,

Is this slashing problem software or hardware and maybe not communication?

I'm new to this so I'm just asking,

The way I see it, something sends a signal to the cutter and tells it to raise the blade, so,,,,,

either the signal isn't being sent

the signal isn't making it to the cutter

or the cutter can't make use of the signal

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Guest fivestar

I'm not 100% sure, but I would say it's a communication problem also.  These are "dummy machines" which mean they only receive a command and cannot send one back.  Serial and parallel are both one directional ports, they send and not receive, whereas a USB port are both send and receive, so I "think" there may be some kind of "feedback" through the USB that causes these problems.  This is only a theory of mine and maybe not even a good theory.

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This guy has the EXACT same problem with his machine.

http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php/topic,4959.0.html

I posted in that thread too, I am now seeing problems cutting through my letters not only graphics.

Doesn't matter if I have programs running or not.

I have tried rebooting my whole system (computer and cutter) between cut jobs and no change.

Even tried hooking it up via serial port and no change,

I just think I got screwed on the whole deal, I was excited about it all until I actually got time to sit down and mess with it, now I'm just ready to put it back on ebay and get something from Feller's or just forget the whole venture.

I am not in the sign cutting business, I own an excavation company and we have a lot of free time in the winter and spring due to weather so I got this so we could decal our trucks, equipment and signs.

I see now it was a mistake, lot of hours wasted drawing our graphics in signblazer just to have a cutter shred it all, I see it wasn't such a good idea now. 

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Guest fivestar

I would contact Ken via PM he will take care of it.  Trust me, you didn't get screwed as you implied in the other thread.  Also those hrs was not wasted, if you "must" send it back for a refund you can always export your signblazer files to .eps format and use them with another program/cutter.  Anyways, send a PM to Ken and I am sure he will take care of the problem one way or another.

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Well we can certainly try another cutting program to see if it acts the same way, and if so, we will know that it is hardware related, and if not, it could be software related. You can download a free trial of SignCut from www.sc-x2.com

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I'm curious as to what cured the problem "vinylagain" had? The problem seems identical to mine.

If it were software wouldn't it be more common and well known?

I read in a post where someone bought 3 machines and one was goofy like mine so they moved it to a different PC and the problem moved with it.

I'm all for real solutions here but if all we are wanting to do is exhaust every other possibility, wasting my time in the process then I need to get rid of this machine.

What complication am I to expect getting this new software to work with my machine and will I have to remove sign blazer to avoid conflicts?

See we are already into several hours here,,,,,

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Just trying to nail down the particular cause of your issue. If you want, you can skip troubleshooting and pay to send your unit back, then we can ship you a new unit, but what if the new unit does the exact same thing.....where would that get us?

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"Vinylagain" emailed me and her problem was her computer, she was using an older slow PC while hers was down, she got hers going and then it worked fine.

So not sure what requirements are but my PC is 3Ghz P4 800Mhz front side buss hyperthread with 2GB RAM so I would HOPE that is enough,,,,

BUT with a new PC had to come moving the software so maybe there is a bug in the software.

As for hardware I wouldn't be shipping it back and forth but more than willing to switch parts out but not willing to pay shipping.

I will try reloading the sign blazer and then may try this other software.

If the problem persists I would like to know the next plan of action,,,

It did pretty good cutting late last night but today it's slashing again.

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Guest fivestar

Lee just curious, is it real humid where your cutter is?  The reason I ask is last summer I was getting the dreadful "line of death" because it was very humid where my cutter is.  I put an A/C in here, which I did because it was too hot and humid for me ;D and I have never had that problem since.

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Lee just curious, is it real humid where your cutter is?  The reason I ask is last summer I was getting the dreadful "line of death" because it was very humid where my cutter is.  I put an A/C in here, which I did because it was too hot and humid for me ;D and I have never had that problem since.

That is a good point, especially if you were cutting fine last night, but now that the sun is up you are having the problem. I also got your voicemail, so I will try and return your call soon.

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Humidity has been between 39% and 40% and temp has been about 71 - 73 (I'm picky about my indoor climate as I work outdoors and like it comfortable when I get home)

I Have a Davis Weather Monitor that logs all that data each minute plus I upload to the web every 15 min.

I have also since last post removed and re-installed sign blazer with no change.

I have downloaded that other program but won't get to try it until later tonight with any luck it won't be a lot of trouble.

I have also tried a shorter gold plated USB cable with no change and as stated I tried serial with the supplied cable yesterday with no change.

I also got the WAITING thing again today, I have to turn off the cutter and loose what it was working on and start over.

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Tried calling 3 times, and got a busy signal each time throughout the day. Do you have a different number I can try you at, other than the one that was left on voicemail?

