Graphtec Craft Robo Pro - Y Position Alarm (solution)
Hi folks, just throwing this out there because I own a CRP (ce5000-40) Plotter, and ran into that stupid issue where the cutting carriage moves all the way to the left and hits the edge, then flashes Y Position Alarm. Skip down to SOLUTION if you just wanna get this over with... otherwise read on for IMPORTANT INFO!!!!!!!!!!
Now sometimes it would RANDOMLY work... but mostly not... and sometimes it would even say "re-align rollers"... I went nuts! I torn the machine apart, checked motors, ribbon cables, the rubber band things. I even thought my main board was fried (because there was a bit of cat urine on it, wiped it down at the very least). All those things were OK... I think my main board is ok...
Here's what went bad: There are TWO sensors on the cutting carriage. One on top and one on the bottom. Top one usually reads a metal peg on the far right to let the machine know where point zero is. The bottom sensor reads TWO times. It will move left, catch the first pinch roller, pause a split second, move left again until it reaches the second pinch roller, then finally move back to the right and to the origin mark. It simply checks how wide the media is.
Let's see if this is your problem. Put the right pinch roller towards the middle of the blue sticker region. Now proceed with power on, media feed and enter. If the error occurs on the right side of the machine after touching the edge, it's the top sensor. If it occurs WHILE traveling left or hits the far left edge, then it's the bottom sensor. (This includes random re-align roller errors) but mostly Y Position Alarm errors.
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SOLUTION: Clean the sensors with a q-tip and alcohol (90 proof if possible) Make sure you get in there good. You will have to remove the top bar and face of the carriage to reach these areas. Not hard to do. If cleaning doesn't help, check ribbon cable connections on the top sensor and the main board. If it still doesn't work, then LET US DISABLE THE SENSOR!
Hold the "down arrow" and power on the machine. Let go quick... Wait for the menu to appear on the LCD. Press "next" until you see "Home". Disable that sucker... our plotters are going in blind mode ;)
Power off, then power back on normally. Insert your media, put the rollers down... IMPORTANT, MOVE THE CUTTING HEAD ALL THE WAY TO THE RIGHT BEFORE PRESSING ENTER!!!! You must do this from now on, until you can replace that sensor. Make sure your pinch rollers are still aligned to the blue areas (blue sticker) you still need to do that to avoid media slippage.
You should still be able to cut normally, whether it's using Reg marks or cutting from a 14" vinyl roll.
Here's a link to the replacement bottom sensor (I can't seem to find the top one, might have to ask Graphtec).
https://graphtecgb.co.uk/product/push-roller-sensor-board-ce5000/
Push Roller Sensor / Pinch Roller Sensor or PN5043-06
Disabling the sensor should hold you over until you decide to replace it, however I seem to be able to cut everything without it. Not sure why we're using it in the first place? That's weird... Oh well, as long as I can continue cutting shirt vinyl and papercrafts (with reg marks) then I'm good... I hope this was helpful to yall!
Happy Plotting!!!