lots of problems with the MH721!!!!!!

[stickerwords 0]

Model MH 721

Purchased in Dec direct from store in renton

USB connection

SigncutX2

I have owned this MH721 for almost 60 days. I have had nothing but problems with it. We are using this plotter to cut only text from fonts, no graphics. I am going to list all of the problems that I am having to see if any one has a idea what to do to fix them. The web site doesn?t seem very clear as far as supplying a tech Support phone #

unit stops cutting in the middle of plotting for no reason and the screen goes blank.

unit will start to cut all the way through the vinyl and backing in the middle of a job with lines that don?t even apear on the font being plotted and the screen goes blank.

it almost always leaves a tab of uncut vinyl on anything it cuts except the inside cut out of letters and numbers which it cuts out twice. This is the most annoying part of all as it makes wedding a nightmare.

It almost always stops cutting in the middle of the job if it is a larger file. We have been having to cut longer text phrases out a few words at a time or else the machine will freeze and we loose that section of vinyl. I have thrown away almost $150 worth of vinyl to date because of this.

We have to unplug the usb cord and reconnect between jobs for sign cut to recognize the plotter.

the settings on the machine (Force and Speed) are always changing and we have to check them EVERY time we cut something.

[thredz 1]

It sounds like a problem either with your usb installation,or the computer itself.If you will email : Marcel,he can help you diagnose your problem.I know there is a tech support number,because I've seen Marcel post it in the forum somewhere.

[tutsipop 0]

try it with a serial port, the USB connection emulates a serial port and therefore is the same speed as serial port?

Sorry mi english is no good, i`m live in Mexico, sold and repair cutters in my countrie

[marcuso 15]

I am sorry that you are having such a hard time with our cutter.  You are welcome to give us a call at 425-284-2282.  Contrary to Billy's input, I think it sounds like this may be a plotter issue.  While I would usually try and confirm settings for your USB to serial driver, the other problems you mention sound like you are either experiencing a motherboard or power supply failure or an electrical grounding problem.  My first suggestion is that you take the advise that others have offered and install this via the serial or parallel connection to eliminate the possibility that the USB connection is causing the problem.  If that does not work, give us a call, so that we should get started on getting your unit repaired.

- Marcus

[silviera 0]

Have you grounded the plotter with the stand as it says to do in the installation instructions?

[munoz45 0]

we have had unit for about 45 days and have more problems than the first guy,  rounded corners, bad tracking, no repeatability, no auto origin set, poor quality of cuts, sounds like unit is about to fall apart, no force/ grams pressure isn'r accurate at all, you can change pressure 50 grams and no results then in middle of cut it takes effect, rolling of material when pinch rollers advance material forward, this is just what we have found so far, needless to say 5 calls to marcel and we are still having problems, we hate to shut down computer because we loose interface between unit and software, unit being sold in U.S but software is metric, images move off canvas and cause poor cut quaility or unfinished/ chopped off letters, haven't tried to cut a complex graphic, just plain text.........................  how can people sleep at night selling such "junk"  we have been running cutters for 9 years so before someone calls me a newbie - don't    problem is we have been running roland products and this isn't even close to roland, we had a 1997 camm1 roland that after 8 years of daily service outcut this unit hands down

I like on the website it says the are the best highest quality vinyl cutters  compared to a kid with scissors, yea it is I guess

does anyone, other than company plants, have any success with this unit, get it to actually cut a 90 degree corner???

i wonder how many of these units are sitting in a corner being used as a clothes rack????

[thredz 1]

Company plants?Are you saying that they put people on this forum just to talk up their cutters?I have never owned a cutter until I bought R2,and I can cut 90's,I can cut 1/4 inch letters,I can and have cut 19 foot graphics to put on a vehicle.If your cutter is not completing the job,or taking the downforce halfway through the cut,then the problem is with your software settings,or a driver communication problem.If you have been running a roland cutter,then you should allready have a software program that doesn't run in metrics.But I wouldn't call them junk at all.As a matter of fact,I have made more money cutting with R2 in less than 6 months than I have with my 6 needle embroidery machine in 2 years.So much better in fact,that I sold my 6 needle embroidery machine two days after christmas and pulled all of my embroidery off of my hizznhearse website because I don't even want to bother with that part of my business anymore.I have seen a few people with problems,and I have seen Marcel work through quite a few of them.But it is a little difficult to solve a problem over the internet or telephone when you have to deal with the right driver,and conflicts with the irq from whatever is hooked up to a computer.If you had a roland,and had problems,they wouldn't try to fix it over the phone.They would send a tech out and charge you for the time plus expenses.If you like rolands,then I would buy a roland.I think their site says "the best cutters for the money".And I agree with them.You're right they are not rolands,but then again if they were,they would cost thousands of dollars,just like a roland.The people that post on this forum are people just like you who have bought their cutters,just like you.There are no plants here.I don't work for uscutter,or selltopia.I have never met Marcel or Marcuso.But I'll tell you one thing,if they were closer to where I live,and offered me a job,I WOULD take it in a heartbeat!

