Next up in the limelight of destruction is a guillotine cutter for a LabelStation Pro200 / Pro300. Actually, that's a lie, it's not destruction, it's education. Each and every teardown is put back together to a working condition. They are not sold or scrapped. They are kept as working demos for our trade counter. There's very little needed to tear one of these apart but it is something I have to do on occasion to clean the adhesive from the blades and give a service.Attempting to repair/service your cutter unit yourself will void your warranty of it and we cannot accept any responsibility for injury, damage and/or loss of assets. Please proceed with caution.The tools you'd need for this are as follows:
- Medium flathead screwdriver
- Small crosshead screwdriver
- Large crosshead screwdriver
- Wire cutters
- Thin rubber gloves
For cleaning you'd also need:
- IPA (the cleaning solution, not the drink. Although the latter could be a reward for when it's back together and working again)
- Kitchen paper towels
- A clean shallow tray
- Shredder oil
The Teardown
Let's take it apart. I'll give this warning now and again when we get to the blades, they are very sharp. The gloves are to keep your mitts from getting grubby, the blades will cut through them! Now that you'll be going carefully, let's begin.
- This is the cutter from behind. It's the side of it you see less often. Where the cable exits there is a zip tie that will need cutting. I've already removed this a long time ago.
- Undo the little screw at the bottom.
- There's two clips that will need undoing. You can do this one at a time or both together; whichever is easier for you.
- It'll come apart like this.
- Unplug this cable.
- There are four screws around the plastic casing: one on opposite ends,
- and two underneath.
- It should now come apart like this.
- Remove the seven tiny screws around the entrance guides.
- Remove the guides.
- Undo the two tiny screws under the cutter module.
- Using the flathead screwdriver as a lever, pop the top clip undone.
- Once undone it should now slide outwards (not up) and come away.
- Push the motor up from the larger part of the casing.
- It should now be in these two parts ready for cleaning.
- Here are the blades. The top half isn't removable. You can slide the flat bar out from its pivot point to remove the blade (remember: it's very sharp).
- This is the motor and sensor assembly. The motor spins the wheel and the switch under the wheel keeps track of it; if it doesn't do a full turn in the time expected, there's probably a problem and the printer will give an error.
And it's as easy as that! Well, I say it's easy but I've been doing this for four years. Only consider taking this apart if you feel you're comfortable doing this and absolutely have to. I have a keen eye for detail and can put these back together better than before they were taken apart. If you think your LabelStation cutter needs cleaning and you're not comfortable with doing this yourself, please call our support department on 01202 681311 and we can do it for you.