Had a major paper jam on a plotter in the middle of a deadline job

I was finishing up a set of E-size architectural prints for a permit submission in Phoenix last Thursday. The plotter was humming along, and then on the final sheet, it just ate the paper. Not a normal jam, but a full-on crumple and tear about three feet into the roll. The deadline was in two hours. I had to power everything down, carefully cut the ruined section out with a utility knife, and re-thread the whole roll. Lost about 15 feet of media and nearly an hour of time. I think the feed rollers might have been dusty from all the recent sandstorm grit. What's your go-to method for cleaning plotter rollers to avoid this kind of mess?

3 comments

3 Comments

kellygrant25d ago

That sounds brutal. Try a lint-free cloth with a bit of isopropyl alcohol.

elliot_roberts25d ago

Kelly's right about the alcohol, but you gotta unplug the thing first and let it dry completely before you run paper through again.

miasanchez25d ago

Yeah that whole drying thing reminds me of when my old laser printer got a coffee spill. I followed Elliot_Roberts' advice about unplugging and waiting, but I got impatient after like two hours. Big mistake. The paper came out with these weird smears that never went away. Basically turned it into a fancy paperweight.