Could someone take a look at this nozzle check.

[midnightmadman]

I’m looking at a sp540v and have never used this machine before. I’ve only had valuejets in the past. The print is coming out very blotchy that I was sent.
I’m hesitant to buy it. Even if the price is right.

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

Nozzles are there, but that is a LOT of deflection on the black.

 

[Solventinkjet]

In my experience, you're not going to be able to recover that black without a new head.

 

[midnightmadman]

Does the alignment look ok ?
It’s so different than what I’m used to using on mutoh printers.
What is causing the black check to look like that?
The print I was sent looks terrible. I’ll attach it.

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

Virtually every black nozzle on a head deflecting, either something wonky is going on electrically, or might've been something that bonked the printhead if I were to take a stab at it.

New head would likely fix the issue, so budget accordingly if you plan on getting it.

 

[midnightmadman]

My biggest concern would be something electric. He mentioned he replaced the ribbon cables to the print head too.

 

[midnightmadman]

Better picture

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

Leaning towards mechanical but probably needs a head regardless. If the head is already new, might be a big red flag.

 

[midnightmadman]

Why is it printing but jogged all over the place like it is ? If the head was clogged wouldn’t the lines just be missing not all staggered and crazy looking like that ?
He said the heads are 5 years old.

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

If the nozzle plate is dirty or getting loose, it can cause deflection.

 

[netsol]

It could be partial clogged nozzles causing deflection, but,
that head hit something.
perhaps one of the Roland media clamps

 

[netsol]

Budget for the he’d.
that’s not an electrical problem

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

Not an electrical problem in the head, but with the carriage. Last time I saw a DX7 do that, it was slammed into the side of the machine due to an encoder failure.

 

[cornholio]

Definitely the head. The black ink does that to the head after a couple of years.(EcoMax Black)

 

[Terry01]

DX4 heads are the cheapest of any head replacement. Just get another and start earning money with it.

 

[damonCA21]

Definite;y needs a new head, knock at least $1500 off the price if you can't fit it yourself and need to get a tech to do it.
To me it either looks like extreme clogging someone has tried to fix badly and it has damaged the nozzles, or the plate is starting to lift and causing the deflection. There is pretty much zero chance of ever getting a decent print out of it without replacing.

 

[midnightmadman]

It could be partial clogged nozzles causing deflection, but,
that head hit something.
perhaps one of the Roland media clamps

Thank you. So you’re thinking physical damage but a new head would resolve the issue ? Not electrical ?

 

[midnightmadman]

Now the big question is. I’ve always had value jets and did nothing but work on them trying to keep working properly. Anyone have both or had and how do they compare for repairing and replacing stuff like this and lines maintenance stations etc. are they similar or completely different. Are the Roland’s truly more resilient?

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

Not a helluva lot of difference between Roland and Mutoh on old DX4/5/7 head machines when it comes to things like parts to be honest. Older printers as well, expect to need more maintenance overall.

 

[Jim Hancock]

This is common with the older Roland printers using DX4 heads and the Roland EcoSol black ink. I've seen this dozens and dozens of times and a new head always fixes the issue. The carbon black pigment is rougher on the DX4 head internals than the pigments in the other colors. Replace the head, and the dampers at the same time... Definitely not an electronic issue, just degradation from the black ink...