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slice&dice

SC2 has arrived -- Has a Problem

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A few years back, I owned an SC machine. It was manufactured with the set-screw on the back rail in the wrong position, so that when sliding the pinch-roller assembly over to hit that stopper, the rubber wheel would not be in contact with the lower grit roller.

At the time, I created a thread here about this issue, and also called it to the attention of USCUTTER so they could contact their people in China and have factory engineers fix the problem.

Well, guess what? Today I got their  Brand New Improved SC2, and it has this same defect.  I kid you not.

So, I took out my electric drill, made a new hole (1.25" over) and put the screw in position where it belongs. Now, when the roller assembly is moved over to that stopper, the wheel remains in contact with the grit roller up front.

Anyone who owns the SC2 should be aware of this, because if you slide the right-hand spring-loaded wheel all the way over to the end of the rail where the factory places the screw, it won't hold your vinyl properly and it'll scrunch up or not feed properly.

And so it goes...

 

 

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That might help come people out, Ive never even noticed it had a stop.. I don't move the roller that far over. I never go past where the cutter is, that pinch roller is always directly behind the blade. not sure that is good or bad but its worked for me.

other then that all is good with yours?

 

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Yes, the SC2 is a very nice unit. Smooth, fast, relatively quiet.

(The serial cable included was not a Null Modem DB9 cable, so it doesn't communicate, but I'm using the USB in the meantime and have a support ticket in to get them to send me a null cable).

I'm already producing the work that was waiting, and I am very glad this machine got here finally (delayed by UPS for two extra days due to severe weather snowfall in this area, so the delivery truck couldn't make it out here).

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*UPDATED*

So, when using the SC2 cutter, running SignBlazer, I notice that when sending the job to Cut, it doesn't start right away and let the data flow along while it's cutting, but rather the entire job has to trace and finish feeding into the machine before the cutting head starts moving.

This doesn't seem normal (certainly my MH never waited like that).

Any ideas?

 

 

 

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I can't recall, but is there a check box to allow it cut directly, or to possible spool the file first? you can also restart your machine, I have noticed that sometimes it'll cut quickly and other times the tracing takes forever and seem dog tired slow.

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Ive read of people cutting their cutter on and off before a new job i never understood but it seems my SC2 refuses to cut if i don't do that from time to time if ive cut a few things, Ive never waited long to see if its going to cause if it doesn't just cut right away Im not waiting so i stop and turn off then back on..

if i am cutting using the same color material as before and i paused it of course i have to cut off then back on so that it doesn't spool my roll of vinyl past the rollers and then i have to re feed it. this is very annoying so now i figured out if i just feed it while paused where i want it to start cut off then on it just feeds forward then back but stops where i left it.

 

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13 hours ago, haumana said:

I can't recall, but is there a check box to allow it cut directly, or to possible spool the file first?

Indeed there is, but although this was selected, the machine waits for the entire job trace to complete before responding.

I tried messing with the baud rate (upped it from 9600 to 14400) and that speeds up the data feed time, but the machine continues to wait for the total design.

My next troubleshooting step would be to install VinylMaster software and see if that changes the way the machine behaves.

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Hi everyone,

Regarding @slice&dice's original post, I went ahead and spoke with our product engineering team to ensure this is not a current issue. After several days of review, it looks like the issue might just be a one-off incident or at most, just affecting a few machines. I apologize for the inconvenience. Your post on the forum is most helpful and we are extremely grateful for your contribution to the community. 

As for SignBlazer, to the best of my knowledge it is simply out of date. As sad as it sounds, unless someone can actively update the software it is likely that the newer machines rolling out in the coming years may no longer be compatible with SignBlazer at all. Because it is a software we no longer support, I can't do much more than encourage your to continue to test it and communicate your results.

Just make sure you are using the pen attachment so you don't waste material. :)

Best regards,

David

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David, After running the cutter with VinylMaster, it also waits for the entire design to trace/load into memory, before starting to cut.

It seems that the onboard processor is "holding" until the entire job has been transferred. This is apparently not related to any cutting software settings, since it does the same thing with both SB and VM.

 

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12 minutes ago, slice&dice said:

David, After running the cutter with VinylMaster, it also waits for the entire design to trace/load into memory, before starting to cut.

It seems that the onboard processor is "holding" until the entire job has been transferred. This is apparently not related to any cutting software settings, since it does the same thing with both SB and VM.

 

other than that how is it cutting slice?

 

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Dakota, it's sweeeeet.

I like it a lot, cuts fast (compared to the MH) and much quieter. Not graphtec quiet, but certainly quiet enough for my needs and budget! 

BTW, I used paypal and they gave me 6-months' No Interest credit terms to buy this equipment. In other words, until September, my intention is to create signs and banners and decals and magnets and earn $$$ to pay this off, while not a penny came out of my own pocket up front.

 

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Has anyone had the issue where the screen is just blue and cant reset anything? I just took mine out of the box and cant get past the blue screen

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Just now, cksp said:

Has anyone had the issue where the screen is just blue and cant reset anything? I just took mine out of the box and cant get past the blue screen

replied in your other thread you started

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David replied almost a year ago that USCutter Engineering guessed this "whole job hold" issue was a "one-off" maybe affecting only a few machines...and there 's been no follow-up, at least not here.

Coming from an Engineering design company I.T. and Quality Assurance background, I can't say that answer makes a lot of sense, unless the SC line is undergoing continuous hardware design changes since the introduction of the new SC....there shouldn't be any "one-off issues affecting only a few machines."

If I understood the original report, the malfunctioning system is being fed by serial cable rather than USB, and there was a request for a null modem cable ?

That's the variable in this equation that Cutter Engineering didn't explore...serial data communication...which has become quite rare in this age of multiple revs of USB...1, V.2., and now USB3....PC's have completely eliminated Serial ports for years, so I'm not surprised if SC serial behavior has not been fully tested.

There's "Duplex" and "Parity" serial settings that are usually critical to proper function, besides just speed/baud rate...my first suspicion would be the Duplex setting (Full/Half), as that sets up 2-way or 1-way communication between PC and cutter...if set to 1-way/half-duplex, the PC would have to dump the whole job before the cutter could talk back.

Does the same behavior occur using USB ?

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