I found a good deal on a used Graphtec CE7000-60 cutter/plotter. I own the previous model which is the CE6000-60 Plus. It has been a solid machine since day one, however, I wanted a backup machine just in case. So when I found the CE7000-60 deal I bough it.
Unfortunately, I was not aware that the CE7000-60 has a bunching issue as seen in these videos:
The same issue has been reported by some folks on the USCutter forum here: https://forum.uscutter.com/index.php?/topic/57384-graphtec-ce7000-push-rollers
This issue makes the Graphtec CE7000-60 difficult to use at best, and in my case, it was basically unusable. I usually cut 22" wide & 54" long sheets. On the CE6000-60 Plus these sheets feed and cut fine. On the CE7000-60 I get bunching on both sides of the push rollers. The bunching was so bad that often a sheet would jam into the upper part of the Graphtec and cause it to stop and throw a hardware error. Once in a while, a sheet would feed just fine, or with minimal bunching.
I had no luck with any of the solutions posted on the internet. I spent 14 hours over 2 days trying to figure out what was causing the bunching. Here is what I tried that didn't work:
1. Use the push rollers from the CE6000-60 Plus on the CE7000-60
2. Use narrower sheets (12" x 54")
3. Use a table in front of the Graphtec so the sheet lays flat on the table as it gets cut
4. Push down on the sheet (the middle) as it got fed
5. Take the Graphec off it's stand (and use it as a desktop cutter)
6. Feed various types of materials
7. Play with the push roller springs (many hours spent here...more on that later.)
All of the above either made the problem slightly worse, or slightly better. However these experiments were not a complete waste of time. In the process I noticed that:
a) The CE7000-60 has strange welding spots on the push roller shaft (I'm not sure that's the correct name, but going forward I'll just call it the "shaft"). Here is a side by side comparison
b) Playing with the push roller springs had the most impact (for better or worse) on the bunching
I originally suspected the weird welding spots on the shaft to be the problem. I was wrong. The problem is with the push roller springs. I will explain shortly.
Getting a replacement shaft was going to be difficult, time consuming and expensive. Even if I found one, I had to take out the old one, and install the new one - and potentially introduce additional problems as I have never done this before. I was also worried the shaft might not be the problem, or worse, it was only part of the problem. What if the push roller springs and the shaft contributed to the bunching? What if it was something else in additional to those two?
I couldn't completely eliminate the shaft, and I had no idea how to eliminate the springs as potential causes. I knew that one person had success by easing the spring tension on the LEFT push roller, but in my case the bunching occurred on the inside of BOTH push rollers. As part of experiment step #7 above, I did vary the tension on both push rollers by inserting small vinyl strips like this. I figured if I get both springs to apply equal tension/pressure on both push rollers the bunching should go away. That's a lot easier said than done. After every vinyl strip, I had to test the machine and observe the bunching. This was a nightmare. I was going in circles. I had no way to measure the pressure the springs exerted on the push rollers. And even if I could get both springs to apply equal tension/pressure to both push rollers, something else occurred to me...
What if the springs are the wrong springs therefore applying the wrong tension/pressure in the first place? This is exactly what turned out to be the problem! Both springs are applying too much tension/pressure on the push rollers.
How did I figure this out?
1. I removed the manufacture springs.
2. Then I did this (I basically made my own ghetto springs)
The advantage of my springs was that I can be fairly sure both push rollers received the same tension AND I can increase or decrease the tension. Filling each Gatorade bottle with 1.363 lbs of water (basically almost full) produced a decent tension... AND the bunching went away. Two Gatorade bottles, two strings, and some water fixed a $3000+ machine & hopefully puts to rest a 2 year long standing issue with no concrete explanation or solution anywhere on the internet.
I don't plan to run the machine this way - but I can - it works (for my purpose). I might replace the water with bolts, nuts or small washers for now. If you're cutting rolls, my solution won't work for you, but you might be able to adapt it.
I already purchased a bunch of springs with lesser tension than the original. I will test the springs and report back. I might also try different tension/weight settings.
Some relevant info:
1) The original springs are 35mm tall, the outer diameter is 9mm, and the wire thickness is 1mm. They look like this.
