Summa S Class 2 Series Tangential Cutting Head Instruction Manual
- June 4, 2024
- Summa
Table of Contents
Summa S Class 2 Series Tangential Cutting Head
Summa S Class Maintenance
To ensure the optimal quality of the cutter, the cutter needs some attention, maintenance, cleaning and worn parts replaced.
Required tools
- Soft cloth
- Cotton swabs
- Nylon (tooth) brush
- Isopropyl alcohol
- Spanner 13 mm
- Compressed Air
Position of the cutter
- Put the cutter on a flat, stable and level surface.
- Do not place the cutter in direct sunlight.
- Do not place the cutter close to a heater.
- Make sure the cutter can be accessed from the front and rear.
Cabling
Data may get disturbed from static electricity, which is generated by moving
the media forwards and backwards, interfering with the communication cable due
to static electricity discharge from the media to the communication cable. To
prevent such issues, it is advised to guide the communication cable and power
cable in the stand of the machine.
When using a USB cable, then make sure the cable is maximum 5 meters long. Longer cables will usually lead to communication issues. Do not use extension cables. When using a network cable, use a shielded Cat 6 cable.
Power
The power supply detects the line voltage and switches automatically between
110V and 230V.The wall sockets, into which the cutter is plugged-in, must be
of the grounded type. The grounded conductors, serving the wall socket, must
be properly connected to the ground.
The two front screws used to mount the machine on the stand need to have the special washer M5 (watch orientation: the teeth of the washer has to be towards the stand to penetrate the paint) to have a good electrical contact between the frame of the cutter and the frame of the stand:
Regular maintenance
Lift Pinch Rollers:
When the machine is not used, lift the pinch rollers to prevent dents in the
pinch rollers.
Drive Drum:
Clean the drive drum in case it collected dirt or glue to ensure good
tracking. Use some vinyl, remove the backing, put the sticky side on the drive
drum, put the pinch roller over the vinyl, lower the pinch rollers, and then
pull on the vinyl. In case the dirt does not come loose, then use a nylon
toothbrush and isopropyl alcohol to brush the drive drum. Use compressed air
to remove dirt from the bearings.
Pinch Rollers
Clean the pinch rollers. Use some vinyl, remove the backing, put the vinyl
with the sticky side up on the drive drum, put the pinch roller over the
vinyl, lower the pinch rollers, and then pull on the vinyl. In case the dirt
does not come loose, then use a cloth dipped in isopropyl alcohol to clean the
pinch rollers.
Knife Holder
The knife holder may collect glue and dirt, which may cause friction to the
media, reducing the cutting quality. Remove the dirt. Probably use a cloth and
some isopropyl alcohol. The knife holder has to fit in the rear position of
the tool clamp to cut over the cutting strip.
Nose Piece
In case a tangential knife is used, then the wheels of the nose piece can
collect vinyl particles and glue. This results in uneven cutting depth.
Usually a repeating pattern is seen every 7 mm (circumference of the wheels on
the nose piece). Remove the knife holder from the tool shaft, and then remove
the nose piece from the cutter head. Clean the wheels with isopropyl alcohol.
Remove dust with compressed air.
OPOS Sensor
In case the optics of the OPOS sensor collected dust, then this will obstruct
the light used to find the registration marks. Clean the optics of the OPOS
sensor. To access the optics, lift and hold the knife holder. This drops the
OPOS sensor. Remove the black sticker covering the workout on the side plate
of the OPOS sensor. Use compressed air to remove dust from the OPOS sensor.
Re-apply the black sticker to the workout, as this prevents ambient light to
interfere with the sensor.
Check OPOS sensor levels (S Class 2: click [Settings] – [More] – [OPOS] – [More] – [Monitor]; S Class: click [Configuration] – [Settings] – [OPOS] – [More] – [Monitor]): with the sensor above white, the value displayed should be less than 200; with the sensor above black, the value should be over 1700.
Y Guiding
The carriage of the cutter head moves left and right over the Y guiding rail.
This Y guiding rail will collect dirt, and may stick to the wheels of the
carriage. Clean the Y guiding regularly. Use a soft cloth and isopropyl
alcohol and wipe the top and bottom part of the Y-guiding.
Cam Sensor
The cam sensor is mounted on the carriage of the cutter head and is used to
detect the position of the pinch rollers. This sensor can collect dust. Due to
this, the sensor may not be able to detect the pinch roller position. Clean
the sensor with compressed air. The sensor is accessible from the rear of the
machine when it is not at the position of one of the pinch roller blocks.When
the machine is near a window, then direct sunlight may interfere with the
pinch roller position sensor.
Front/Rear Media Sensor
The front and rear media sensors are used to check if the media is present. In
case they collected too much dirt, it may not be possible to detect the media.
The front media sensor is also used to check if the cut-off knife was able to
trim the media. Remove the dust with compressed air, or use a cotton
swab.
Vacuum Fan
The fan at the bottom of the machine is used to create a vacuum to hold the
media flat, and prevents the media to deform while being cut. Remove the dust
from the fan with compressed air. The vacuum is created through the holes in
the base plate. Clean the holes with a cotton stick and isopropyl alcohol.
Baseplate
Remove glue from the baseplate. The glue will cause additional friction of the
media, causing deformation of the media. This will result in curves with a
start and endpoint not joining correctly.
Cutting Knife:
The knife used to cut the vinyl will not last forever. Depending on the knife
settings, the media type, dirt collected on the media, and whether or not
FlexCut is used, the knife may become blunt. Replace the knife to get optimal
cutting quality.
