geekifyinc 2 Posted December 17, 2021 Hi all! Long time user of our FC8000-60 and it's been such a workhorse for the past eight years! We just had an issue surface this week where the machine will identify the material just fine, start the job, and then start moving about half an inch above the material. It appears to still be moving up and down as though it's engaging and disengaging the blade as normal, it's just way too high. I'm not sure what would have started causing this out of the blue. We had a newbie that we're training on the machine, so it's possible a setting got changed by accident, possible it got hit with static shock of some kind, all manner of things that could have caused it to happen, but she hasn't done anything physically/mechanically to change the machine, just loaded and unloaded rolls. Is there something that stands out that might be the reason for why? I've since did a restart to factory settings and an update of the firmware in case something had gotten corrupted, but nothing changed. Additionally, when diagnosing it, I noticed that when doing the startup calibrations it would do some jerking after sensing the left side of the media. This appears to be new...but also seems like it's otherwise not impacting the movement of the machine or its ability to detect the media accurately. Any help would be tremendously appreciated :)! Thanks in advance! Video of startup calibration jerkiness:https://www.dropbox.com/s/sco1rt2z43ny8dg/2021-12-15 16.15.10.mp4?dl=0 Video of not cutting properlyhttps://www.dropbox.com/s/51ukvqbz2bc7vqx/2021-12-16 12.56.28.mp4?dl=0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,709 Posted December 17, 2021 Why do you feel like you have to measure the vinyl at all? You know how wide it is. I felt like it wasted vinyl by measuring it. I turned my media sensor off day 1. 2008. In background settings. Pinch roller sensor also. I put my carriage head right where I want to cut, right side edge, before I turn the cutter on. I just push ORIGIN. after I prefeed my vinyl. I can cut scraps down to 2" with no problems. Go into menu, does the pen go up/down when you push the button? Go into advanced settings, pen up move, mine says disabled. I have both. FC7000 and FC8000. I have never had problems by turning off those sensors. Are you sure that the flange is holding down the blade holder correctly? Is the blade holder in the correct hole? The FC8000 sensors are in advanced settings. , I have to use ROLL 1, REAR SET, or it will just keep feeding the vinyl (when using my FC7000). I don't have the FC8000 hooked up. But I set it up the same way with the sensors off. We have found on here that updating firmware has caused many problems with Graphtecs. We say 'don't touch it" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
geekifyinc 2 Posted December 17, 2021 Thanks for the suggestions! We use the roll media sensors because we tend to move the rollers around a bit for bigger and smaller rolls of material, so it helps dial it down to the 0.1" - we sometimes squeeze out a project in that tiny bit of difference. The width sensing itself hasn't been an issue at all. The pen does go up and down when pushing the button, so it's moving from high to low, but it's still higher than the material itself is, so I'm wondering if either the electromagnet isn't engaging completely, *or* if a setting is corrupted somehow in that it set its default height to be a certain amount higher than usual. The flange is fine, and wasn't adjusted prior to this happening, but I did verify that it's seated correctly. Pen Up move is also disabled. Is the initial Z height of the tool controlled by a particular setting? Nothing stands out as being obvious. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,709 Posted December 17, 2021 I have never seen that problem here. Only a handful of people (volunteers) who answer questions here. And some don't own Graphtecs. Check Graphtec tech support. Or a service tech. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
geekifyinc 2 Posted December 18, 2021 Much appreciated! Thanks for your suggestions :)! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,709 Posted December 18, 2021 16 minutes ago, geekifyinc said: Much appreciated! Thanks for your suggestions :)! I see what it is now. Your cross cutter is stopping it from coming down. When the carriage head goes to the far left, to that metal piece sticking out of the frame, it should trip it and make it slide left. That moves that section out of the way, and allows the blade holder to come down. Look at my picture. Nothing is in the way. Yours is stopping it. Where that black plastic is above the cross cutter, that metal section slides left and right. When it is to the right side, it stops under that little metal block and keeps the blade holder from coming down. Yours is like that right now. I bought a Graphtec FC8000 dirt cheap for that very same problem. They couldn't fix it. I had it fixed in 10-15 minutes. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
geekifyinc 2 Posted December 18, 2021 Well that's amazingly easy if that's the case (though I wonder what would have caused that to happen all of a sudden!). I'll fiddle with it this morning and see if I can get it engaged. Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,709 Posted December 18, 2021 Look at my picture, There is nothing holding mine up. I did push it over and it was just like yours. Then I thought crap. Because I couldn't move it back left again. So I turned my media sensor back on and the carriage head went over to the left and that metal rod on the frame went into the carriage head and tripped it, and it made it slide open to the left. Now it drops back down again like it should. But that is what is stopping it from coming down. When the cross cutter feature is working and down, the blade is not supposed to be cutting vinyl. Your welcome. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,709 Posted December 18, 2021 Go into your menu, where it says CROSS CUT. See if pushing CANCEL will release it. I am not going to try it on mine. I don't mess with my cutter, If it isn't broke, don't mess with it. I have never had problems out of my cutters. Looking at your video, while the carriage head is moving left to the left frame, is that little steel rod going into the carriage head so it can trip it? It doesn't look like, or very hard to see. Is your belt loose? Wheels on carriage head dirty or broken? Dust in rail? Nothing more that I can add. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted December 18, 2021 5 hours ago, MZ SKEETER said: I see what it is now. Your cross cutter is stopping it from coming down. When the carriage head goes to the far left, to that metal piece sticking out of the frame, it should trip it and make it slide left. That moves that section out of the way, and allows the blade holder to come down. Look at my picture. Nothing is in the way. Yours is stopping it. Where that black plastic is above the cross cutter, that metal section slides left and right. When it is to the right side, it stops under that little metal block and keeps the blade holder from coming down. Yours is like that right now. I bought a Graphtec FC8000 dirt cheap for that very same problem. They couldn't fix it. I had it fixed in 10-15 minutes. great catch skeeter Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,709 Posted December 18, 2021 22 minutes ago, Dakotagrafx said: great catch skeeter Yep, that is the same reason that I got that FC8000 for dirt cheap and FREE shipping. LOL Fixed it right away. I just looked at my FC7000 and figured it out. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
geekifyinc 2 Posted December 19, 2021 That did the trick! I had wondered what that metal post was for, and now I know - in the startup it would come close, but not actually engage or press against that post. Manually pressing it fixed both of the issues, since it doesn't seek that far over now. Thank you SOOO much :)! Easy fix, but knowing *how* to fix is worth its weight in gold. Thank you, I really appreciate it! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
geekifyinc 2 Posted December 19, 2021 If you DM me your email, I'd love to send you a little token of appreciation! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,709 Posted December 19, 2021 Your welcome, Glad it worked out for you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