[Guest fivestar]

Billy I was going to respond to his post but thought he would just think I was a plant here too.   All I can tell him is I had no idea that a plotter is what is used to cut vinyl until I started looking on ebay for a "vinyl cutter".  I always thought plotters was for making blueprints and such.  Anyways I have had mine for a month or so and have not had any problems outside a USB driver and I probably could have gotten that fixed if I had not moved to serial port since I threw together an old machine just for this plotter after I started using it. 

Now having 9 yrs experience you would think he would understand the "ins" and "outs" of a plotter but I guess most people just learn what they are "supposed" to do on things such as computers, plotters and most other electronics and don't explore what they are really capable of.  Anyways I love my machine and it works great for me and what I am using it for and it's not a clothes rack.

[thredz 1]

I'll tell ya,R2 makes a lot of racket when he's running.But all I hear is this real loud "Cha Ching - Cha Ching!".It does get to sit there while I heat transfer the vinyl on to clothing,but R2 is usually racking me up suh mo money while I using the transfer press.

[munoz45 0]

so what software do you guys use, if cutter is all you say it is, we sold our software with our roland machines and were getting back into business part time, didn't want to invest a lot of money to start out...........    what software do you recommend that will give me correct downforce pressure, 90 corners, no rolling of media, a quieter machine that doesn't sopund like it is about to fall apart, etc.         

[thredz 1]

I use flexisign and singncut.They both read in inches,which is a big plus for me.I am not into metrics just like you,but metric measure is the international standard.That's why most of the programs are in metric.I don't know exactly what you are talking about when you say the machine sounds like it's about to fall apart,but they are a little loud.With R2,when I talk on the phone,I have to step out on the front porch.Wuth the copam,I can stand right over it and talk on the phone.But they both make sounds as they are runing through the cuts,sometimes it sounds strange or noiser because it's cutting the angles on the vinyl.They all will cut 90's and small letters,you will just have to work with the software program to figure out the steps it takes to get to the final product.But the most important thing is the driver.You can have a driver installed that will show it working,but if it's not the right driver it will skip commands and do partial.cuts.I understand you had rolands before,but these are not rolands and they never claimed to be.I spent 16 to 18 hours a day for a while after I got R2,just to learn the settings and I went through I think it was 4 -30 foot rolls of black and white vinyl just running the machine to learn.If I had bought a roland or summa or graphtec,I would have had to get a loan to do it.With R2,it has paid for itself very quickly and I don't have to worry about selling anything to pay a bank loan.If your cutter didn't come with signcut,you can go to signcutx2 and download it.I think it cost $99.00 per year for the licensed version and it's a good program.It is also a lot cheaper than flexisign.I had flexi long before I even thought about a cutter because I do a lot of airbrush and sign painting.But it is an expensive program.

[Beardown 0]

I use Sign Go ...and I love it !.. It has a trace feature that works very well. you can download a 30 day fully functional trial. then after that you can download SignGo lite for another 30 day trial...Although with the lite version it does not have the trace feature.  I have been looking around for a torrent of Flexi but I have been unsuccesful so far.. you can download torrents for adobe photoshop and corel draw pretty much everywhere...just dont update it... or you will receive a bill in the mail...I am not telling you to download torrents just letting you know that they are out ther...

good luck though in getting your problem worked out

[MarcelC 5]

Just so there is no confusion I do actually work here and appreciate all the support and feedback from our customers. We do provide basic support for the plotter which includes the basic setup, install, and connectivity along with any plotter hardware issues. Anything outside of that is beyond our support boundaries, but we do try our best to get you pointed in the right direction which is the main purpose of this support forum. In some cases such as the problems mentioned above it?s very difficult to diagnose if there is a hardware or software problem. We just ask that you are patient with us and try all the suggestions we give you and that you see in the forum. If it does turn out to be a hardware problem we will make arrangements with you to get the correct parts replaced.

Downloading hacked versions of software from torrent sites is illegal and we do not support or suggest doing this. The Signcut people are very concerned about security and if you have Signcut you know that it?s quite an ordeal just to get the product registered. It is due to the fact that there is so much software piracy today that software manufacturers need to take these measures.

If you are using Artcut I would strongly suggest trying the Signcut software. We have recently started bundling it with our plotters although we do not sell it individually at this time. You can download the trial version at www.signcut.net and its either 79 for the LE unlimited version or 99 for the 3 year subscription to the PE version if you decide to buy it.