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Hi Ken I sent a PM just to verify the phone # not sure what was up with that I had gotten a few calls over the day and we have call waiting.

I think I may need to clarify my problem with "Waiting" on the LCD I noticed it always says that when cutting but what it's doing is just not finishing the cut and it just stops. I tried a large cut earlier tonight and it stopped without finishing it so I thought I'll just leave it alone. Picked up my daughter at school, went out to eat and now I'm back and it never decided to finish the cut so I guess I just lost 5 feet of 24" vinyl.

Does this problem point in any direction?

I will try this other software tonight but I gotta ask if it's the software am I now looking at buying some other brand of reliable software?

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OK

Seems Signcut don't work either

So I now have tried Sign blazer and got butchered

I tried signcut and got butchered

I tried USB and Serial and got butchered each way

I tried a different USB cable and got butchered

have tried running no other programs other the cutter and got butchered

I can try a different computer but the one I'm using is the biggest baddest thing I have (see prior posts for details)

I will say that this time in the 2 cut jobs I did in signcut it did not do any random cuts but I have had that tiny bit of success out of blazer too.

What it did do is just STOP in the middle of another big cut without finishing, the knife is still stuck in the vinyl and hasn't moved a millimeter since it stopped (a few minutes before I sat down to write this post)

So is there anything else I should try before we point the finger at this cutter?

Here is the last file I tried to cut and it died about 80% through it (just like it did in blazer)

Well sorry I have tried 3 times but this forum won't let me upload the file

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OK I read some other posts, there are quite a few on these issues,,

I turned off my screen saver and went into BIOS and didn't really see any settings other than USB emulation and reading about it I don't think it would apply to this problem especially as the serial cable didn't change anything.

What about drivers?

Could this be some type of memory issue with the cutter, twice I tried large cuts and twice it died trying with 2 different programs.

I looked in my COM setting in D.M. and there is an advanced tab but there are no help topics on these settings so if you got something to try let me know, otherwise it's set it to hardware like it's supposed to be and all other info matches.

I read in the manual about clean power, now I have never had much power fluctuation here (I live 3 miles from the power plant) BUT I just happened to have an ITT power conditioner laying around so I'm plugged into it now and going to try some more cuts.

Honestly I'm being more patient than normal here and am willing to try stuff but my goal is a properly functioning cutter.

I know sometimes there are issues with things but honestly I have had a LOT of different toys hooked to my computers over the years and never had this kind of trouble getting things working. I have read stuff about EMF corruption, bad cables, static and etc. etc. but still I have 5 printers in my office all of which I think handle more complicated tasks than running a knife back and forth and not a single issue with any of them. I have a weather station that uploads to the web, exterior hard drives exterior DVD and CD drives and no problems,,, I even used to have a hobby of buying trashed laptops and making good ones out of several bad ones and everything just worked and I didn't need any magic jelly beans laying around.

Sorry for the sarcasm but it's late and I am WAY past my patience with this thing, I will post my results again with my new changes.

Have you ever took inventory on what PCs people were running that had issues? Mine is a DELL Dimension 3000 if it helps, I think I read one person had an E machine.

This all leads me to think something is weak in these cutters or you wouldn't see all these issues I keep pulling up in the forum. What happened to plug and play? This should be a simple machine to operate compared to a printer that can print 10s of thousands of ultra small type and very large type and add full color pictures to it as well plus one of my printers will print both sides and stack it as a book. The PCUT just moves a knife side to side while the rollers move the material forward and back, seems simple in comparison. Any additional setting on the PCUT could be compared to a printer, blade pressure = color light or dark, offset = head alignment and so on.

So in your opinion should I look for the ultimate USB cable 3 meters or less with Ferites on it (mine is 6 feet with gold plated ends) or are we past that issue since I tried the serial method?

I do appreciate the help and I did research these before I bought. This forum and seeing posts on other forums from US Cutter was the reason I bought one, I just never thought I would have to make so much use of it all. So if I come off as a smart ass that's just me, I'm really I nice person just short on patience, I am involved in several state organizations to do with the business I am in and in most of them I gained the knick name "The Bear" anyway I'm know as being thorough and 3 steps ahead with no tolerance for mistakes and that's how I run my company so please excuse anything I say that rubs you wrong I'm just on a mission to get this resolved. Hopefully when it's all done we will all have learned something and not have to go through this with the next person or even better yet fix it at the root and make sure it never comes up again.

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Yea I know I never sleep, maybe why i get grumpy,

Anyway, Freddy showed up again, I am now out of magic jelly beans,,,,,,,,

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Guest gracewriter

Let me put it this way...

