Duplo DC-616: Business Card Cutting Issues

[Owen]

When it comes to cutting business cards on our Duplo DC-616 we use a pretty standard layout and cutting program... 3 columns of 8 cards equaling 24 business cards per 18x12 sheet. Recently I noticed that our finished count was low. When I checked the waste hopper I discovered that our Duplo had been eating the last 3 cards on perhaps 1 sheet in 5. When I say 'eating' I mean deliberately chopping the last row of cards in half and tossing them into the waste bin. Each time the Duplo 'eats' a row of cards they are cut cleanly in half.

Has anyone else experienced this phenomenon? If so, do you have any idea what might be causing it?

 

[jwheeler]

When it comes to cutting business cards on our Duplo DC-616 we use a pretty standard layout and cutting program... 3 columns of 8 cards equaling 24 business cards per 18x12 sheet. Recently I noticed that our finished count was low. When I checked the waste hopper I discovered that our Duplo had been eating the last 3 cards on perhaps 1 sheet in 5. When I say 'eating' I mean deliberately chopping the last row of cards in half and tossing them into the waste bin. Each time the Duplo 'eats' a row of cards they are cut cleanly in half.

Has anyone else experienced this phenomenon? If so, do you have any idea what might be causing it?

I ran a 616 for about 5 years at my previous job and regularly did business cards in the same 24up layout. I never experienced this. I'm guessing something is not matching up. Perhaps the machine is detecting a different size of paper, or the template got corrupted. Consider rebuilding the template, or restarting the machine. If you're using the barcode/mark reader, try turning it off and just manually selecting the job.

 

[YourCastle]

i had this, no solution, went to 3x7 format. I can do 24up on a 13x19, but the rest of my workflow is 12x18 and I don't want to adjust the guide for the paper width every time.

 

[Owen]

i had this, no solution, went to 3x7 format. I can do 24up on a 13x19, but the rest of my workflow is 12x18 and I don't want to adjust the guide for the paper width every time.

Thank you for the reply. That sounds like a reasonable work-around. I'll see if the boss goes for it.

 

[Owen]

I ran a 616 for about 5 years at my previous job and regularly did business cards in the same 24up layout. I never experienced this. I'm guessing something is not matching up. Perhaps the machine is detecting a different size of paper, or the template got corrupted. Consider rebuilding the template, or restarting the machine. If you're using the barcode/mark reader, try turning it off and just manually selecting the job.

We don't use the bar-code feature, but I suppose it is possible that the file has been corrupted. I might try rebuilding it. Thank you for the quick response.

 

[Owen]

Well, I did a hard reboot, made sure all the software was up to date, rebuilt the program, made a separate program with only 7 up in 3 columns, even tried varying the gutter slits between cards just in case...

...the DC-616 is still eating the 8th card across all 3 columns. I am open to any and all ideas should anyone have any.

 

[YourCastle]

Well, I did a hard reboot, made sure all the software was up to date, rebuilt the program, made a separate program with only 7 up in 3 columns, even tried varying the gutter slits between cards just in case...

...the DC-616 is still eating the 8th card across all 3 columns. I am open to any and all ideas should anyone have any.

my guess is that the tail of the sheet needs to have a minimum amount of paper to properly hold and cut the last card.

Maybe try making the programmed sheet size 5-10mm longer? If it works, it still might cause the last set of cards to skew?

 

[YourCastle]

i know the slitter minimum is 5mm, but I wonder what the cutter minimum is? I haven't looked. Maybe the 616 will allow a 4mm gutter and you can then get the last row to cut properly?

 

[Owen]

i know the slitter minimum is 5mm, but I wonder what the cutter minimum is? I haven't looked. Maybe the 616 will allow a 4mm gutter and you can then get the last row to cut properly?

We moved the lead trim waaaaay up and, so far, that seems to be a workaround.

 

[YourCastle]

We moved the lead trim waaaaay up and, so far, that seems to be a workaround.

i'm guessing you reduced bleed from 1/8" to 1/16"? With 1/8, there's no room to reduce lead?

 

[YourCastle]

well, I tried.

I reduced the lead, reduced the gutters and "extended" the sheet size. Nothing works well.

Reducing the gutters to 3mm was a headache as the paper slices were too small/light to fully fall into the waste bin, so they collected on the cutter and caused some of the cards to cut poorly as well as pull that garbage into the stacker. It did cut 24up, but the mess and lost cards isn't worth it.

Increasing to 4.5mm gutter seemed to help the waste, but then card #8 got chopped up.

Owen, I'm glad you had success!

 

[Owen]

well, I tried.

I reduced the lead, reduced the gutters and "extended" the sheet size. Nothing works well.

Reducing the gutters to 3mm was a headache as the paper slices were too small/light to fully fall into the waste bin, so they collected on the cutter and caused some of the cards to cut poorly as well as pull that garbage into the stacker. It did cut 24up, but the mess and lost cards isn't worth it.

Increasing to 4.5mm gutter seemed to help the waste, but then card #8 got chopped up.

Owen, I'm glad you had success!

That's a bummer, I'm sorry to hear it. We kept most of our margins the same, just reduced the lead trim to 6mm. The total dims etc. are as follows:

Sheet Size: W - 304.8 mm, L - 457.2 mm (12x18 in)

Cards: 3 across, 8 up at W - 88.9 mm, L - 50.8 mm (3.5x2 in)

Trim: Lead - 6 mm, Side 14 mm

Gutters, Vertical: A - 5 mm, B - 5 mm

Gutters, Horizontal: 3.4 mm (3.5 mm also works, just depends on the card stock)

So far this seems to get around the card chewing issue, but only time will tell if it's a solid fix.

 

[YourCastle]

Gutters, Horizontal: 3.4 mm (3.5 mm also works, just depends on the card stock)

this is where my system fell apart. Going that narrow caused trimmings to get stuck on rollers and cutter causing some cards to cut very poorly and leaving a mess to clean up.

the trimmings were too light to overcome the static and fall into the waste bin. I'm in Denver Colorado with low humidity and high static.

I am glad it worked for y'all!

 

[Owen]

the trimmings were too light to overcome the static and fall into the waste bin. I'm in Denver Colorado with low humidity and high static.

I am glad it worked for y'all!

We're up in Ft. Collins and we have similar static issues. The guys at BRC Harris told me a while ago that it's safe to pretty well saturate the interior of your machine with anti-static spray if you're have a static related clumping issue. I understand if an operator wouldn't want to unload with an aerosol on the guts of their machine, but I've had good results. When I get static build-up I usually wipe down the rollers with Simple Green, give them a spritz with the anti-static spray, then hit the outflow tray with the same. I wait for the spray to dry and run it.

 

[YourCastle]

We're up in Ft. Collins and we have similar static issues. The guys at BRC Harris told me a while ago that it's safe to pretty well saturate the interior of your machine with anti-static spray if you're have a static related clumping issue. I understand if an operator wouldn't want to unload with an aerosol on the guts of their machine, but I've had good results. When I get static build-up I usually wipe down the rollers with Simple Green, give them a spritz with the anti-static spray, then hit the outflow tray with the same. I wait for the spray to dry and run it.

Howdy neighbor!

Thanks for the static advice!

 

[Pennypicher]

See page 29 in your book. When the cards are printed at the end of the sheets the last row gets eaten up. Try lying about the length of the sheet. 18" go 18.25 or 18.50. Too much will give you a paper jam error. You might get away with this. Almost like a built in flaw??