Lisali 0 Posted September 25, 2020 One of my friends gave me a vinyl cutter about a year ago. I tried to run it but found it wasn't working. The arm that holds the blade wasn't moving up and down. I contacted Sign Warehouse and told them what it was doing and they said to try replacing the main board. So I got the part from ebay, double checked everything to make sure it was the right part and installed correctly. That didn't fix it. So next I ordered a new cutting/plotter head. After that was installed, the arm moved up and down but in reverse. It starts in the down position, then moves up to make the cuts. I contacted Sign Warehouse again and explained everything again and they told me to replace the ribbon that connects to the cutter/plotter head, I forget what it's called. I searched everywhere online and couldn't find the correct part and I don't know if it would even fix the problem. Sign Warehouse has been pretty useless. If you have any suggestions, ideas, or know how to fix the issue, I'd greatly appreciate it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slice&dice 2,450 Posted September 25, 2020 Cliff it. You're likely deep into this thing already for more than it's worth. Used cutters that are given away because they don't work, are not usually something you want to be screwing around with. TIme is money. Loading up a parts cannon and firing blindly? No thanks. Not with a car, not with a cutter. Trying to replace a ribbon cable sounds odd, because the head is getting juice, so what would replacing a cable, that is right now providing the power, offer in the way of benefit? Reverse the polarity on the power wires inside the cutting head maybe? Take off the cover of that and just see how things are connected. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darcshadow 1,626 Posted September 28, 2020 Yeah, sounds like a simple case of the + and - on the servo are backwards. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted September 28, 2020 Red sail uses steppers not servo, but same idea Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slice&dice 2,450 Posted September 28, 2020 The cutter head (Z axis) functions with an ELECTROMAGNET (neither a servo nor a stepper motor ---- those motors are for the X and Y movements, not the Z). 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darcshadow 1,626 Posted September 28, 2020 Yeah, I didn't mean servo, I intended to say solenoid. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slice&dice 2,450 Posted September 28, 2020 It would be really a great thing if the solution was to switch those two wires! I guess we'll never know. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted September 28, 2020 48 minutes ago, slice&dice said: It would be really a great thing if the solution was to switch those two wires! I guess we'll never know. solenoid is either energised or not so not sure switching the wires would help - its either on or off, so unless it energises different than most plotters . . .. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darcshadow 1,626 Posted September 28, 2020 yeah, that's true, solenoid being wired "backwards" wouldn't actually effect anything. The signal going to the solenoid is inverted, that could be driver, software, or motherboard issue. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites