# Expert 24 and a rubber band to the rescue



## Blue92 (Oct 8, 2010)

205 shirts and 8 3' x 5' banners due out by the end of the week and the latch breaks on the blade holder housing.... 

One rubber band later, back in business. 










Replacement carriage is being shipped out over night from GCC tomorrow under warranty coverage. Upcharge for the overnight shipping.

Hopefully the rubber band holds and it gets here on time.


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## buehrle (Jan 14, 2008)

use two rubber bands.


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## DivineBling (Sep 14, 2010)

Yikes!!!  I hope it holds up long enough for you to finish your order!


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

No matter what equipment you have, redundancy is a must.......I have multiple pieces of my equipment....My weak link at this point is my heat press.....I am down to 1 until I can get a new one in a month or 2....


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## Blue92 (Oct 8, 2010)

Seems they replace the entire carriage head. $244 plus $85 for overnight freight.

Warranty covers all but the up charge for overnight shipping.

I have redundant equipment. Three more rubber bands waiting in the wings. 

And an SX-12 that can actually handle the shirt designs but quite a bit slower.


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## Jbanuelos85 (Jan 1, 2012)

Thank you for this post! My cutter had the same thing happen and this rubber trick is holding up for me to get my orders out the door. Gonna call gcc in the morning for a warranty replacement but i got a bunch of rubber bands to hold me over lol


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## JSISIGNSCOM (Apr 19, 2012)

Wow you can order the part from GCC for $150, and its as simple as taking the cover off unhooking the old one and adding the new one. But glad to see the rubber band work.


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## Jbanuelos85 (Jan 1, 2012)

just spoke to gcc, My cutter is no longer in warranty as it was purchased by imprintables warehouse over a year and half ago, The warranty date is the date Imprintables purchased date not the date that i made my purchase... Spoke to imprintable's to someone named Zach hes gonna email gcc to find out what needs to be done to get this part replaced for me.


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## JSISIGNSCOM (Apr 19, 2012)

Jose
Was it still in a box when you got it? If it hadn't been opened , shouldn't matter if They had it for over a year. Still should honor the warranty.


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## Jbanuelos85 (Jan 1, 2012)

JSISIGNSCOM said:


> Jose
> Was it still in a box when you got it? If it hadn't been opened , shouldn't matter if They had it for over a year. Still should honor the warranty.


Yes, i still have the box saved too, Since the box said you need it for any warranty claims....I spoke to Ruth at gcc and she said i need to work it out with imprintables.


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## Blue92 (Oct 8, 2010)

Jbanuelos85 said:


> just spoke to gcc, My cutter is no longer in warranty as it was purchased by imprintables warehouse over a year and half ago.............


That is crazy.

That's like saying if you go out and buy a new 2011 car off the dealers lot after the 2012 model is out then you get a shorter warranty.


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## Jbanuelos85 (Jan 1, 2012)

yup i feel the same way blue92, I guess this is the only gcc product i will own....hopefully the rubberband holds up for a while tilll i can afford a new cutter


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## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

Is Imprintables a GCC dealer or just a reseller. If they are a dealer your receipt should work but if they are a reseller then you will need to work it out with them. They should send you the part no matter how it works out.


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## Blue92 (Oct 8, 2010)

sben763 said:


> Is Imprintables a GCC dealer or just a reseller. If they are a dealer your receipt should work but if they are a reseller then you will need to work it out with them. They should send you the part no matter how it works out.


I bought mine from Stahls and the warranty began the day I took delivery. I believe they are a dealer.


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## Jbanuelos85 (Jan 1, 2012)

yeah, Zach from imprintables said he will get back to me tomorrow to let me know how they will get this fixed for me, I think imprintables is a good company and should stand behind there products they sell.


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## Jbanuelos85 (Jan 1, 2012)

Update: Just got a voicemail from Zach, There still awaiting gcc to contact them regarding the warranty issue but they will be sending me a replacement part for my machine at no charge...there currently awaiting additional info to find out the part number but i will not be required to pay for the replacement carriage assembly.


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## JSISIGNSCOM (Apr 19, 2012)

Good to hear. They are not hard to install , just make sure when you seat the ribbon cable that its secure. Be careful not to pop the belt when putting the new motor on(seen it done). Let me know if you have any questions.


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## Tugg Speedman (Feb 12, 2012)

Wait, what broke? The small latch that holds the blade? That is $150?

If that's true that's crazy, it's just a small piece of plastic. Unless you're taking about the entire cut head. 

