Thanks for clicking. I've searched other 3mm tape issue threads and the solutions found in those are not solving things for me.

We have an SCM Olimpic K-400. 1/2 and 1mm tapes of all heights are a breeze to work with. These last few weeks, 3mm tapes have refused to continue accepting the violence we've been committing against its kind.

At the point the guillotine stabs the tail-end, let's say, 8/10 times it works despite some clear variation in impact. Sometimes it's a quiet, perfect cut straight out of the bander's promotional video and other times it stabs hard enough to jolt the tape back towards the feeding roller. At those moments, I'm having to hand-tailor the tape back to it's proper position to avoid the next piece being bare at the first inch of its edge.

Then there are the 2/10 times where the guillotine mashes up against the tape, basically pinning it in place for a one-Mississippi before breaking through. The tape already applied to the panel is then effectively smeared back as the glue is still warm and the track fights to keep pulling the piece through. I say 2/10 times, but this is misleading since when it starts failing to cut tape, it will do it 4 times in a row and not really improve despite 40 successfully run edges before it. At these points I stop the bander, release the air and start up again after a couple minutes. And the cycle continues.

Notes and troubleshooting already attempted (though I'm open to retries):

- Guillotine blade is new and shaves my arm clean
- All air lines were replaced 6-9 months ago (haven't detected any air leaks)
- Pressures are set at recommended levels (though I've tinkered up and down with no results)
- Rubber gasket behind guillotine piston is in good shape and bolt is tight
- Guillotine plate flows freely by hand with air on/off (I've had the nut that holds the plate to the brass guide bar very tight to finger-tight with no difference in behavior)
- Haven't found any clogs in the air lines, piston chamber, etc.
- I've done a general cleaning, light lubrication and re-tightening of all guillotine components.
- Doesn't seem to matter if the 3mm tape is new/fresh or old/brittle
- This "pinning" of the tape happens regardless of the panel size/thickness being fed

It does seem apparent that it's an air issue. Either the blade (sporadically) is not being given enough pressure to impact correctly or not being kicked back to it's proper return point (though that doesn't seem to really be the issue either).

As with many bander problems, though, there can be about a dozen forks in the road with any given point and you may have taken the wrong one about a mile back. Hopefully someone's fresh set of eyes can give me some new guesses.

Thanks (*squeezes stress ball*)

One more place to look. There are electrically operated needle valves that control the flow of air to the cylinders. If that has become sticky.... If you don't have a spare on hand, try swapping it out for one of the other ones on the machine. Along that same line the electrical supply to the coil could be poor, loose or ?? You might try it first using the existing coil (easiest) and then swap out the coil if the problem persists. Those valves are cheap when ordered from non-OEM sources. AutomationDirect.com probably has them. I use them for lots of electrical and pneumatic stuff. Check what voltage the coil needs to be, probably 24V.(DC??)

I had very similar issues. It was a bolt loose on the inside of the air cylinder.

RD, we had that same thing happen. The piston got loose on the rod.

I probably should have explained that the needle valve operated with low voltage only serves to move the spool to actually shift the air. Some valves have the coils on both ends so a signal is needed to move the other way. Some have springs that push the spool back. You can get some with 5Volt coils so a computer/circuit board output can shift the air.

These valves are a good reason to have clean, dry air.