[JGCMelissa]

We have recently had an ongoing issue with our printer (heretofore referred to as the "hiccup"). Basically what it is, something in the printer is telling it to print sometimes when there is nothing in the queue, causing the printer to rest in the wrong position sometimes. It occasionally causes print misalignment (underbase/CMYK or platen placement). The Tigers have been busting their tails trying to figure out the problem. The latest fix was to replace the green daughterboard with a blue daughterboard. However, after replacing it, the printer will not move at all along the transport while printing, and only moves towards the back at the end of the print. Any insight?

 

[allamerican-aeoon]

Connection Connection and connection. Clean no matter what.
Take apart put together with tight contact.
Does not sound like board issue. Paper sensor? Erase all memory in printer?
Base frame twisted? Lose bolts will do this.
Cheers! Call in Monday.

 

[spiderx1]

As Peter said, check transport is level with a carpenters level both front to back and side to side. Rails are clean, sensors under the bed are clean and connections are good. USB connection plugged in on back of printers. All ribbon cables in correct slot and secure. Also when working with ribbon cables it is not unusual for the blue or gray tab opposite side of silver connectors to come loose and fall off. Be sure all the spacer tabs are there and turned the correct direction. Completely power down the transport and the printer, allow to sit for a few minutes then power back up. Check all print buffers are clear, nothing in print cues. Also look for a printer symbol in the systray on bottom right of screen, right click to view all. Nothing should be there.

 

[23spiderman]

if the printer is printing, but not moving along the transport base, it could also be the 15 pin serial cable that connects the printer to the small board that sits on the transport base under the metal coverings. mine went bad from repeatedly flexing. have AA send you a new cable as it needs to be a VGA HD cable or you will cause issues with the board.

 

[JGCMelissa]

Transport leveling - check
Rails clean - check
Sensors cleaned and good - check
USB connected and tested - check
Ribbon cables in correct slots, secured, and spacer tabs - check
Print buffers clear - check
Printer systray and programs cleared and shut down - check
Turned off printer and transport, let sit for a few minutes - check

Problem still there.

It was working fine when we printed yesterday, the only thing that has changed is the different board. Is there a reset or setup we have to do when switching out this daughterboard (e.g. bi-directional and NVRAM when switching out the main motherboard)?

 

[JGCMelissa]

if the printer is printing, but not moving along the transport base, it could also be the 15 pin serial cable that connects the printer to the small board that sits on the transport base under the metal coverings. mine went bad from repeatedly flexing. have AA send you a new cable as it needs to be a VGA HD cable or you will cause issues with the board.

We actually had to switch out that board last September when we got the machine as it wasn't communicating out of the box. We aren't high output, so I can't imagine that those parts would go bad that quickly, but we will check. As I stated previously, it was printing just fine yesterday when we were doing our runs.

 

[allamerican-aeoon]

Level : not just front and back left and right too.
When frame twisted printer stuck.
Right slot: but cable can be bad.
Sean's suggestion is good one.
Cheers! Give her some beers and lasagne.

 

[23spiderman]

mine would fail in a certain area of the bed, then print fine for a few months, then fail in a different area. but it all was due to that cable bending and causing the data to be interrupted. once i put a new cable on, it worked perfectly. these cables are pretty cheap, so while some have never had an issue with this component, there are others (me ) who have. like anything, it may last forever, or it may fail in a short amount of time. i now keep a backup so i can just replace it at the first sign of trouble.

 

[JGCCreations]

I have 3 levels on the machine, a 5 foot level a 10 inch level and a laser level as a backup because I have a bad habit of safe instead of sorry. The machine is as level as I can get it without an act of God / Miracle.

We have been having a hiccup issue with the machine for as long as we have owned it, the Tigers know about this already and are still doing their best to help me and we are grateful for everything that they have done and continue to do. This is one of those 1 in a million problems that just happens. One of the things they tried was to replace the 15 pin daughter board, we did this once and the hiccup was still there, so they had us replace it with a blue board instead of a green board. So far I have not seen a hiccup yet (crossing fingers) but instead of printing and moving as it is printing all it does is print in one area than move after it is finished printing. When we replaced the daughter board is there something I missed that I was supposed to do after installing the new board because everything has been checked, re-checked and triple checked.
Thank you, I hope this makes things a bit more clear and I sincerely apologize if I seem a bit out of sorts but I have been struggling with some personal issues and my nerves are frayed and fried.