I will have to keep an eye out on my Expert and be careful loading blades. I also bought from Imprintables.com and a bit worried until you said they are taking care of it. They took care of me when I made my order and would like to use them on future orders. 

With all your orders for this week alone it sounds like you could get a backup machine pretty easily.
I would if I was as making as many as you are. 

Good luck

PS

Any other pictures since I'm trying to figure out what broke? I'm on my phone here and it looks like it's just the blade door.

I actually was expecting to see a picture of a rubberband acting as the belt lol.


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## Jbanuelos85 (Jan 1, 2012)

yup the small little latch that holds the blade in broke, I started noticing that my cuts were very sloppy and while watching the machine cut i could see the blade moving alot and not being secured, when i went to check the blade holder i noticed the little latch had snapped loose. The problem is that there unable to replace just that littl latch they need to replace the whole unit holding that part on it. 

I will probably be looking for a back up machine in the near future but would rather save up to have this become my backup machine. Really trying to get a roland gx-24


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## Tugg Speedman (Feb 12, 2012)

I see. Too bad they didn't design it so the latch could just be swapped out instead of the entire head. Some people when they design something like that would make it possible to replace only the broken part. 

You should go for that Roland soon and use the expert as a backup.

Maybe it's parts are easier to swap without swapping entire assemblies.Either way you could use a backup.


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## JSISIGNSCOM (Apr 19, 2012)

I would recommend Graphtec or roland. I have only had to fix 1 Graphtec (was 8yrs old ,the button wore out). Roland's I haven't had to fix yet. GCC's are not bad cutters But for $500 its the best entry level cutter out there. The PUMA 3 and jaguar are great cutters from GCC.


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## Blue92 (Oct 8, 2010)

Tugg Speedman said:


> Wait, what broke? The small latch that holds the blade? That is $150?
> 
> If that's true that's crazy, it's just a small piece of plastic. Unless you're taking about the entire cut head.


GCC told me the only way to fix the broken latch was replacing the entire cutting head. The only piece reused was the square plastic cover. Quoted cost was $244 and covered under warranty.

IMHO the blade housing could be installed with a simple pin for the hinge point and be a $4 or $5 dollar part max....

to Jbanuelos85:
Be sure to mount the new carrier in *exactly* the same spot on the drive belt where the old one is mounted. I didn't and had another weeks worth of pain until I discovered the problem while on the phone with a GCC tech.


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## Jbanuelos85 (Jan 1, 2012)

thanks blue92, i plan to take some pictures before i remove anything and during the whole process to make sure i get it back in the same way...untill then the rubberband is holding up to get all these orders out we get daily


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## DivineBling (Sep 14, 2010)

FYI... The latch for the blade holder is more secure and won't break as easily on the Expert Pro, Puma III, and Jaguar IV as the one on the Expert 24 and the Expert LX. 

I'm guessing it's less expensive to make the one on the stepper motor models vs on the servo motor models.


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## Jbanuelos85 (Jan 1, 2012)

What features does the expert pro have over the expert 24lx?


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## DivineBling (Sep 14, 2010)

Jbanuelos85 said:


> What features does the expert pro have over the expert 24lx?


The Expert Pro has a servo motor, 400g downforce, LCD display, and no optical eye. The LX has a stepper motor, 250g downforce, no LCD display (uses VLCD), and an optical eye.

There are other features that go along with the LCD display which include more specific settings controls and such as well. 

It's actually easier to think of the LX as just an Expert 24 with an added optical eye and the Expert Pro is identical to the Puma III without the optical eye.


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## Jbanuelos85 (Jan 1, 2012)

Just spoke to Zach, They ordered the replacement part for my machine today and will be shipped out tomorrow, Should be here early next week..As for the warranty issue the director for Imprintables warehouse is going to speak to GCC as the warranty should not work the way GCC is claiming it does. Hopefully the warranty issue will be fixed but in the meantime imprintables will cover the remainder of the warranty.


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## Blue92 (Oct 8, 2010)

Hope it all works out for you.

If it happens again I'll most likely look for a permanent DIY fix before I replace the entire cutting head since mine is now past the warranty period.


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## Jbanuelos85 (Jan 1, 2012)

I agree, i wouldn't purchase the full head if my machine was out of warranty, If business continues the way its going i hope to have a roland machine within a few months, Looking to get a better quality machine.


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## Jbanuelos85 (Jan 1, 2012)

Update: Still haven't received my replacement part, called imprintables and got an email update, The part was on back order and should be shipped out by today.

Seems like alot of gcc parts get put on backorder...


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## Jbanuelos85 (Jan 1, 2012)

Update: 

Got my replacement part today in the mail, Took about 10 minutes to install, Most of which was just making sure i didn't accidently pull any wires loose.

Once installed i was getting a buzzing noise when the unit made it to the far right hand side, loosened up the top of the unit and that fixed the issue, I guess i had the top too low.

All is working well and did a few test cuts with no problem.


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## Blue92 (Oct 8, 2010)

Jbanuelos85 said:


> Got my replacement part today in the mail, Took about 10 minutes to install, Most of which was just making sure i didn't accidently pull any wires loose.
> 
> Once installed i was getting a buzzing noise when the unit made it to the far right hand side, loosened up the top of the unit and that fixed the issue, I guess i had the top too low.


Was that the carrier head you replaced?

If you look at the far right side of the cutter (as you face the cutter) you will see a very small momentary push button switch in the path the cutter head travels. It's very small, black and is mounted close to the guide track on the vertical surface.

When you turn the cutter on the cutting head travels to the far right and taps the button then starts the cycle that reads the width of the rollers. 

If the head does not tap the switch you get (surprise, surprise) a buzzing sound like the cutter just went crazy.

That's the issue I ran into when I replaced the cutting head on mine and didn't line it up exactly on the drive belt......

I re-aligned the head on the belt and the problem was solved.

Somewhere I've got a video of the head "sticking" and buzzing. Found it.

http://www.corvettepics.net/images/gcc.avi


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## Jbanuelos85 (Jan 1, 2012)

Blue92 said:


> Was that the carrier head you replaced?
> 
> If you look at the far right side of the cutter (as you face the cutter) you will see a very small momentary push button switch in the path the cutter head travels. It's very small, black and is mounted close to the guide track on the vertical surface.
> 
> ...


Exactly the same thing that i had going on, but when i unscrewed the top again and tried it a second time the issue went away. Been turning it off and on the rest of today with no issues. I guess when i first put it together it wasn't touching that switch. 

Thanks for the info though appreciate it


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## Jbanuelos85 (Jan 1, 2012)

Hey Blue,

I think our machines have the same problems lol, I noticed my circles were not cutting correctly, They have a gap from when the circle starts and ends, turned my machine over and checked out the Pinch rollers, yeah there cracked lol, Time to call imprintables again...


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## Jbanuelos85 (Jan 1, 2012)

Hey Blue,

I think our machines have the same problems lol, I noticed my circles were not cutting correctly, They have a gap from when the circle starts and ends, turned my machine over and checked out the Pinch rollers, yeah there cracked lol, Time to call imprintables again...


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## Blue92 (Oct 8, 2010)

Jbanuelos85 said:


> Hey Blue,
> 
> I think our machines have the same problems lol, I noticed my circles were not cutting correctly, .....


You should be happy it was small circles. I was cutting a double line of text with each line 8" tall lettering and 72" in length. Wound up having to piece it together.


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## Jbanuelos85 (Jan 1, 2012)

Yeah, Not too happy right now with gcc or imprintable's due to the fustration ive been having. Went over to my family member's who have a us cutter MH series and was surprised how there blade holder latch is so much better put together then mine and at less then half the price of my expert 24lx


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## JSISIGNSCOM (Apr 19, 2012)

The pinch roller if your in warranty is an easy fix. If not usually $27 bucks to replace. Depending on when your GCC cutter was made , they eventually made the pinch rollers out of better materials (usually if the cutter was made in the last year and a half).


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## Jbanuelos85 (Jan 1, 2012)

Spoke to Zach said he was having one of his employees but in the order, I also went on prosignsupply.biz to order an additional set for any future isssue's but now it says my payment is flagged for review. No way to contact them either wierd!


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## Jbanuelos85 (Jan 1, 2012)

Update:

Spoke to brandy at imprintables and she confirmed with me yesterday that gcc sent an email confirming the rollers were shipped out yesterday and i should get them in a few days...Just got a call from zach about an hour ago saying that gcc did not ship out the order and would not ship them out untill they figured out why i put in warranty replacement and ordered another set as well....ARE U KIDDING ME???? So now i got no parts on the way..no cutter...over 50 orders awaiting shipment in time for christmas.... I feel like im just getting the run around...Should have gone with a different company...


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## rookie1178 (Mar 4, 2013)

Jbanuelos85 said:


> Update: Just got a voicemail from Zach, There still awaiting gcc to contact them regarding the warranty issue but they will be sending me a replacement part for my machine at no charge...there currently awaiting additional info to find out the part number but i will not be required to pay for the replacement carriage assembly.


how long have you had your cutter before it broke? Also did you buy it from imprintables ebay website?


