u/FanInternational5302

I know this may be a conversation better had in the Cricut subreddit, but thought I might try my luck here too to see if anyone had any experience with anything like this.

I’ve been using my Cricut Maker 4 for literally ONE purpose since I bought it— cutting HTV designs for book covers. I use this machine in the same way every time with the same material… just slightly different images and such.

One day, I used the Cricut and everything went just as smoothly as it always has. Literally 12 hours later, I went to use it again and it SEEMED to work just fine until I went to weed the image it cut. Apparently, it would cut well for a length of the line, then it wouldn’t cut deep enough on others and the thing was IMPOSSIBLE to weed.

Here are the things I’ve tried so far with no luck:

1. Changing out the blade
2. Making sure the blade housing was set and pressed down far enough
3. Changed the pressure to “more”
4. Changed the material type to a thicker material (that just messed up the corners and details of the HTV)
5. Ran it through a 2nd time
6. Changed the mat
7. Cleaned the housing/blade
8. Changed the blade AGAIN thinking maybe the new blade was faulty or dull somehow
9. Tried a different image thinking maybe it was just the image I was trying to cut
10. Tried updating the Cricut Design Space to the newest software…

I am at a loss here. I don’t understand what happened and why it stopped working so suddenly. Especially when I haven’t changed anything about what I use the machine for, the settings, anything.. has anyone dealt with anything like this?

I’m making a special edition book for my friend’s birthday coming up, so I’m under a bit of a time crunch, otherwise it wouldn’t be a huge deal.

(Also, I have posted this same question in the Cricut subreddit… I thought I’d just try it here too!)

I am about to scream.
My Cricut Maker 4 just suddenly stopped completely cutting through metallic HTV. It worked literally a day prior to the problem starting. Then, the next, I tried to weed the image and it was almost impossible.

So I changed the blade and tried again. Same thing.

So I readjusted the blade and the housing, adjusted the pressure to “more” and tried a test run. Same thing.

So I tried cleaning out the housing by blowing into it and switching out the mat AND switching the material to “glitter iron-on”. It was essentially the same thing, but made the corners and details lift from the mat.

I’ve also tried changing the image to see if it was just the file I was using. I tried updating the design space.

The machine seems to be cutting the image, just not deep enough. It’s not making any crazy noises or anything. There are some lines that cut great, but curves and intricate detail do not. And sometimes even the straight lines don’t do well. I have no idea what’s going on and don’t understand why it would just be doing this all the sudden. There was no gradual decline… it just… stopped working.

What in the heck am I missing here?!