2) My CE7000-60 was made on 2020-05-01 & has firmware version 1.04-STD
3) As far as I know, recently made CE7000-60 cutters have been fixed
Unfortunately, I was not aware that the CE7000-60 has a bunching issue as seen in these videos:
The same issue has been reported by some folks on the USCutter forum here: https://forum.uscutter.com/index.php?/topic/57384-graphtec-ce7000-push-rollers
This issue makes the Graphtec CE7000-60 difficult to use at best, and in my case, it was basically unusable. I usually cut 22" wide & 54" long sheets. On the CE6000-60 Plus these sheets feed and cut fine. On the CE7000-60 I get bunching on both sides of the push rollers. The bunching was so bad that often a sheet would jam into the upper part of the Graphtec and cause it to stop and throw a hardware error. Once in a while, a sheet would feed just fine, or with minimal bunching.
I had no luck with any of the solutions posted on the internet. I spent 14 hours over 2 days trying to figure out what was causing the bunching. Here is what I tried that didn't work:
1. Use the push rollers from the CE6000-60 Plus on the CE7000-60
2. Use narrower sheets (12" x 54")
3. Use a table in front of the Graphtec so the sheet lays flat on the table as it gets cut
4. Push down on the sheet (the middle) as it got fed
5. Take the Graphec off it's stand (and use it as a desktop cutter)
6. Feed various types of materials
7. Play with the push roller springs (many hours spent here...more on that later.)
All of the above either made the problem slightly worse, or slightly better. However these experiments were not a complete waste of time. In the process I noticed that:
a) The CE7000-60 has strange welding spots on the push roller shaft (I'm not sure that's the correct name, but going forward I'll just call it the "shaft"). Here is a side by side comparison
b) Playing with the push roller springs had the most impact (for better or worse) on the bunching
I originally suspected the weird welding spots on the shaft to be the problem. I was wrong. The problem is with the push roller springs. I will explain shortly.
Getting a replacement shaft was going to be difficult, time consuming and expensive. Even if I found one, I had to take out the old one, and install the new one - and potentially introduce additional problems as I have never done this before. I was also worried the shaft might not be the problem, or worse, it was only part of the problem. What if the push roller springs and the shaft contributed to the bunching? What if it was something else in additional to those two?
I couldn't completely eliminate the shaft, and I had no idea how to eliminate the springs as potential causes. I knew that one person had success by easing the spring tension on the LEFT push roller, but in my case the bunching occurred on the inside of BOTH push rollers. As part of experiment step #7 above, I did vary the tension on both push rollers by inserting small vinyl strips like this. I figured if I get both springs to apply equal tension/pressure on both push rollers the bunching should go away. That's a lot easier said than done. After every vinyl strip, I had to test the machine and observe the bunching. This was a nightmare. I was going in circles. I had no way to measure the pressure the springs exerted on the push rollers. And even if I could get both springs to apply equal tension/pressure to both push rollers, something else occurred to me...
What if the springs are the wrong springs therefore applying the wrong tension/pressure in the first place? This is exactly what turned out to be the problem! Both springs are applying too much tension/pressure on the push rollers.
How did I figure this out?
1. I removed the manufacture springs.
2. Then I did this (I basically made my own ghetto springs)
The advantage of my springs was that I can be fairly sure both push rollers received the same tension AND I can increase or decrease the tension. Filling each Gatorade bottle with 1.363 lbs of water (basically almost full) produced a decent tension... AND the bunching went away. Two Gatorade bottles, two strings, and some water fixed a $3000+ machine & hopefully puts to rest a 2 year long standing issue with no concrete explanation or solution anywhere on the internet.
I don't plan to run the machine this way - but I can - it works (for my purpose). I might replace the water with bolts, nuts or small washers for now. If you're cutting rolls, my solution won't work for you, but you might be able to adapt it.
I already purchased a bunch of springs with lesser tension than the original. I will test the springs and report back. I might also try different tension/weight settings.
Some relevant info:
1) The original springs are 35mm tall, the outer diameter is 9mm, and the wire thickness is 1mm. They look like this.
2) My CE7000-60 was made on 2020-05-01 & has firmware version 1.04-STD
3) As far as I know, recently made CE7000-60 cutters have been fixed
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