AIR BUBBLE in Ink Lines VP 540

[M D Gourley]

Hello Everyone,
My first post, hopefully I have done this right.
I have a Roland VP540 and over the last few months the Black and Cyan Print Heads at separate times have blocked on one side of the head and sometimes a 'Normal Clean' clears it and all back to normal...unfortunately it is happening quite often now and as I have a Service Warranty the Technician comes and tries to fix it....however it keeps reappearing and the technician does not know why...I pay them big money per year to keep my printer running...lol...but this is a problem that has just started over the last year or so, had 6 years prior with none of this problem.
This problem also happened to the Magenta Head a year or so ago which caused a large Magenta ink leak under the capping station and the technician put some rags there...which are still there...lol
Did some re-search and found a thread on Signs 101 about '3rd Party Inks' and the possible problems they cause...BUT I am using Roland Eco Sol Max 440ml cartridges supplied by my Supplier.
Some photos attached...I think.
....any help or possible solution would be appreciated

 

[klingsdesigns]

My ink cartridge decals do same thing. I had to syringe ink through when I got air bubbles. Could be cracked manifold, dampers or maybe the captops are worn and not sucking properly. My wipers were rubber not felt. Not sure on the overspray.

 

[M D Gourley]

My ink cartridge decals do same thing. I had to syringe ink through when I got air bubbles. Could be cracked manifold, dampers or maybe the captops are worn and not sucking properly. My wipers were rubber not felt. Not sure on the overspray.

Thanks for taking the time to reply....Yes, the Technician syringed the ink through to remove the air bubble in the line as well....will mention about the 'manifold, dampers and captops' when they come in next.

 

[klingsdesigns]

Manifold crack would suck air and not the ink into head. And the caption if it’s not sealing to head correctly.

 

[M D Gourley]

UPDATE:
Finally, the technician decided to replace the possible faulty Cyan head with a new one...and at this stage I am glad a pay for an 'Extended Warranty' on my printer...lol.
Unfortunately now the print quality when printing anything is not as good as before as it is very grainy, as before it was as good as a solid vinyl color.
Attached are some sample photos if anyone has some ideas as to what settings I could adjust to fix this...before calling back the Technician....as it seems to be all colors...Photos of print samples have been printed on 'High Quality'...it should not look this bad

 

[klingsdesigns]

Looks like your bi calibration is off

 

[klingsdesigns]

Also is your test print good?

 

[Solventinkjet]

Looks out of alignment for sure. Do you have the vinyl left over from when the tech did the alignments? My bet is not all alignments were done.

 

[M D Gourley]

Looks like your bi calibration is off

Thanks for the reply...and you are absolutely correct, just finished a Bi calibration and all is perfect.

 

[M D Gourley]

Looks out of alignment for sure. Do you have the vinyl left over from when the tech did the alignments? My bet is not all alignments were done.

Thank you for your response, absolutely correct...and just finished a bi calibration and all is perfect.

 

[klingsdesigns]

What material are you printing on. I had that happen on 3m ij180 roll before.

 

[M D Gourley]

What material are you printing on. I had that happen on 3m ij180 roll before.

It was a number of different materials...MacTac 5829P - (Fantastic for print and cut labels) is the Cyan test print above, Arlon 4600LX for the second from top print test and Arlon SLX Cast for the 1st and 4th test prints above.
The Bi calibration worked great, nice solid looking print colors now

 

[klingsdesigns]

You will want to do a detailed bi calibration I believe it’s called and use a magnifying glass to match each line up.

 

[M D Gourley]

You will want to do a detailed bi calibration I believe it’s called and use a magnifying glass to match each line up.

Yes you correct, I did the 'Detailed calibration' and you are not kidding about the magnifying...almost needing a microscope with these old eyes...LOL...thanks for your help

 

[klingsdesigns]

Did that fix it ?

 

[M D Gourley]

Did that fix it ?

Yes, the Detailed Bi Calibration did fix it...thanks for your input

 

[Myster Enigma]

My ink cartridge decals do same thing. I had to syringe ink through when I got air bubbles. Could be cracked manifold, dampers or maybe the captops are worn and not sucking properly. My wipers were rubber not felt. Not sure on the overspray.

Hi. What would be the causes of air in the ink lines moving away from the dampers? E.g When priming a damper with a syringe the ink flows into the dampers. However when I take the syringe off the ink immediately flows out the opposite way. Also there's a lot of air bubbles in the ink line.

Thanks

 

[klingsdesigns]

Possibly crack in manifold causing air to get in?

 

[M D Gourley]

Hi. What would be the causes of air in the ink lines moving away from the dampers? E.g When priming a damper with a syringe the ink flows into the dampers. However when I take the syringe off the ink immediately flows out the opposite way. Also there's a lot of air bubbles in the ink line.

Thanks

I had this problem and the Technician fixed it by putting in a new damper, caps, trimming the ink line connection coming from the Ink Cartridges at the other end of the VP 540 Printer and then re-seating the join so it is a tight fit, as these connections can work loose / expand over time maybe letting in air, then finally replacing the Cyan Head...LOL...which area was the actual problem, I do not know but all is good now.

 

[Myster Enigma]

I had this problem and the Technician fixed it by putting in a new damper, caps, trimming the ink line connection coming from the Ink Cartridges at the other end of the VP 540 Printer and then re-seating the join so it is a tight fit, as these connections can work loose / expand over time maybe letting in air, then finally replacing the Cyan Head...LOL...which area was the actual problem, I do not know but all is good now.

Yeah I changed the Dampers but that was about it. As far as I know the manifold should be okay. I'm really hoping to fix this myself as I was able to get some of the colors back by syringing some of the dampers. It's a Mimaki CJV30 so does anyone know anything about opening the valves? I read it on several posts and it's recommended to open the valves before priming. I have no idea what this means. Thanks