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## Jbanuelos85 (Jan 1, 2012)

rookie1178 said:


> how long have you had your cutter before it broke? Also did you buy it from imprintables ebay website?


I had the cutter for about 9 months before the latch broke, No i purchased the cutter directly through imprintables. They took care of me though and get me the parts i needed and i've been up and running since.


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## jasonsmith (Mar 30, 2011)

What part breaks on the latch? The plastic door, or the metal pin?


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## Blue92 (Oct 8, 2010)

jasonsmith said:


> What part breaks on the latch? The plastic door, or the metal pin?


On mine the little plastic tab on the cutter housing snapped off. It's the piece that the door snaps over when you close the blade holder. 

I was able to use a nice healthy rubber band to hold the blade holder closed and it worked fine for a short term fix.


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## jasonsmith (Mar 30, 2011)

Blue92 said:


> On mine the little plastic tab on the cutter housing snapped off. It's the piece that the door snaps over when you close the blade holder.
> 
> I was able to use a nice healthy rubber band to hold the blade holder closed and it worked fine for a short term fix.


If mine broke, there is no way I'd buy a new head as that thing is like half the price of the cutter.

I take the blade thing out everytime I start it up as when it does it's start up thing. It goes down at the far left roller and pokes a small hole into the vinyl. I figure that would wear the blade tip out faster and damage the cutting strip.


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## Blue92 (Oct 8, 2010)

jasonsmith said:


> If mine broke, there is no way I'd buy a new head as that thing is like half the price of the cutter.
> 
> I take the blade thing out everytime I start it up as when it does it's start up thing. It goes down at the far left roller and pokes a small hole into the vinyl. I figure that would wear the blade tip out faster and damage the cutting strip.


IIRC I was told retail for the replacement head was $244 or right around there.

I pull the blade only to change it or clean.

I figure that little chintzy plastic latch has only so many flex cycles before it snaps again so I try to keep it low.


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## rookie1178 (Mar 4, 2013)

Blue92 said:


> IIRC I was told retail for the replacement head was $244 or right around there.
> 
> I pull the blade only to change it or clean.
> 
> I figure that little chintzy plastic latch has only so many flex cycles before it snaps again so I try to keep it low.


That extra expense a year or two after purchase is making me consider just buying a better quality cutter to begin with.


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## JSISIGNSCOM (Apr 19, 2012)

If your going to spend over a thousand dollars , consider Graphtec or Roland . Far better quality and better customer service.


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## rookie1178 (Mar 4, 2013)

JSISIGNSCOM said:


> If your going to spend over a thousand dollars , consider Graphtec or Roland . Far better quality and better customer service.


That's what I'm thinking


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

Everyone's experience will be different....I have 2 GCC cutters and find the quality and service to be just fine......I looked at Roland and Graphtec and they did not catch my attention.....So I went with GCC and do not regret it......


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## DivineBling (Sep 14, 2010)

The customer service is only as good as the service that the distributor provides. It should have nothing to do with the manufacturer.


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## JSISIGNSCOM (Apr 19, 2012)

Well if you go with GCC then find out when your distributor got it from them , because that's when the warranty started. So if its been sitting on the shelf for 3 months you only have a 9 month warranty from GCC.


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

I just checked the warranty period on my 2 GCC cutters.......Both started on the day I registered them with GCC and ran 15 months......In my case I did not need them....

Folks looking to purchase equipment should not rely solely on the opinions of dealers selling equipment......Obviously they are looking to sell you something and as hard as they may try not to, they will usually end up with at least a little "bias" in their opinions.....


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## DivineBling (Sep 14, 2010)

JSISIGNSCOM said:


> Well if you go with GCC then find out when your distributor got it from them , because that's when the warranty started. So if its been sitting on the shelf for 3 months you only have a 9 month warranty from GCC.


We purchase a set quantity of cutters from GCC but they keep them in their warehouse and ship them when an order comes in and we send them the shipping label. So the warranty starts when the cutter is shipped, not when we as a distributor actually purchased it.


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## DivineBling (Sep 14, 2010)

Blue92 said:


> I figure that little chintzy plastic latch has only so many flex cycles before it snaps again so I try to keep it low.


That plastic latch is only on the Expert 24 and 24LX. The other models with servo motors all have a better quality latch.


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## rookie1178 (Mar 4, 2013)

DivineBling said:


> That plastic latch is only on the Expert 24 and 24LX. The other models with servo motors all have a better quality latch.


