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PC-600 X-axis tracking
Hello all, very glad to have found a forum where the answers aren’t always "send it for service".
Anyway, I have a Roland ColorCam PC-600 that was mothballed (stored dry and dust free) for a few years. Upon setup and testing, the print head X-axis doesn’t seem to keep a consistent placement. If it tries to pick up a cartridge it will almost always be off left or right by as much as 5-6 cm. On the rare occasions it picks the cartridge up, the print is off-placement and it enters "fatal error" mode before I get to see it even try for a second cartridge attempt. I’ve replaced the X axis servo with a new one (figured the encoders were toast) but no luck. The teeth on the flywheel look OK (no noticeable flat spots). Ideally I would like to have this old timer both cutting and printing again, but could make do with just the cutting if the print head is like most 600’s after storage/moving/looking at it funny.
If anyone has thoughts or suggestions I’d appreciate any input. I don’t have a service manual (I would be grateful for any help getting one) so I’m flying a bit blind here (the user manual is no help). I don’t intend to send the machine in for service if it comes to it, so ideas requiring dissection are also welcome.
Thanks Everyone
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4 Replies
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It’s worth a try and
have a look on here to see if the little aluminum reflectie tag is clean. The sensor needs to see this in order to get it’s Y position/ datum.
Also have a look at re aligning the carriage position.
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Thanks! I didn’t have the button codes, I’ll give those a try tonight and post the results. Checked the reflective panel early on in testing, it’s nice and shiny, shame too that would have been an easy one. Keeping my fingers crossed & off to test. 😀
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Progress, but not a fix. Aligning the carriage position allowed it to pick up the cartridge but it quickly lost position during movement. (failed to put the cartridge back in during the second pass of the exchange test. Seems to be inconsistent amounts of slippage) So it was partly an alignment problem but retaining that alignment seems to be the issue. Are there any details in that manual regarding wire tension for the carriage pulley, spring tension for the servo, or mentions of the flywheel degrading over time/use? Just some thoughts but I’m open to any other ideas someone might have. Thanks again for the help though, I’ll keep the alignment button combo handy for future use.
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I had the same problem a while ago with the cartridge pickup alignment loosing the position setting. I was convinced it was mechanical slip somewhere (either in the cable or elsewhere). After a little head scratching and looking at it logically checking the cables etc it did infact turn out to be a dirty reflective plate.
It’s been fine after i cleaned and polished this plate.
My X axis error was up to 3mm which is a lot of shift just down to a dirty plate. You don’t need much shift for it not to pick up the cartridge.Best advice is look for the obvious signs of wear on the X axis. Also polish the plate with some metal cleaner to make it more reflective. Also check and softly clean your sensor for dust etc.
There’s not much else really that it can be in relation to the issue your having.
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