designjet l26500 print settings for 10-13oz banner

[david lewicki]

Hey,
Today for some reason I cannot print a banner without it looking faded and "chalky" like. There is even sections that have like a wavy print on them that seems to be from the heater coils or something....I don't print many banners but the last time I did they turned out fine. I wish I could remember any setting changes I may have made to make those banners print normal the last time. Anyways, I am not very advanced with my machine but everything else seems to print just fine. I use flexi and the production manager for that. For banners, I have my preset set to durable frontlit scrim banner/10pass. dry temp: 40C , Curing temp 60C , which is what it automatically goes to when I preset to frontlit banner. I check everything I can think of to make sure the rip and production manager are the same settings. So is there anything I can change in my settings to make a normal looking banner????

 

[P Wagner]

This roll of banner is likely plasticizer-contaminated. To check this, clean a defined area with Isopropyl alcohol, mark the cleaned area with a sharpie marker, and then print a job that extends through the cleaned area. You are likely to learn that the cleaned area prints besutifally, while the un-cleaned area looks like your pic. Get a fresh roll of media or clean the current roll would be your options.

 

[david lewicki]

Thanks, Ill try that next. Does it look like my presets are good though or should I adjust any of them?

 

[Ian Stewart-Koster]

They look pretty cold to me... is the ink curing & drying so it does not smudge?

 

[david lewicki]

That did fix the print. So thank you for that. But I have another issue that I cannot figure out as well. That is the color output when I print. This banner was supposed to be gold and green....and it comes out just drab colors. Even if I switch the color mode when designing to cmyk or switch it to rgb and print, still prints the same either way. Just not rich bright color. I tried printing on my new gloss vinyl. Same thing thing.....what do you think might be the issue? Old inks?

 

[david lewicki]

It does smudge. What should I change for my setting?

 

[david lewicki]

If anyone is willing to help over the phone and walk me through some things to try and fix what might be happening I'm all for it. I can pay you for your time via venmo or whatever. I just shouldnt be having these issues for simple prints. I must be not doing something that is an easy fix. I create everything in illustrator.
OR maybe its my ink cartridges. My printer does sit from time to time without being used. Anyways, anyone willing to help, reach out. Thanks in advance.

 

[Ian Stewart-Koster]

Dirty looking prints are often a sign the heads need a good cleaning - there may even be gunk under them.
Run the head cleaning routing 3 or 4 times, and then do a test print.

Smudgy prints are a sign the ink has not cured. You can put a hot-air gun over them yourself, manually, till they do cure, now that the job has finished.
It will take a fair bit of heat - be careful you do not want to melt the banner though.

Then set your profile hotter cure. I forget what we use, but I thought it closer to 75 degrees C - even 80 ?
I have not got the machine on - I need a new PSU.

 

[david lewicki]

Dirty looking prints are often a sign the heads need a good cleaning - there may even be gunk under them.
Run the head cleaning routing 3 or 4 times, and then do a test print.

Smudgy prints are a sign the ink has not cured. You can put a hot-air gun over them yourself, manually, till they do cure, now that the job has finished.
It will take a fair bit of heat - be careful you do not want to melt the banner though.

Then set your profile hotter cure. I forget what we use, but I thought it closer to 75 degrees C - even 80 ?
I have not got the machine on - I need a new PSU.

Is a dirty looking print the same as a faded looking color to you? Just trying to figure it out. I will run the cleaning 4-5 times and see. Thanks again for your help. Any more thoughts you have on the issue please feel free to let me know. I will let you know how it goes after the cleaning.

 

[david lewicki]

This roll of banner is likely plasticizer-contaminated. To check this, clean a defined area with Isopropyl alcohol, mark the cleaned area with a sharpie marker, and then print a job that extends through the cleaned area. You are likely to learn that the cleaned area prints besutifally, while the un-cleaned area looks like your pic. Get a fresh roll of media or clean the current roll would be your options.

Alright, cleaned the printheads multiple times. I cleaned off the banner material like you suggested. The banners still come out drab color. But if I put in gloss vinyl the colors are what they should be. I tried putting in a different banner material and still drab colors. If you see anything in my setting from my first picture I should change let me know. I have tried boosting up the cure temp to 80. same thing

 

[Zoogee World]

I'm not familiar with your printer or with using Flexi, but was wondering if you have played around with the color profile settings (If there are any), I know in Versa Works you can do different color presets, some will give you brighter more vibrant color and some will give you darker, faded, etc.

 

[david lewicki]

I'm not familiar with your printer or with using Flexi, but was wondering if you have played around with the color profile settings (If there are any), I know in Versa Works you can do different color presets, some will give you brighter more vibrant color and some will give you darker, faded, etc.

I decided to just not use the banner preset in production manager and just use what I typically use for gloss vinyl. Seems to be working fine doing that. Colors match the screen and appear normal. I talked to a technician at Fellers and he said that is common practice. Thanks for all your help guys. I'm sure I will be back.....