Blank Test Print

[Michael Snook]

Hello, I have just installed a new printhead in my Roland VS640 the test print is blank, why no print at all?
I have checked cables a few times and still nothing in the test print.

Any ideas what I can check?

Thank you.

 

[netsol]

i think i adked this in an earlier post (sorry if i missed your answer) WHAT WAS THE ORIGINAL SYMPTOM THAT CAUSED YOU TO CHANGE THE PRINTHEAD?

 

[Michael Snook]

Printhead was clogged as not used for AGES!!
So just presumed it was clogged.

Thank you.

 

[DL Signs]

Is it drawing ink through the head when yo do a cleaning cycle, and just not printing? Or are you getting no ink through the head at all?

 

[Michael Snook]

Is it drawing ink through the head when yo do a cleaning cycle, and just not printing? Or are you getting no ink through the head at all?

Hello, yes, ink gets pulled through. Nothing will show when you test print, not a drop. I haven’t tried to print, but I’m sure nothing will show either. Thank you.

 

[DL Signs]

That shows the heads and pumps are working, so it's electrical. Double check all ends of the cables going to the heads, but make sure you disconnect the power completely and let it sit for a while so capacitors can discharge! Just turning off the power switch leaves current flowing to all the boards. If you mess with any internal cables and don't have it disconnected you can cause damage. If you did anything with it still plugged in, you may have blown a fuse on, or damaged the head board.

Rolands have fuses on the boards, if you're lucky that's all it is. They look like the attached pic (different numbers for different fuses), test them and see if one is blown, if so make sure you replace it with the correct part number. If it was the main board you'd most likely get an error on the display, so it's probably the head board, either a fuse on it, or the board is bad.

 

[netsol]

so, you could have already had a blown fuse, (or, blown a fuse while reinserting ribbon cables)
it is time to test fuses, and, i suppose change dampers, if you have not, as well as captops.

if the head is clogged, the felt in the captops are probably clogged as well

i would buy one of these

https://www.amazon.com/Yonligonju-Handheld-Motorcycle-Bleeding-Automotive/dp/B094CV2KPQ/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=2UEV0J884ADAQ&keywords=brake+bleed+pump&qid=1664050074&sprefix=brake+bleed+pump%2Caps%2C146&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1

and pull old ink through the lines (after carefully agitating the cartridges one at a time, then CAREFULLY remove the ribbons ONE MORE TIME if you were not checking for bent over foils last time. also check for ink spills on cables as well as head carriage board, etc

if a fuse is blown, change and see if the new one blows. it will not blow intil you attempt to print or at least do a nozzle test print

IF FUSE BLOWS REPEATEDLY, you can order transistors on ebay and try to find a tv repair shop (if they exist anymore), to do the repair, or you can contact ed from inkjet performance.com in georgia. they offer repair service and i have used them with great success

 

[Michael Snook]

so, you could have already had a blown fuse, (or, blown a fuse while reinserting ribbon cables)
it is time to test fuses, and, i suppose change dampers, if you have not, as well as captops.

if the head is clogged, the felt in the captops are probably clogged as well

i would buy one of these

https://www.amazon.com/Yonligonju-Handheld-Motorcycle-Bleeding-Automotive/dp/B094CV2KPQ/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=2UEV0J884ADAQ&keywords=brake+bleed+pump&qid=1664050074&sprefix=brake+bleed+pump%2Caps%2C146&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1

and pull old ink through the lines (after carefully agitating the cartridges one at a time, then CAREFULLY remove the ribbons ONE MORE TIME if you were not checking for bent over foils last time. also check for ink spills on cables as well as head carriage board, etc

if a fuse is blown, change and see if the new one blows. it will not blow intil you attempt to print or at least do a nozzle test print

IF FUSE BLOWS REPEATEDLY, you can order transistors on ebay and try to find a tv repair shop (if they exist anymore), to do the repair, or you can contact ed from inkjet performance.com in georgia. they offer repair service and i have used them with great success

Well…I did have two blown fuses, but replaced those, I also replaced the board above the printhead, but nothing changes.
I can only presume I’ve broke the printhead!

Thank you.

 

[netsol]

i can't wrap my head around how you would have broken the print head
having had 2blown fuses, i would suspect you had, or have a bad ribbon cable, or an ink spill causing a short (possibly predating ALL THIS maybe the reason the machine was taken out of service in the first place?)

are you sure ink is moving through the lines during cleaning?
if not sure, pull ink through again with syringe or pump, after agitating
consider changing captop

if you Are sure Ink is pulling through, time to do voltage checks on the fuses feeding power to the transistors driving the printhead. these transistors are large and attached to a metal heat sink.
they can be damaged by a bad ribbon cable (they are cheap, possibly change them all?)

if fuse is repeatedly blowing, possibly time to send the board out for repair.
i would take steps to leave the printhead in a headsoak condition, ehile board is being repaired.
all these things obviously take time.

have you, by the way, spent the $15 to download service manual?
i don't know your particular model, but service manual certainly makes it easier to have an overview as repair & troubleshooting progresses

 

[Michael Snook]

i can't wrap my head around how you would have broken the print head
having had 2blown fuses, i would suspect you had, or have a bad ribbon cable, or an ink spill causing a short (possibly predating ALL THIS maybe the reason the machine was taken out of service in the first place?)

