Bad Prints and Scrambled Test Print

[feckmo]

Hi All,

I have a VersaArt RE-640 that was loaded by the dealer with dye-sub inks (Sensient). It has worked well for years, but recently it began totally scrambling prints -- basically printing all colors all the time. Think muddy brown/black bands the entire length of the print media. When I do a test print, this is what I get. Anyone ever see this before? Any idea where to start troubleshooting? I tried new head cables to the carriage board, but that didn't help. Thanks in advance!

 

[Jim Hancock]

Did it print the same before changing the head ribbons? In other words, did the ribbons make any difference at all? If not, it looks like your printhead is toast. This kind of streaking is electronic in nature.

 

[zspace]

Clean the encoder strip. Probably not the issue but doesn’t cost anything to try.

 

[greysquirrel]

be careful with sentient inks...they build up algae pretty often in the subtasks. If you have a bulk ink system on your printer, its recommended to swap tanks every year...

 

[hand851]

Head cables and or cables from the main to the carriage board, replace them.

 

[feckmo]

Thanks for the replies! I have had the machine for maybe 5 or 6 years and was never told about needing to swap tanks out so that was never done. Can't be good. Otherwise, I have replaced the head cables which didn't help, but not the cables from main to carriage board. I'll give that a try next and report back.

Ultimately, I decided to replace the Roland with an Epson F6200 for dye-sub when this happened with plans to switch the Roland back to standard solvent inks. That said, I will need to flush with cleaning fluid anyway -- I'm just hoping to avoid a head replacement if possible.

Thanks again.

 

[Jim Hancock]

This printer doesn't have sub tanks, but the algae buildup could certainly occur in refillable cartridges and dampers and get into the printhead. I don't see it being the cables from the mainboard to the head carriage, as that would mean all 3 cables have an issue. In addition, swapping out those cables are a major undertaking. I still lean towards a bad head.

 

[feckmo]

This printer doesn't have sub tanks, but the algae buildup could certainly occur in refillable cartridges and dampers and get into the printhead. I don't see it being the cables from the mainboard to the head carriage, as that would mean all 3 cables have an issue. In addition, swapping out those cables are a major undertaking. I still lean towards a bad head.

Agreed. I'm thinking the same thing, so I'll probably focus there. This printer uses a DX7 head, correct? Does anyone have a good, low-cost source they can suggest for them? I believe my local dealer wants roughly $2K just for the head which seems excessive. I have found others that specifically say DX7 for Roland at around $600, but I have no idea if that's reasonable.

Thanks again!

 

[iPrintStuff]

Depends where you see them. If it’s from Indonesia etc then it’s a $600 head that will likely never appear

 

[Jim Hancock]

Yes, the suppliers in Indonesia specialize in ghost heads!

Be careful on eBay also. I've seen DX5 heads advertised as DX7 heads, crazy stuff...

Legitimate heads start at $1650 & go up from there...

There's a bit of confusion on the web about DX6 vs DX7 printheads. This from Solventinkjet.com might help.

https://signs101.com/threads/dx6-and-dx7.137416/

"The Roland VS series uses the DX7 print head and not the DX6 for sure.

There is a lot of confusion around the DX6 and DX7 heads. Long story short: Epson makes all of the heads I am about to mention. The DX5 print head was/is a very popular print head that Epson licensed out to 3rd parties to use in their printer designs. The DX6 head was next but Epson didn't license it out to 3rd parties. The DX7 than came out very soon after and was licensed to 3rd parties like Roland, Mutoh, Mimaki and others. Since they all skipped from DX5 to DX7 a lot of people just assumed the DX7 head was actually the DX6 when it wasn't. Now you search for DX6 and get a lot of results for DX7 heads for that reason. The lesson here is that there are a lot of websites selling parts out there but most of them are not knowledgeable about the product at all."

And
https://signs101.com/threads/ordered-new-dx6-did-i-get-a-fake-or.153485/
"There is no such thing as a DX6 print head. It was a modified DX5 for a specific small format printer but was never actually a new type of head. All DX6 print heads you see online are DX7 heads and usually labeled by someone who doesn't know what to call the head. Not sure how this got mixed up through the years but that's the story. That being said, your pictures show a new DX7 head. The fluid is from testing at the factory."

 

[feckmo]

Good info, thanks! Yes, upon closer examination, the three places I was looking at are all based in Indonesia. I wonder why? What legitimate (preferably US) resellers would people recommend? I'm not sure at this point if it's worth fixing or scrapping/selling for parts since I have already replaced it with an Epson dye-sub printer and we also have a Roland Pro-III, Roland Pro-4 and Mimaki flatbed UV in-house. Thoughts?

Thanks again.

 

[player]

Digiprint Supplies in Miami. Be sure to be on the USA website. Top left it should say World Site. If it says US Site you are on the World Site.

 

[cadmadrob]

I have been selling Roland printers ever since the first Roland CJ-70 was released (pigmented ink) this printer was pretty much an expensive cutter, the material was coated, laminated and still no good for outdoor use, anyway I won't bore you with this topic. The responses you have received, since I last looked at this site (at least five years back) have really come on in leaps and bounds. The messages are to the point and worth listening to. There are a number of things to take in and the first is I would try changing the data cables from the main to carriage board, this might be a waste of time but in my opinion is worth a try especially if you intend selling that unit because you would want to sell it in working order, that way you would be far more at ease if you had to replace the head. I say this because if there is in fact an issue with the data cables it could damage the new head. Regarding importing DX-7 heads, don't even try, there is a slight difference in the DX-7 head that they are selling and a lot of the time you don't even receive the order. My Roland supplier imported o couple of DX-7 heads from Singapore and they never arrived. You are going to get burnt. To end off well done to the guys offering support as I said they are on the right track. Some years back the responses were way off track.