-
To fix or not to fix? GCC Jaguar IV-61
I’ve got an old, well used, but until recently still working, GCC Jaguar IV-61. I also have a few spares for it (belt, motors, control panel). Unfortunately it no longer functions and I believe the main board has gone. I’m hoping somebody can confirm my diagnosis, and advise.
When you power on the cutter, even before you load any material, the head starts creeping very slowly to the left. It will eventually tap the side of the machine and stay there. I tried replacing the motor, wiring, and even power supply – no change. There is a group of three heat sinks on the main board – the centre one gets HOT! The hotter it gets, the quicker the head creeps if you manually put it back to the start position. I’ve cleaned the board just in case there were any bits causing a short – again, no change.
Am I right to think I need to replace the main board?
Grafityp have been less than helpful unfortunately. I’ve sent 5 emails and phoned, asking for a quote for replacement parts, been promised somebody would contact me, and it’s never happened.
Should I persist trying to get a part, with no idea of cost (I’m guessing £350 ish), or just get a cheap Chinese cutter? I can’t afford a new £1000+ machine at the moment.
Any help and advice gratefully received.
-
4 Replies
-
Short answer: Fix it! If a Chinese cutter costs as much as a main board for a GCC than it is a reason.
I had a Chinese cutter (Liyu) and it was just terrible: inaccurate, the blade was scratching the vinyl, loosing settings, noisy and slow due to step-by-step motor and others. I paid £325 for it as new. And errr…don’t rely on "Contour Cutting System" of these machines. It’s a joke.
If you can fix jour Jag for £350, I would do it without doubt.
But before jumping on a new board maybe you want to make sure it’s faulty. This sort of issue can be as well caused by a faulty motor or other faulty part on your machine. For example, if a motor is faulty it will cause an overload on its controllers and they get hot. In other words is an almost short circuit.
Put some pictures with the 3 heatsinks and the components attached to them (if visible). Also, try to trace the circuits from the hot part. Is any of them going to the motor? I will also disconnect parts, one by one, to see if the heatsink still goes hot and I will start with the motor that drives the head.
Not a cutter engineer but electronics background.
good luck!
-
Hi,
Thanks for the advice.
I have tried replacing the motor with a spare that came from another machine, and I get exactly the same fault. I also replaced all the wiring between the board and the motor, but again the same fault is there.
I’ve purchased a Graphtec Cameo 2 to do the contour cutting etc. since I’m specialising in small stuff really, and that machine seems fiercely accurate at A3 down. My max laser print size is A3 anyway, so there’s no point having contour cutting above that size currently. The large cutter is mainly needed for "the big stuff" – large lettering etc. or where being able to gang things up on a wider roll would save material.
I have had to pack the cutter away for the moment to make space for some other work, but I’ve attached a pic from the web of the same board I have. I had a really good look when I cleaned it, using a magnifier, and there’s no sign of damage or burn marks etc. so I can only think whatever has blown has done so internally… or am I barking up the wrong tree?
Attachments:
-
Those seem to be the drivers (ICs) for the motors so I suspect something is burnt between the hot IC and the motor or the IC itself is toasted and needs replaced.
You need to find an electronist fancy to fix that, it does not seem a severe issue but again it’s hard to fix electronics looking at pictures. -
Hi Mark. Just seen your post and wondered if you managed to get your cutter working? If not whereabouts in the uk are you? I have a GCC Puma (basically the same as your Jaguar with a bit less force) If your not too far from me (Lincoln) I could put your board in my cutter to see if the problem is with the board or not.
Mal
Log in to reply.