Drag knifes:
Keep the knifes clean, free of oil and grease. A greasy knife shaft will cause
the knife to stick in the media and to drop out of the knife
holder.
Note: blades may be available in 5-packs or single
Tangential knifes
Note: blades may be available in 5-packs or single
In case a knife got stuck in the tool shaft of a tangential cutter head due to
coming loose from the knife holder, then it is possible to remove this knife
from the tool shaft by means of a small screwdriver with some double backing
tape applied to the top of the screwdriver. 
Cut-off Knife
The knife used to trim the media can be replaced. Before replacing the knife,
you may be able to use another corner of the knife by flipping the knife
up/down or left/right.
Replace Parts
When parts are worn then this may affect the cutting quality. Those parts need to be replaced.
Cutting Strip
In case the cutting strip is worn then a groove will appear where the knife
cuts the media. This results in the media not being well supported. When
cutting, the media may go down due to the pressure used to cut the media.
Remove the worn cutting strip by gently pulling on the strip from the left or
right end. Remove any remaining glue. Cut the new cutting strip to the correct
length. Remove the protection partially, then apply the cutting strip from the
left side (slide cutter head to the right side), and continue to the middle of
the machine while removing the protective strip. Slide cutter head to the
left. Continue applying the cutting strip.
Pinch Rollers
In case the pinch rollers need to be replaced, replace the outer most pinch
rollers at the same time. This ensures equal pressure on both pinch rollers.
Lift the pinch rollers. Put some media under the pinch rollers to protect the
base plate. Remove the clip from the shaft holding the pinch roller. Slide the
shaft from the pinch roller block. Remove the worn pinch roller. Put a new
pinch roller in the pinch roller block. Slide the shaft in the pinch roller
block. Secure with the clip.
Cut-off Mechanism
Slide the cutter head up to the left side of the machine to lower the
mechanism. The wheel on the cut-off mechanism should touch the base plate.
This wheel is used to prevent the knife to cut in the base plate. Slide the
cutter head completely up to the right side of the machine to lift the
mechanism. In case the machine does not lower or lift smoothly, it may need to
be replaced.
Media Guides
The media guides on the fixed media support roll are used to prevent the media
to shift left and right while media is pulled from the roll. In case the
rubber ring is worn, then the media guides may shift due to the force of the
media. To replace the rubber rings from the media guides, you will need to
lose the fixed media roll with a spanner of 13 mm from the left side of the
machine.
Brake
The brake creates some tension on the media while it is pulled from the roll,
this to force the media to run straight in the machine. It also prevents the
roll to unroll the media when the media is shifting forward and backward while
cutting. You may probably need to replace the spring to increase the break
tension. To replace the brake, you will need to remove the star lock clip and
lose the fixed media roll with a spanner of 13 mm from the right side of the
machine.
Belts
The belts drive the cutter head carriage to move the cutter head over the
media (Y-axis), or drive the drive drum to move the media forward and backward
(X-axis). When a belt is worn, then a shift may appear in the design. To check
for a worn belt, set the machine to maximum cutting speed, then start the DIN
test. A shift inside the DIN test indicates a worn belt. To replace the long
belt, it is necessary to remove the cutter head from the carriage to access
the mounting screws.
Core Holders
The core holders are used to support the media on the media support rollers.
The core holders prevent the media from coming loose from the core while being
unrolled.
Tracking issues
Tracking issues can be recognized at the track that the pinch rollers and grid
rollers make on the rear side of the media after the cutting job has been
done. See below picture of a good track and a bad track.
In case there are tracking problems check next things:
- As media on a roll has been used, “Autoload” has to be activated: click [Settings] –[More] – [General] – [Autoload], select “ON” and confirm.
- The wheels and yellow grit rollers on the drive drum have to be free of dirt and other residue.
- The moveable rear media support roll at the back of the machine has to be set parallel with the fixed media support roll.
- The front fixed support media roll (the brake roll) has to brake a bit. So if you turn the roll quickly it should stop after one or two seconds. The rear support media roll has to turn further for a while. Check if the spring on the break is in good condition.
- The middle pinch roller has to be above a yellow grit roller when set down. The left and the right pinch roller always need to be set above a yellow grit roller on the edge of the media. The outermost pinch rollers are used to feed the media, while the middle pinch rollers are only used to keep the media flat.
- The pinch roller pressure should be equal left and right. Do not use a reduced pinch roller pressure unless very fragile media is used.
- Use the core holders and core holder guides on the media support roll to ensure a good and straight media loading. The core holders have to fit in the media guides both left and right.
- The vacuum fan may not work, or the vacuum holes in the base plate may be clogged.
- ake sure the media was acclimatized.
- In case an inkjet printer was used, let the media dry and cool down before putting it in the cutter, as it will change dimension while cutting due to cooling and drying.
- The pinch rollers may be worn. Due to this the hardness of the pinch roller surface changed. Or the black part may have come loose from the metal core. Replace the two outermost pinch rollers (395-401).
- One of the outermost pinch roller blocks may be defective.
Backup
It may be a good option to create a backup of the machine, as this backup
contains all parameters of the cutter (except for the network and USB
configuration). This backup may come in handy in the future when there is a
configuration issue, or when the main board has to be
replaced.
Revised on April 5, 2022
- Summa NV
- Tel +32 59 27 00 11
- Fax +32 59 27 00 63
- Email support@summa.com
- Website www.summa.com
References
- Roll-Fed Cutters | Flatbed Cutters | Laser Cutters | Summa
- Roll-Fed Cutters | Flatbed Cutters | Laser Cutters | Summa