Need Help Errors

[S2G_101]

Hi we are a small sign company in the hill country of Texas and we are having issues with our Roland printer.
We are trying to print this 4 x 8 white translucent vinyl (backlit sign face) and every time we start to print, we get speckling in the ink . We have cleaned the print heads and wiped down the material multiple times and it is still doing it. We suctioned out the lines, and we have changed the heater setting as well as the printer setting , and nothing has changed. Does anyone have any kind of inkling as to what could be causing this issue?
We're not out of ink, the ink cartridges are still full and yes we have cleaned the area so no dust would interfere, and yet no change.


If anyone has any idea, please, I'd be happy to have another person's thought on this !

 

[Joe House]

Are you using ink jet vinyl or just regular translucent vinyl? This makes a big difference. Can you share a picture of the speckling? Usually when it's random spots, there's contamination of some kind. Machine problems tend to show up as more regular issues - usually linear in nature.

 

[S2G_101]

Are you using ink jet vinyl or just regular translucent vinyl? This makes a big difference. Can you share a picture of the speckling? Usually when it's random spots, there's contamination of some kind. Machine problems tend to show up as more regular issues - usually linear in nature.

Hi ! No sorry I can't post a picture (Nowhere near a computer for that and no ability to attach phone to a computer to transfer photo) but the speckling is light? It's not just pure white with a dark center it's like very faint specks . Like when water dries on something (not that it is water mind you).
We are using ink jet vinyl , just checked on that . We tried wiping down the entire vinyl with a dry blue paper towel but we currently haven't tested it again to see if that helped .

 

[DJr]

Sounds like defective material or material that is old. Have you tried to get a sample from your supplier to check?


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[S2G_101]

Sounds like defective material or material that is old. Have you tried to get a sample from your supplier to check?


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No but we tried printing on older scrap and it still speckled. Also we ordered new vinyl to see if the vinyl we had gotten previously, was in fact defective or too old; and it still speckled even after being wiped down and the heater's adjusted.
Also cleaned around the print heads, yet again, and nothing has changed.
Our designer and owner both have researched on the topic, but so far nothing has worked.
We called one our of suppliers, to see if they had any suggestions and all they mentioned was doing a double print. Which worked, the speckling happened less; however we have to print a particular shade of green and with the double print; made it too dark. So had to go back into the art settings, and change that but we're still struggling.
Running out of options and time line is getting close for this job......

 

[DJr]

Sorry for the delay in response. Have you changed anything in the printer environment or where you are storing your material?


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[Joe House]

Can you post a picture?

 

[S2G_101]

Sorry for the delay in response. Have you changed anything in the printer environment or where you are storing your material?

That's ok. No worries.
We cannot move the printer from where it is, unfortunately. And as for storing the material, have not moved it. HOWEVER, we did try the double print, and strangely enough the speckling and very small fish eyes, were not there as much. So that might have been the answer? We're not entirely sure.
We did speak to our seller again, and best advice he gave us was to try different things. Which didn't stray too far from his original advice to us. Who knows.

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Can you post a picture?

Sadly no. No cord to connect phone to computer.

 

[Gulfside Signs]

What print profile are you using?

 

[S2G_101]

What print profile are you using?

You mean what kind of file was it?
An EPS as far as I know.

 

[rjssigns]

Wipe down with 90% IPA and a microfiber cloth. I got some crap banner and had the same issue until I started cleaning it with IPA. Without the wipe down it would fisheye like you can't imagine.

 

[S2G_101]

Wipe down with 90% IPA and a microfiber cloth. I got some crap banner and had the same issue until I started cleaning it with IPA. Without the wipe down it would fisheye like you can't imagine.

We use IPA but not the microfiber cloth. I haven't heard of using that before. We mostly use a blue paper towel to wipe our material down. We use to spray the paper towels with IPA and wipe down but we ended up getting streaks because it wasn't dry enough so we switched back to dry wipe downs.

 

[S2G_101]

Wipe down with 90% IPA and a microfiber cloth. I got some crap banner and had the same issue until I started cleaning it with IPA. Without the wipe down it would fisheye like you can't imagine.

So I spoke to the owners and they asked if there's any specific kind of microfiber cloth to use???? We looked some up but most specify cloths for cleaning surfaces like camera lenses, glasses, cds, tv screens, etc. etc. No mention of sign vinyl.

 

[oldgoatroper]

Microfibre is pretty much microfibre... Just go to a Walmart or whatever and get a bundle of microfibre cloths...

But curious... are you getting speckling on any other type of medium? Or is it just the translucent vinyl?

 

[rjssigns]

So I spoke to the owners and they asked if there's any specific kind of microfiber cloth to use???? We looked some up but most specify cloths for cleaning surfaces like camera lenses, glasses, cds, tv screens, etc. etc. No mention of sign vinyl.

OldGoatRoper is right. Microfiber is microfiber. I get the big bundles from Sam's when they have them.

 

[S2G_101]

OldGoatRoper is right. Microfiber is microfiber. I get the big bundles from Sam's when they have them.

Just asking, don't want to get something that isn't going to work/help.

Microfibre is pretty much microfibre... Just go to a Walmart or whatever and get a bundle of microfibre cloths...

But curious... are you getting speckling on any other type of medium? Or is it just the translucent vinyl?

We have mild speckling on other types of material but it's the worst on translucent.