Today, I called my home owner's association to report one of their spinklers is pointed directly at my patio, which is right where all my saws reside.  In other words, it's where I have all my equipment to make (wood) signs, other than of course my cutter and computer.  My equipment is covered, but not the paintings I had left there to dry, or my laptop I was using at the time.

When I mentioned how much damage and how much it has cost me to have their spinkler pointed exactly in the spot I keep all this expensive equipment, the answer I got was, "I'll put in a work ticket."  But the underlying blatantly loud tone was "why are you so stupid"?  In that moment, had I known the exact address where that woman was, I would be in jail right now.  I didn't want to hear that, I wanted to hear, "I'll take care of it NOW."  After all, over a 20 year period I have paid these butt heads around $10,000.

Long story short, NO ONE these days understands "customer service" like the people on this website and the folks from U.S. Cutter.  I have seen the same problem you have resolved several times in several posts and generally it's something so simple you have to refrain yourself from picking up the nearest hammer and banging yourself on the head.  I speak from experience.

I am not a computer person so please forgive what I am about to say but my first thought is either your computer it "too smart" for your cutter, or perhaps there is some weird sort of cross over effect going on with all those printers.  Just a thought from a complete computer novice.  But most likely it's the settings on your cutter and in your software.

Anyway, I too have been having a problem myself with my cutter the last 24 hours and have been pulling my bloody hair out and silently cussing the company.  The one thing that has kept my head on straight today is knowing the problem is probably the operator, (myself), and if it really is the equipment, I can get a refund or an exchange.  It would still piss me off, but at least here I feel like I am respected enough to warrent an effort on behalf of the forum and the company.  A rare thing these days.

So, even though the paraniod part of my brain insists it got ripped off (I'm guilty of this every single time I  have a problem), still in the back of my head I have a feeling it's my own ignorance about how these machines work.  Would be great if you could just plug them in like a printer and they are off to the races.  But it seems cutters are a little more picky about their settings.  And there are a bunch of them to learn.  There are several setting variables.  I just wish I already knew about them before I bought the machine, which on my part is actually kind of silly because you can't learn about how something works until you have your hands on it and it screws up.

What I have learned about cutters in the last month since I've owned one, is more than I ever wanted to learn.  But most importantly, I have learned they are EXTREMELY temporamental when you don't understand settings like "down force, cutting speed, blade degrees, vinyl thicknesses, offset (which I still don't understand),and now weather conditions...and all that other stuff I have yet to learn.

I'm sorry I can't help you at the moment with your problem, but this is the way it works in the cutting world.  You do have to go through a process of elimination which frankly grates on my own patience.  But if you don't go thorugh that process here, chances are you'll have to go thorugh it with another cutter with another company.  There isn't a warp speed learning curve as much as I would love one myself.

Keep coming to the forum and asking questions, but my best advice is make sure you leave a message at us cutter because they will call you back (I was shoked tonight when I got a phone call from them about the problem I am having).  Also, usually it takes me about 10 - 20 times on redial until I get a very kind and patient human voice. I love it when Ken uses "log me on" and takes control of my mouse so I can actually see what the heck he is trying to explain to me!

Best,

Jude

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Guest gracewriter

i can't remember if you did this or not but have you tried re-installing the program?

I resolved both problems  I was having last night myself after I got some great advice from Brad with u.s. cutter on that  phone call.  Two things that worked for me were slowing down cutting speed and re-installing the program.  Man, when these cutters are dialed in correctly, they rock!!!

I am confident you will get your problem solved.  You should have ken's phone number.  If you don't let me know.

regards,

Jude

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I seem to have things working smooth now,,,, don't want to get too confident here just yet,,,, BUT I have gotten my large cuts done with no mishaps,,,,,

BUT*******

I'm on my 3rd computer, This one I stripped of all programs except MS Office XP and Firefox,,,, so maybe this one's a keeper.

Must be some USB conflicts and the way I understand it is the resolve is a work in progress but not nailed down just yet, so I am giving as much feedback as I can on the matter,,,,,,

I feeling better about it anyway!

Yes the support was the reason I bought the US Cutter PCUT I saw support even on other forums so I knew they were trying to make this all work. Had I not bought the PCUT I was going to cough up more money and get the Roland GX-24 but for no more than I need one I didn't want that much money tied up in a cutter.

I set my price on this one from ebay but I bid on a bunch of them with EZ Sniper then one finally came at my price although I had seen them go for quite a bit less before I started bidding for one, makes sense, once I decide I want one EVERYBODY wants one,,,,,

I have just finished my 3rd large cut with no mishaps,,,,, going for 2 more,,,,, WISH ME LUCK!!

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