Trouble Shooting & F.A.Q's for the GEM II Ring Cutter

If you are unable to find an answer or solution to your problem in the following information please do not hesitate to contact us.

TROUBLE SHOOTING
Motor fails to operate	Check batteries are loaded into the battery cassette correctly. Check that retaining springs in battery cassette are sound and holding batteries firmly in place. Check batteries are in a charged condition. Check that 'Lock' switch on GEM II unit is not engaged.
Motor stalls during cutting	Operator applying excessive force during cutting process. Batteries are depleted, change for fully charged batteries.
Cutting disc makes little progress in cutting through ring	Wrong disc selected for ring metal type Use Diamond cutting disc< (Ref. A-Z 223) for hard metals i.e. Iron, Steel, Platinum. As well as Titanium and Tungsten. Use Carbide cutting disc (Ref. A-Z 224) for soft metals i.e. Gold, Silver, Copper. Disc is badly worn, change for new disc. Diamond cutting disc (Ref. A-Z 223) To check if disc is worn, run finger around cutting disc edge. If smooth to touch the diamond grit is worn away, replace disc. Carbide cutting disc (Ref. A-Z 224) If cutting disc is worn down to plastic spacers, replace disc.
Locking screw unwinds during operation	Batteries have been loaded into battery cassette incorrectly. Re-load batteries into cassette in the correct order and make sure the arrows on the battery cassette and the GEM II unit are aligned.

F.A.Q's
1. How many rings will a cutting disc cut through?	A carbide disc acting on a soft metal, i.e. Gold wedding ring approximately 4mm wide by 1mm thick will cut through 10-15 rings. A diamond disc acting on a hard metal, i.e. steel 4mm wide by 1mm thick would be capable of cutting through approximately 6 rings allowing for the fact that a hard metal requires cutting in 2 separate locations on the ring. For information on cutting through Ultra Hard Metals such as Tungsten, Titanium and Stainless Steel Click Here! * N.B. The cutting surface of the ring must be kept as cool as possible to preserve the diamond grit on the cutting edge of the disc. This is achieved by cutting for 3 or 4 seconds, pausing for a second and repeating the process.
2. Why is it necessary when cutting through hard metals to make a cut half way through the ring on one side and then all the way through in a position directly opposite the first cut?	Rings made of hard metals when cut through tend to close up trapping the cutting disc. This is due to the high tensile strength in the metal. Partially cutting through a ring significantly reduces the tension in the ring so that when the ring is cut through on the opposing side to the first cut the ring won't collapse in on itself and trap the cutting disc.
3. Why is it necessary to supply two types of cutting disc why not just use a diamond disc for all ring cutting?	In fact either disc could be used for all the cutting procedures. However if a carbide disc is deployed to cut through a hard metal i.e. Steel it will wear down rapidly and require to be replaced several times during the process of cutting through a single ring. If a diamond disc is used on soft metal the metal starts to clog up the diamond cutting facets effectively blunting the discs cutting edge.
4. The motor stalls when disc is resting on the ring surface and I am certain that I am following the cutting procedure outlined in the instructions i.e. not pressing down too hard on the cutting disc as I move it backwards and forwards across the ring surface. Also the alkaline batteries used were virtually new.	If you are not forcing the cutting process the fault lies with the power source. Although Alkaline batteries are an excellent power source when fresh the GEM II ring cutter does drain the power from them quite rapidly and if one of the four batteries is below strength it will have a marked effect on the performance of the ring cutter motor. A more consistent and reliable power source these days are provided by re-chargeable NiMh batteries which are widely available and inexpensive. They can store and deliver more power over a longer period of time than their Alkaline equivalent. Re-chargeable NiMh hold their charge for up to 6 months and can be re-charged at any time as they do not suffer from the memory effect shown by the old NiCd rechargeable batteries. The motor may be worn or burnt out. A burnt out motor is the result of allowing it to overheat during one or more cutting procedures. The motor must be replaced, contact A-Z Tec Medical Ltd for assistance. To prevent a burnt out motor see Safety Notice Instructions.
5. How do I check a used diamond disc to ensure that is serviceable?	Simply run a finger around the outer rim of the disc. If 50% of the surface feels rough to the touch the disc has just enough diamond grit to be serviceable. If not it must be replaced. A worn disc will cut very little but generate a great deal of frictional heat.
6. Although we have used water based gel as per the instructions we still receive complaints from a few patients about heat build-up in the ring.	Cutting generates frictional heat. It can't be prevented but it can be controlled to acceptable levels. First if using a diamond disc check conditions of the disc (See Section 3 in Trouble Shooting). It is important to warn the patient that there will be a heat build-up in the ring and that as soon as they feel the ring getting warm to notify the operator. The operator should stop immediately wipe away the gel from the ring and re-apply fresh cold gel before continuing the cutting process. Normally by this stage the ring will be virtually cut through so that the second phase of cutting will be short lived.
7. What if a ring has to be removed from an unconscious patient?	According to a research study in the brain journal of Neurology 125 issue 3 pp. 501-510 on 'Pain Threshold on Normal Skin!' The range of warm sensation is 37.8 ± 28°C. Redness of the skin equivalent to sun burn occurs around 44-45°C. In tests we have carried out on rings that have water based gel applied to the ring surface prior to cutting after 60 seconds of continuous cutting temperature on the surface of a ring made of brass 4mm x 1mm thick measured 38-39°C. After a further 60 seconds the surface temperature had reached 44-45°C. A sensible precaution to take would be to cut for 30 seconds, stop, wipe away old gel and replace with fresh cold gel and re-start the cutting process for a further 30 seconds. As the cutting process has been interrupted the ring surface temperature would not reach 44°C. It is unlikely a 3rd phase of cutting would be required.
8. What if water based gel is not available. Is there another product commonly available that can be used?	We have found that liquid soap from a soap dispenser works well. It helps to lubricate the ring area and makes inserting the metal guard section of the finger guard much easier. It also collects the debris from the cutting process.
9. Is it acceptable to bend the metal finger guard to get it under a ring?	The guard is designed to be flexible.
10. I noticed that on the metal section of the finger guard that is inserted under the ring that a number of scuff marks and gouges have appeared. Is it safe to use the finger guard in this condition?	With usage, scuff and gouge marks naturally develop. The finger guard is safe to use as a barrier still exists between the ring and the patients skin. However if the guard has been cut through it must be replaced.
11. I noticed that the guide disc doesn't run as smoothly along the groove in the finger guards black plastic block as it did when new. Does this indicate that the guard needs replacing?	No. This indicates that dried gel and metal debris have formed a coating on the walls of the groove in the guide block and need removing by cleaning thoroughly.
12. From the safety notice I see that after 10 minutes of continuous usage the ring cutter has to be left to cool down for 15 minutes before it can be started up again. Why is this necessary?	This is a precautionary requirement. During use heat builds up in the motor and over time can reach a temperature where the insulation on the motor windings starts to break down. This can cause a short circuit to develop resulting in the heating up of the retaining springs in the battery cassette, which at a certain temperature will collapse and cut off the power to the motor.
13. We have noticed that our ring cutter has become rather noisy compared to when it was new. Does this mean the ring cutter motor is wearing out and needs replacing? Is there anything we can do to reduce the noise?	A noisy motor does not automatically indicate that the motor needs replacing. A drop of lubricant on the drive shaft bearing at the front of the motor and another on the bearing at the back of the motor should help to reduce noise.