 

[JGCCreations]

I have 3 levels on the machine, a 5 foot level a 10 inch level and a laser level as a backup because I have a bad habit of safe instead of sorry. The machine is as level as I can get it without an act of God / Miracle.

We have been having a hiccup issue with the machine for as long as we have owned it, the Tigers know about this already and are still doing their best to help me and we are grateful for everything that they have done and continue to do. This is one of those 1 in a million problems that just happens. One of the things they tried was to replace the 15 pin daughter board, we did this once and the hiccup was still there, so they had us replace it with a blue board instead of a green board. So far I have not seen a hiccup yet (crossing fingers) but instead of printing and moving as it is printing all it does is print in one area than move after it is finished printing. When we replaced the daughter board is there something I missed that I was supposed to do after installing the new board because everything has been checked, re-checked and triple checked.
Thank you, I hope this makes things a bit more clear and I sincerely apologize if I seem a bit out of sorts but I have been struggling with some personal issues and my nerves are frayed and fried.

Update: I took out the Blue daughter board and put the green one back in, the printer is functioning as it should but now I will be dealing with my old friend the hiccup.
six of one, half a dozen of the other. meh.

 

[allamerican-aeoon]

Didn't I said not a board?
Cheers! Let's resolve on Monday.

 

[JGCCreations]

Didn't I said not a board?
Cheers! Let's resolve on Monday.

The Tigers are not sure why the hiccup happens. It does not happen all the time just randomly. The machine is level and I personally took the panel off and checked every connection and cleaned anything that I thought my be a problem.

Leo seems to think it is the green 15 pin daughter board that is causing the issues that is why I have the blue one but the blue one created a different issue so I switched back to the green board so I can at least still print. I showed the Tigers a video of what the problem is exactly and they know about it but have not been able to pin point what the exact problem is yet but I have faith in them because I have seen them work and they are AWESOMESAUCE!

So, we will swing by on Monday and see the Zen NeoMaster Leo so he can work his magic as usual.
Cheers Papa bear, have some beers for me.

 

[Stitch-Up]

Can the video be shared here Melissa?

 

[JGCMelissa]

Can the video be shared here Melissa?

We've put the old board back in, the one that still works, but as soon as we get a new board to put in, we'll film the process for replacement, and if we have the time, we'll put the other board in and film the results as well. It may be a while, we have a sales event to go to this weekend and we'll be busy printing some shirts to take with us.

 

[Print1Shirt]

We have recently had an ongoing issue with our printer (heretofore referred to as the "hiccup"). Basically what it is, something in the printer is telling it to print sometimes when there is nothing in the queue, causing the printer to rest in the wrong position sometimes. It occasionally causes print misalignment (underbase/CMYK or platen placement). The Tigers have been busting their tails trying to figure out the problem. The latest fix was to replace the green daughterboard with a blue daughterboard. However, after replacing it, the printer will not move at all along the transport while printing, and only moves towards the back at the end of the print. Any insight?

Check to is if the nut that attaches the drive screw to the motor is attached. This happened to us and it took 2 weeks before we found out the screw that held the ring attaching the drive screw to the motor somehow loosened. Not sure if this make sense but open the cover on the back of the machine where the boards are and check the motor and drive screw. Is the motor moving but not the drive screw.

 

[Stitch-Up]

This picture shows the drive coupling at the rear of the the printer.

Be very careful as you are exposed to electric shock - remove the power to the printer

 

[allamerican-aeoon]

Man~ that machine built like a tank. No sheet metals. All solid aluminum CNC cut parts. Lol
Guarantee will live longer than you.
Cheers! Inks are on me always.

 

[Stitch-Up]

Man~ that machine built like a tank. No sheet metals. All solid aluminum CNC cut parts. Lol
Guarantee will live longer than you.
Cheers! Inks are on me always.

My exact thoughts when I posted the picture - bomb proof construction

 

[JGCCreations]

Man~ that machine built like a tank. No sheet metals. All solid aluminum CNC cut parts. Lol
Guarantee will live longer than you.
Cheers! Inks are on me always.

I agree, when you showed us the workshop where the transport gets assembled if you remember I was very impressed. Having a background in the aluminum smelting, extrusion and manufacturing industry I was very happy to see how all the parts looked and the way you had them manufactured. The machine is a tank.