Does the Expert Pro have the better quality latch?


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## DivineBling (Sep 14, 2010)

rookie1178 said:


> Does the Expert Pro have the better quality latch?


Yes. It has a metal screw that you use to fasten it instead of the cheaper plastic thing that clicks into place. I hear about those breaking all the time and I asked GCC about it and they said that using those kind of parts is how they keep the cost of the machine down so much. Some people don't care as much about top quality parts as long as they get the cheaper price point. I personally have the Expert Pro and I love it.


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## rookie1178 (Mar 4, 2013)

DivineBling said:


> Yes. It has a metal screw that you use to fasten it instead of the cheaper plastic thing that clicks into place. I hear about those breaking all the time and I asked GCC about it and they said that using those kind of parts is how they keep the cost of the machine down so much. Some people don't care as much about top quality parts as long as they get the cheaper price point. I personally have the Expert Pro and I love it.


I was contemplating between an Expert lx and an Expert pro, almost finally settling on the Lx, but the prospect of having to replace/purchase that flimsy carriage head has made me reconsider


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## JSISIGNSCOM (Apr 19, 2012)

DivineBling said:


> We purchase a set quantity of cutters from GCC but they keep them in their warehouse and ship them when an order comes in and we send them the shipping label. So the warranty starts when the cutter is shipped, not when we as a distributor actually purchased it.


 I have it in writing from GCC that its starts when its invoiced to the distributor"Regarding the warranty, we count it as invoice date purchase from GCC America not the date you sold to your customer. Hope you can understand". So there it is.


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## jasonsmith (Mar 30, 2011)

JSISIGNSCOM said:


> I have it in writing from GCC that its starts when its invoiced to the distributor"Regarding the warranty, we count it as invoice date purchase from GCC America not the date you sold to your customer. Hope you can understand". So there it is.


So technically if the cutter was to sit for a year in a warehouse, then it wouldn't have any warranty if it was then sold to a customer.


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## Blue92 (Oct 8, 2010)

jasonsmith said:


> So technically if the cutter was to sit for a year in a warehouse, then it wouldn't have any warranty if it was then sold to a customer.


That's kind of what it sounds like.


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## JSISIGNSCOM (Apr 19, 2012)

That's only if it ships to your dealer and sits in their warehouse, not at GCC's.


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## jasonsmith (Mar 30, 2011)

JSISIGNSCOM said:


> That's only if it ships to your dealer and sits in their warehouse, not at GCC's.


Sounds like someone would have to request a fresh unit direct from GCC then.


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## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

JSISIGNSCOM said:


> I have it in writing from GCC that its starts when its invoiced to the distributor"Regarding the warranty, we count it as invoice date purchase from GCC America not the date you sold to your customer. Hope you can understand". So there it is.


Stephanie knows what she is talking about and evidently has a program setup with them to ship directly from GCC so if you buy from her the warranty would start when it is shipped. There are other distributors that buy and stock in their own warehouse and in that case warranty would start when GCC ships to the distributor. This is a poor policy on GCC's part. I think GCC needs to come up with a way to verify the selling date and its very easy for a distributor to change the sales date to help a customer get a warranty claim even if it wasn't valid.


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## DivineBling (Sep 14, 2010)

Right... It makes more sense for us to purchase and hold cutters at GCC's warehouse than to pay shipping twice. We are web based though. If a shop has a showroom and sells straight out of their location, then it makes more sense for them to warehouse them themselves. Plus I'm in California, too, so there would be really no benefit for me to inventory them in my warehouse. It's only a one day ship for my local customers anyway.


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## hi-nrg-joe (Jul 19, 2008)

It's a toss up...I can understand GCCs policy. What if a distributor bought some cutters, took them to a show, or demo'd them. Then a year later after being used, sold them to a cutomer and the receipt shows the new "sales" date? Should GCC cover the warranty, thinking it was sold as new?

Or what if the distributor never sold it for years and then sold it, but by then that model is out of date and GCC doesn't carry that model anymore?

Of course I would like them to go by the sales receipt date, then we'd feel more comfortable storing them local for shipment.

Even as a consumer, I've puchased items and never opened the box for a whole year. I wish I could tell the seller that I'm just opening it and I want my warranty to start then...at the time I set it up and started using it.


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## sandoz (Oct 22, 2014)

does anyone know where i can buy parts for GCC cutters? i need an x axis motor


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## hi-nrg-joe (Jul 19, 2008)

Sandoz, I carry some parts and can get others if needed. 
Supplies

Joseph


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