are you sure ink is moving through the lines during cleaning?
if not sure, pull ink through again with syringe or pump, after agitating
consider changing captop

if you Are sure Ink is pulling through, time to do voltage checks on the fuses feeding power to the transistors driving the printhead. these transistors are large and attached to a metal heat sink.
they can be damaged by a bad ribbon cable (they are cheap, possibly change them all?)

if fuse is repeatedly blowing, possibly time to send the board out for repair.
i would take steps to leave the printhead in a headsoak condition, ehile board is being repaired.
all these things obviously take time.

have you, by the way, spent the $15 to download service manual?
i don't know your particular model, but service manual certainly makes it easier to have an overview as repair & troubleshooting progresses

i can't wrap my head around how you would have broken the print head
having had 2blown fuses, i would suspect you had, or have a bad ribbon cable, or an ink spill causing a short (possibly predating ALL THIS maybe the reason the machine was taken out of service in the first place?)

are you sure ink is moving through the lines during cleaning?
if not sure, pull ink through again with syringe or pump, after agitating
consider changing captop

if you Are sure Ink is pulling through, time to do voltage checks on the fuses feeding power to the transistors driving the printhead. these transistors are large and attached to a metal heat sink.
they can be damaged by a bad ribbon cable (they are cheap, possibly change them all?)

if fuse is repeatedly blowing, possibly time to send the board out for repair.
i would take steps to leave the printhead in a headsoak condition, ehile board is being repaired.
all these things obviously take time.

have you, by the way, spent the $15 to download service manual?
i don't know your particular model, but service manual certainly makes it easier to have an overview as repair & troubleshooting progresses

I can see ink moving through the capping station pipes to the drain bottle.
I do have the manuals etc
I did replace capping, wiper, felt also.
Checking transistors may be beyond me.
I did change ribbon cables a few times, new and old cables, same problem.
I will try and find someone who could look at the boards and see if there is a problem.

Thank you.

 

[netsol]

let me lay my hands on that manual, we will get this resolved

did you have 2 blown fuses, or the same fuse, BLOWN TWICE?

troubleshooting & getting parts takes time & heads clog fairly quickly, so we probably wil need a head soak. but we will need to check DC VOLTAGE on both sides of the fuse you replaced. you might have a missing 40v supply, feeding your fuses. let me do a bit of reading

are you sure you got the right fuses? when i did my first roland, i needed 3.2 amp fuses but was sent 1.6 amp. they blew immediately. pico fuses (like a resistor) too small for me to read the value, and didnt. try a magnifier.

point is, there are lots of stupid, minor surprises along the way to fixing the machine,

 

[Michael Snook]

let me lay my hands on that manual, we will get this resolved

did you have 2 blown fuses, or the same fuse, BLOWN TWICE?

troubleshooting & getting parts takes time & heads clog fairly quickly, so we probably wil need a head soak. but we will need to check DC VOLTAGE on both sides of the fuse you replaced. you might have a missing 40v supply, feeding your fuses. let me do a bit of reading

are you sure you got the right fuses? when i did my first roland, i needed 3.2 amp fuses but was sent 1.6 amp. they blew immediately. pico fuses (like a resistor) too small for me to read the value, and didnt. try a magnifier.

point is, there are lots of stupid, minor surprises along the way to fixing the machine,

Both 3.15 nano fuses had blown. I’ve replaced them and they are fine, I take them out and check with a multi meter and put back in.

Thank you.

 

[Zoogee World]

As it's been mentioned, typically what you're describing is due to blown fuses, but if they are currently not blown and you're certain the cables are in the proper order and connected correctly and still have no print, it could be that you fried the head, but the only way I've seen that happen is if ink from the dampers leaked onto the head, did that happen? I am not the biggest fan of the 1 head design, as it is very easier to destroy if you don't do everything just right.

 

[Michael Snook]

As it's been mentioned, typically what you're describing is due to blown fuses, but if they are currently not blown and you're certain the cables are in the proper order and connected correctly and still have no print, it could be that you fried the head, but the only way I've seen that happen is if ink from the dampers leaked onto the head, did that happen? I am not the biggest fan of the 1 head design, as it is very easier to destroy if you don't do everything just right.

Hello, as for as I can see, nothing was spilt onto the printhead.
If I have fried the printhead, so be it, I will get a new one installed, I’m trying to find an old one to see if that prints as to make sure it is the problem. I would be fuming if I buy a new printhead and nothing changes.
I’m very close to selling it and buying a different one as it may be cheaper in the long run. I’m just not sure…….

Thank you.

 

[Zoogee World]

At the end of the day, it's what you really want to do. I'm sure it's fixable, but at what cost. If you do decide to just call it quits and upgrade, I would suggest going with either a VG2-640 or VG3-640 if you want to stay at the same size, stay away from the SG and VG, as they have lots of problems, even if you can get a decent used one, those newer models fixed and redesigned the issues. I haven't used the newer models first hand, but my close Tech friends have and have told me they are much better then my SG-300.

 

[Michael Snook]

…one of the Transistors was shorting out…..the board is in for repair…fingers crossed this was the problem.

 

[unmateria]

Be careful, that is the consecuence, not the cause. After mainboard repair, replace all the flat cables (can sound stupid, but the problem is usually there... Those flat cable dont like ink at all lol) and look into printhead connectors for ink spills or something inside (u need a microscope). If it blows again 1 time, dont do more tests and replace printhead or you will end in point zero again having to repair the mainboard

 

[TMAhoia]

hello Michael wre you able to fix the problem?