I’ve been having lots of issues with my Cameo 4 in the past month. It went from being my main machine and I was barely using my Cricut, to all of a sudden just becoming the most problematic thing I owned.

But it’s fixed now thankfully. At least for now anyway. And I’ve learnt a number of things to try when there’s an issue.

I also now have a checklist of things I do before using the roll feeder to try and avoid vinyl getting snagged in the machine. So, I thought it would be useful to share that too as I haven’t seen many people talk about how much of a pain it can be when you don’t get it quite right.

Take a look at the video below to learn some tips and tricks …..

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I found out a lot of these via the Silhouette School blog which is an amazing resource, and also on the subreddit Silhouette Cutters which is filled with people asking questions about various different issues. You can just search within Reddit if you’re looking for something specific.

Then of course Silhouette does also have a help section and an FAQ library as well, and if you’re still struggling you can contact them. Although I did that and it took me 4 days to hear back with information that wasn’t that helpful. That is probably my last resort, to be honest.

Here are just a few things I thought might be useful…

One of the problems I was experiencing was issues with the cutting process pausing mid-way and spitting the vinyl back out.

Roll feeder

This is what happens to mine if it is not lined up correctly.

In order to avoid this happening take the following steps.

Feed your vinyl roll through the little slot in the roll feeder and check it is as far over to the left as possible, whilst still being within the right-hand roller.

Once it's in, feed the vinyl a little bit more into the machine then pull up the handle again and move it around to make sure it's definitely straight on the left-hand side.
Make sure the guillotine on the back is up and not down.

I also pull the roll vinyl way out so that it's not going to get stuck when it's in the feeder and started placing a heavy roll on the right-hand side (take care in keeping it pushed over to the left so that that's not getting in the way).

Once all these checks have been made, it usually does the trick.

Blade

Another issue I was having was to do with the blade. My machine wasn't cutting anything and sometimes this is because stuff is stuck in the blade and getting in the way.

It's a lot easier with the auto blade of course because you can push that up to pull any stuck vinyl out.

There wasn't anything stuck in my old ratchet blade so I bought a new one. I prefer ratchet blades because I think they cut a bit better than the auto blade (check out the video at 9:03 for a talk-through on how to replace the blade).

I set the blade to #1 as that is the ideal setting, according to Sihouette Studio, although you might need to change it if you change your materials.

Bluetooth

I was also experiencing a lot of Bluetooth issues. I would set something cutting and it would pause halfway through and spit the vinyl back out without finishing cutting, and my machine would indicate that Bluetooth had been switched off or lost connection.

Firstly, I referred to the Silhouette FAQ section and worked through the checks to make sure everything was correct. These are the steps to work through..

Update your settings

I recommend checking your software is running the latest version and updating if needed.

Check your hardware connection

The next step is to check your hardware connection. Hopefully, by the time you reach this stage in the checks, your issue will have been resolved.

Interfering Connections

It wasn’t until I reached the ‘Interfering Connections’ check that I managed to solve mine. Just follow the instructions.

If you experience this issue it will mean all your ‘saved settings’ in Silhouette Studio will disappear, so these will need to be re-set.

Replacing your Bluetooth

You may find that replacing the small USB dongle found underneath the machine will give you a stronger Bluetooth connection. Do take care removing it though, as it is tiny and quite flimsy.

I found a Reddit recommendation for this dongle on Amazon as it has a stronger Bluetooth connection.

I didn’t actually need to replace mine as my Bluetooth started working again (and I was still under warranty), but it is worth considering if you if you have lots of issues that can’t be resolved any other way.

Update your Macbook or PC

It might also be worth updating your Macbook as this has been helpful for me in the past.

Other places to look for help

If you are still struggling there are many other resources to turn to. As already mentioned, Silhouette offer lots of help. Silhouette School also have a monthly membership site with lots of help.

Design Bundles have lots of tutorials and of course, there are a lot of videos on YouTube.

I hope you found that helpful.

Let me know if you have any other really good troubleshooting tips for your Cameo 4 machine or if you've got any questions, just drop them in the comments.

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