# Problem with Roland GX-24 Motor Error & Shooting out vinyl



## TheSIGNPeople (Jun 23, 2010)

Such a perplexing issue...

Oct of 2010 I had issues with my Roland GX-24 that I purchased in May of 2010. I would load the material (vinyl or ecofilm) set the rollers down, press enter to set it up, and when I pressed the up arrow button, the vinyl would shoot out of the machine (usually to the back) and the screen would show "material unloaded" followed by "motor error". I tried to fix by unplugging for 20 min. Sometimes would work for a little while, then do the above, sometimes in middle of cutting. It was on a stand and there was plenty of slack on the vinyl roll (even occurred with smaller pieces). Roland had me send it to the Texas techs. They could not get the machine to replicate this issue. They sent it back with "maybe static issue". It did fine for me after that as well, except for a couple months ago, did it once. Turned off for a few hours, then fine. (this did not help before)

Today, same issue. I sprayed with Static Guard and wiped it and stand and material with dryer sheets. No help. Now I will have to send to Texas again...$50 shipping again and loosing $.

Anyone have any incite, advice, or condolences?


----------



## Corel Whisperer (Sep 1, 2010)

I have to start by asking what might sound like some silly questions to get an idea of what you are doing. 
First when you load the material how much is hanging out the front of the cutter? 
Once the material is loaded what selection are you making, Roll, Edge or Piece?
If you use Roll do you then feed the material back in the cutter to the edge so you are not wasting material? If you do, do you then select and hold the Origin button until it flashes to set the Origin point to where the material is now set? If not, this will explain why the material is shooting out the back. 
Same issue, if you cut a design on the cutter, feed the material out, trim off the design and send another design to the cutter without pressing the Origin button to set the new base point for the next design.
Do you have this issue only on Black or Navy material? If so, it could be the color and the eye is not sure where the material is when installed. Sometimes the cutter have a hard time seeing the black material. Try placing a piece of tape over both sensors. However, you need to be careful doing this, do not use the Edge or Piece settings when the eye is covered or the material will continue to feed out of the cutter. 
You say you have a stand, do you drape the material down between the stand and the cutter in the back so there is a large loop of material? 
The Motor Error can be caused by the size of the roll of material. On large rolls 25 and 50 yards the material can be too heavy for the cutter motor to pull the roll and you will get a motor error. This is why always making sure there is a long loop of material between the cutter and the stand is a good idea. 
It could be a dirty sensor use a dry q-tip to clean both sensors back and front on the cutter. 

Hope this information helps a little.


----------



## TheSIGNPeople (Jun 23, 2010)

Thanks so much for your help with thinking this through. It is so intermittant, unfortunately I am not able to pin point any variable. The amount of vinyl hanging to the front when this occurs varies. I have set it exactly to the point that the cutter would and I have let some hang out the front when I set up. I usually select roll, but sometimes piece. Sometimes this "error and spinning the material" occurs before it will even let me choose. I select origin when I have moved the material; when I choose piece of course, I don't have to. This occurs on a variety of colors...hot pink, white, navy. I even thought maybe the lighting in the shop is poor not allowing the eye to see well, but that variable hasn't changed. Also, when it shoots out...it is not a normal speed. It is extremely fast. Anyways...not to bore you further. Roland tech is having me send it in, so we shall see what happens. Cross your fingers for me. Thank you again!


----------



## Corel Whisperer (Sep 1, 2010)

Did they have you try resetting the cutter to factory defaults? I have seen a rare occasions the cutter kind of loose it mind, so far resetting to factory defaults has always fixed the issue. It could also be a bad control pad. Hope they can get this fixed for you, is it still covered by a warranty or did you purchase it used? Make sure you keep a list of when you called, who you talked to and when it was sent in. Good luck.


----------



## Nick Horvath (Feb 26, 2010)

Does this ever happen if you do not use a roll, but a scrap of material?​ 
Goodluck!​


----------



## maybejane (Jun 14, 2011)

Hi, I know this may be a little late or irrevelent but I recently seemed to be having similar problems with the motor error and the roll shooting out quickly with my Roland GX-24 after purchasing it brand new . After a little trouble shooting it turned out it was simply due to the artboard set up being a little different to what I had previously been working with (ie. I never had to worry about position of image on artboard when cutting. now its crucial that the image is placed at the bottom of the artboard for it to cut at the edge of the roll). Simple enough  I hope you had some luck with your problem too


----------



## slaeve (Jul 6, 2011)

Hi, I am also have problem on my roland camm gx24. It is also a motor error. As I read your reply in a forum, maybe the censor is the problem, so i clean both the censors, so thus, it works. Then, while i was on the edge of my plotting work it suddenly stop, and show the message again "motor error". what do you think is the problem?


----------



## Nick Horvath (Feb 26, 2010)

slaeve said:


> Hi, I am also have problem on my roland camm gx24. It is also a motor error. As I read your reply in a forum, maybe the censor is the problem, so i clean both the censors, so thus, it works. Then, while i was on the edge of my plotting work it suddenly stop, and show the message again "motor error". what do you think is the problem?


Leaving a good amount of slack between the roll of material may be the solution to your problem as pulling a roll of material can sometimes be too much for the motor.


----------



## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

Found this post searching for GX24 motor error...

My GX24 was working fine since we got it 3 years ago. I used it yesterday morning to cut some eco film and it worked flawlessly as always. I tried to cut more eco film last night and it advanced the film about 5 inches and froze with a motor error. 

Problem appears to be something hanging up with the shaft with the knurled sections. When I can get it to continuously advance either forward or backwards, it now has a thumping sound every second where it's always been a smooth continuous advance. I'll have to call Roland tomorrow when I'm home in front of it but anyone have any ideas in the meantime? I checked and there's nothing that I can see impeding anything, plenty of slack in the roll.


----------



## dcurtisroland (Jun 5, 2007)

tfalk said:


> Found this post searching for GX24 motor error...
> 
> My GX24 was working fine since we got it 3 years ago. I used it yesterday morning to cut some eco film and it worked flawlessly as always. I tried to cut more eco film last night and it advanced the film about 5 inches and froze with a motor error.
> 
> Problem appears to be something hanging up with the shaft with the knurled sections. When I can get it to continuously advance either forward or backwards, it now has a thumping sound every second where it's always been a smooth continuous advance. I'll have to call Roland tomorrow when I'm home in front of it but anyone have any ideas in the meantime? I checked and there's nothing that I can see impeding anything, plenty of slack in the roll.


Sounds like some debris got into the motor gears. The gears are now running over that debris every time it circles the gear. If you're under warranty you can send it in for a free repair. If not, get a toothbrush and take the side covers off. You'll know right away if there's junk in the gears because you'll see it. brush it away and see if the gears move smoothly again. Don't forget to unplug the machine before you check any of this. You can make things a lot worse working on a machine that's plugged in.

-Dana


----------



## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

dcurtisroland said:


> Sounds like some debris got into the motor gears.


Dana, I owe you a beer! That did the trick, THANKS!!!!!


----------



## decatur (Dec 5, 2007)

Hello. I was having the problem of the material shooting out. Thanks CW. Cleaning the sensors stopped the problem. So I suggest trying that first. Thanks again.


----------

