Avantra 25 issues

[trobphoto]

I have an Avantra 25 & OLP fronted by a Harlequin RIP (Navigator Eclipse SP1a-hw plugin V5.0.1) on a Mac G4 533 mhz OS X 10.3.6 Ripping files generated in InDesign.

Had this same set-up for last 5 years. In the last year, several problems cropping up:

Issue #1
The imagesetter has had film advance/jamming/cutting woes for last three years. ( errors: 01, 06, 08, 53 thru 57) Partial cuts, multiple 01 errors as we near last 30' of film on roll, etc. Aftermarket service guy and Agfa service guy about as helpful as horns on a duck, but horribly expensive. We tried switching from .004 to .003 film thickness, somewhat better, but still clearing jams. I noticed the cable from the CPU pod going to the controller box on the film bridge has been taped and zip tied together at a rub spot near the frame....inspection reveals the insulation has been cut and the metal shielding stripped away at this point (we bought this used/reconditioned from aftermarket source). Could this cable be causing intermittent signals to the controller box and screwing with the various bridge sensors and their timing ?

Issue #2
Withing the last year, the cmyk seps from the InDesign/Harlequin/Avantra work flow have become offset (center register marks are now offset from the punches by say 1/16". With some exceptions. Sometimes three out of four flats are registered to each other (e.g.: m,y,k; but not c), but all are offset still from the center punch. Agfa guy tried to tell me this was due to humidity (we're in a controlled, air-conditioned environment). Agfa guy told me to run the resident four screens test file multiple times and that would point to the front end if they lined up (did that and they did line up).

Have not been able to reduce variables in a logical way to identify a pattern. Is it our Harlequin/Mac settings ? We run at 1,200 DPI 85 line (simple four-color pixs on a student newspaper on a Goss Community-- 30 lb newsprint). Haven't changed the InDesign version or the Mac OS X versions on the RIP that I'm aware of. The newsroom Mac generating the seps is a G4 OS X 10.4.11 running InDesign CS2.

The Chump is Stumped.......help .

Thanks

 

[VladCanada]

As a former AGFA FSE I would take my look at NIP-Roller Assy first. The situation looks like poor media handling issue.
And... everything is possible. You need a good guy on site to check your machine.
From my experience - only 20% of Tech Support answers were helpfull because they're unabled to have a look at the machine.
AGFA tried to imply an "ODYSSEY" at customer's sites: web-camera and headset to see exactly what's going wrong... but.. who does care?

 

[DonBlock]

Vlad is correct. Poor media handling, cutter (partial cuts). If this is an on-line processor, the issue could be the cutter for the media handling.

As for the off center, are you referring to left or right, or the distance from the punch to image varying?

If it is the distance, it still points to media handling. With the length of time that you have had the system, there could be a few issues going on.

Like Vlad, I am an ex-Agfa FSE and have had my own business going on 13 years. It's a shame that you have not received good service or advise, but depending on when you had the "Agfa service" there, he may not have been from Agfa. They had sold off their service for imagesetters to a third party and they did a very lowsy job.

One thing I can assure you, it's about a 99.999999999% chance that it is not the RIP.

You can contact me directly if you would like to talk about what we can offer you.

 

[trobphoto]

Avantra Issues

Avantra Issues

Not trying to flame all FSE's, but have had a bad experience with our last two on site visits.......the first by an independent, the last by an Agfa factory guy.

Also, I should have specified in the earlier post, the image offset in relation to the center punch is a horizontal problem........the image is 1/16 or so to the right of center. The Agfa guy tried to correct this by using the touch screen control in the cassette menu. That made it somewhat better, but still not dead center.

My question was whether the carriage could be off from some factory preset and whether there is some diagnostic software that could determine this (he didn't bother to unpack his laptop and fire up any diagnostic software at all.......apparently one doesn't get much for the $1K onsite charge plus $275/hour door-to-door-to-door anymore or is it just me???)?

Thanks for your earlier responses and any further insight you might have regarding this.

This site is very helpful.

Cheers

 

[DonBlock]

Not trying to flame all FSE's, but have had a bad experience with our last two on site visits.......the first by an independent, the last by an Agfa factory guy.

Also, I should have specified in the earlier post, the image offset in relation to the center punch is a horizontal problem........the image is 1/16 or so to the right of center. The Agfa guy tried to correct this by using the touch screen control in the cassette menu. That made it somewhat better, but still not dead center.

My question was whether the carriage could be off from some factory preset and whether there is some diagnostic software that could determine this (he didn't bother to unpack his laptop and fire up any diagnostic software at all.......apparently one doesn't get much for the $1K onsite charge plus $275/hour door-to-door-to-door anymore or is it just me???)?

Thanks for your earlier responses and any further insight you might have regarding this.

This site is very helpful.

Cheers

I'm not surprised at the lack of service you received and I don't take it personally when someone needs to express themselves based off of their prior experience. If the guy from Agfa did not even get out his laptop, he was either new and inexperienced or just did not give a S___!

As I stated earlier, it sounds like you could have a few things wrong. Nothing sounds expensive as far as parts go unless the cutter itself needs replaced.

Their are 2 encoders on the carriage, one for speed and the other for position. From time to time (PM's) the rails need to be cleaned and the encoders checked and realigned it necessary. It is a simple adjustment to center the image to the punch, it only takes a little time with the diag. software and knowing what to do. Depending on how picky you are, meaning how tight do you want your back up if that's what your going for, will depend on how much time it will take.

From your posted dollars it sounds like your somewhat remote, but that's why you barter for a flat rate.....

Not all are who they seem. Check out any third party service provider. There's quite a few of them that have never seen the inside of a factory for training. They are self taught and try to guess their way through anything but the obvious. We are factory trained all everything that we work on. If we're not trained, we don't touch it........ It's called integrity.....

References Available On Request....... (Mom and Pop shops to Multimillion Dollar Companies)