It was bound to happen sometime. Today my kid wants to cut something on the plotter and I hear this grinding noise coming from the old 4B. It's ripping and tearing vinyl like it was cheap.
Closer inspection of the cutter reveals a drive belt with more missing teeth than Old Paint. Is replacing this belt a job I can do myself or is a trip to ND Graphics needed?
Posted by Glenn Taylor (Member # 162) on :
Steve,
You should be able to do it yourself. I had to do the same thing to our old Signmaker 3 a few years ago. I'm not exactly mechanically inclined and I was able to handle it fairly easily.
Posted by hitest (Member # 1492) on :
Hey Steve.....ten minute project....just make sure the cutter blade holder is dead centre when you tighten up the belt. Also, run a google search for the gerber 4 service manuals....Gerber charges $600.00 flat rate plus shipping for service on that dinasuar.....
[ May 17, 2002, 03:48 AM: Message edited by: hitest ]
Posted by Steve Purcell (Member # 1140) on :
Steve, I replaced that same part about 18 months ago. No big deal, but adjusting afterwards takes some patience. Let me know if you need copy of the relevent manual text.
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
HEY.....I DONT LIKE BEING COMPARED TO AN OLD "GOOBER"........
Posted by Steve Shortreed (Member # 436) on :
I'd be tickled pink to get my hands on that text Ron and/or Steve. The plotter does not see much use these days, so a furthur investment of $600 really isn't an option.
It's interesting to note that back in 1985, this old gal with 20 fonts cost 25 grand Canadian! We never ever thought of it as a computer....it was a letter cutting machine.
[ May 17, 2002, 02:15 PM: Message edited by: Steve Shortreed ]
Posted by Diane Crowther (Member # 120) on :
I'm in exactly the same boat. Are those belts easy to come by?
Posted by Bob Gilliland (Member # 28) on :
Steve/Diane,
Check out this older post, 4B TUNE-UP. It contains the part numbers and approximate total cost (USD) for the three items that are generally required to keep this tank running. My guess, Mr Aston will be the one to help you guys out.
Posted by Bob Gilliland (Member # 28) on :
Steve,
Perhaps you can archive the above mentioned 4B TUNE-UP post. IMHO, EmpY did a very respectable job in painting the picture with his words. Rob verified those part numbers to be correct. Those behemoths are going to be around a very long time and more and more requests will be coming for such information. Archiving the post may help those that utilize the search function of this site to find the information immediately instead of waiting for replies.
Posted by Chuck Peterson (Member # 70) on :
I replaced that a couple years back for about $45. It was easy.
Posted by Jon Aston (Member # 1725) on :
Steve:
When was the last time you visited ND GRAPHICS? I'll bet IVB's were still cutting edge technology!
Whether or not you can fix the plotter yourself, you should still make the trip to Toronto. Give me a call if you like.
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
Two years ago, the same belt bit the big one on my IV-A after about 16 years of hard use. My local sign supplier, Graphics Solutions Group (800/288-8301) ordered the belt for me. I do not recall the price, but it was quite inexpensive. It took about 20 minutes to replace.
I've had the IV-A for 18 years now and have put less than a hundred dollars into repairs. About 10 years ago, I replaced an LED sensor for about $4.00 (Gerber wanted to sell me a new wiring harness for $90 and install it for $540.
I have also replaced the black belt that runs the Y axis.
On another occasion, I replaced all the transistors on the top of the main board when random errors began to crop up on the y axis. Gerber wanted $540.00 to do that also. I did it for $20.00. As it turned out, the problem was not in the logic circuits, but in a set screw on the cutting head that was slightly tight, creating an intermittent drag.
As mentioned above, I replaced the belt that is the subject of this post. While replacing the belt, I discovered the too tight set screw. I don't know if Gerber would have caught it. Backing it off about 1/64 of a turn was all it took.
The Signmaker IV-A/B series is well described in this post as a tank.
[ May 17, 2002, 06:45 PM: Message edited by: David Harding ]
Check out this older post, 4B TUNE-UP. It contains the part numbers and approximate total cost (USD) for the three items that are generally required to keep this tank running. My guess, Mr Aston will be the one to help you guys out.