Reaction GFX
New Member
I'm not sure who came up with this process, but it's ridiculous. Machine has no real problems to speak of and prints okay for the most part, but I noticed a few days ago that (when looking at the printer) the vertical line in my crop mark was a bit blurry, especially when compared to the horizontal line. Then I noticed that vertical lines on just about everything are ever so slightly blurry. It's passable, but it's definitely not right...I've seen it print much better. So I go to do a Bi-Di head alignment...which brings up the first issue. I don't store media profiles on the machine. All my profiling is done through ONYX. Except you're supposed to pick a specific media number from the list on the machine in order to do the head alignment. Since I don't keep medias profiled on the machine, I just picked the first choice which is "Standard." Is that correct? Does my choice here impact my calibration results? Anyhow, so I run the head alignment on 54" media. It prints 3 sets of bars (labeled 1, 2, 3) on the right, another in the center, and another on the left. I'm supposed to choose the best line from all three locations?? IMPOSSIBLE. For the #1 set of lines on the far right, line #1 is the best, but it's clearly off when I look at it through a loupe. In the center, it's line #5, and on the left end it's line #7. WHICH ONE DO I CHOOSE?!?!?! For the #2 set of lines, it's also 1 on the left, 5 in the center, and 7 on the right. For the #3 set of lines, it's 1 on the right, 7 in the center, and 7 on the left. It's all over the board. How the heck am I supposed to choose the best line??
I have checked, double-checked, and triple-checked that the machine is level. I've placed my level all over the platen, in both media feed direction as well as carriage path direction. It's level. I guarantee it's level. I did notice that when I put a 60" straight edge across the platen, it seems to be low in the center. I can slide a piece of paper under the straight edge in teh center, but not on either end. So I pulled the platen off and put a few pieces of tape on the spots where the screws attach to the frame of the machine in the center, creating a really thin washer of sorts. But once I tighten the screws down, while it seems a tiny bit better, I can still slip a sheet of paper under the straight edge in the center of the platen. If I loosen the screws at all, the carriage makes an awful noise when moving. (it's not dragging the heads, there is still plenty of clearance from what I can see...)
What else can I try? I'm at a loss. This has got to be one of the most ridiculous, shot-in-the-dark calibration procedures I've ever dealt with in all my years of large-format printing. For the most part, I love our GS6000, but every now and then it throws me for a loop. Any help is appreciated!! Thanks!
I have checked, double-checked, and triple-checked that the machine is level. I've placed my level all over the platen, in both media feed direction as well as carriage path direction. It's level. I guarantee it's level. I did notice that when I put a 60" straight edge across the platen, it seems to be low in the center. I can slide a piece of paper under the straight edge in teh center, but not on either end. So I pulled the platen off and put a few pieces of tape on the spots where the screws attach to the frame of the machine in the center, creating a really thin washer of sorts. But once I tighten the screws down, while it seems a tiny bit better, I can still slip a sheet of paper under the straight edge in the center of the platen. If I loosen the screws at all, the carriage makes an awful noise when moving. (it's not dragging the heads, there is still plenty of clearance from what I can see...)
What else can I try? I'm at a loss. This has got to be one of the most ridiculous, shot-in-the-dark calibration procedures I've ever dealt with in all my years of large-format printing. For the most part, I love our GS6000, but every now and then it throws me for a loop. Any help is appreciated!! Thanks!