Head Cleaning Tip

[JET]

I am sure everyone has had the problem of not using your machine and having the heads clog. Here is a tip that works real good.

1 - Remove the front cover
2 - Cut a few small pieces from your drain tubes (1/2")
3 - Unplug the t fitting and use the piece of tubing you cut and a plastic plug. Make sure you also plug the other side so the ink doesn't dry in the tube.
4- Move your heads out of the way and pour cleaning solution into the drain sponges so it is peaking over the top.
5- Slowly slide heads back on to seal gaskets and let soak for as long as needed. 10 minutes to overnight if it is really dried out.
6 - Reattach drain tubes and do a normal cleaning.
7- Repeat this procedure until they are unclogged.

This is better than using the powerful cleaning that can damgage the nozzles. It will soften the ink so the normal cleaning can work. Never rub the heads or you can push dried ink into the nozzle holes.

If you have a few stubborn nozzles you can also attach a syringe to the drain hose. Make sure heads are sealed to gaskets and pull some ink through the drain tube by pulling on the syringe quickly for each head that is clogged. This should break loose any clogged nozzles and is better than using the high pressure powerful cleaning setting.

Hope it helps.

PLUG DRAIN LINES

FILL WITH CLEANING SOLUTION

SOAK

RE ATTACH DRAIN LINES AND DO A NORMAL CLEANING

 

[Jack Knight1979]

I hope that machine is pretty new. Mine has about three years on it and looks gross by comparison.

 

[Drip Dry]

I've had my machine for about 4 years and never had a problem with the ink drying out. I've gone on vacation for a week and never had a problem.

Your tip may be good but why is your head drying out in the first place?

Do you leave the machine on or do you turn it off when not using it.

If left on, the machine will clean itself at times so you won't have it dry out.

I think there's a setting that tells it how often to clean itself.

 

[JET]

I don't use all the time

My machine is not used that much and I always clean it up after each use. They say you can not use it for a month at a time but it dries out in a couple of weeks. I had heads replaced under waranteee a few times and they replaced the seals and it still happens but not as much. I have the machine on all the time and it goes through the maintenence cycle every day. But that cycle is real fast and I don't think it squirts any ink out like when you do a normal cleaning. If I do a cleaning each day it won't clog but I am not around all the time. Is there a different setting that you can change for the daily maintenence cycle? Air must get past the seals somehow and it dries it out. So I have to soak the heads and clean them befopre I start it back up after it's siesta.

 

[Jack Knight1979]

I've had clogs so bad that I needed to hook up a syringe to the ink manifold and blast cleaning through the head. Works every time.

I would rather do soaks if possible, but sometimes it takes a blast of flush.

 

[JET]

blast

They took the head out once and hooked up a tube to it and blasted cleaning fluid through it. It does work. But I ended up getting a replacement head for it because it was scratched and there was a deflection problem on one of the nozzles.

You have to make sure the flushing adjustment is set correctly. If your machine makes a banging noise each time the head assy goes to the right it is out of adjustment. They changed the method on how to set it properly. Instead of using the left head you use the first head that hits the rubber capping seal. Otherwise the caps may come up while the head is still moving to the right causing it to scratch the head.

 

[JET]

Caution

When you add the cleaning fluid do not put to much in the cap or it will flow down the sides and build up where the springs are. Then you will have problems with them sticking. Fill it just under the top so the fumes do the cleaning. I had to clean out the cap bases using a q-tip and cleaning solution.

One other thing I noticed was the drain tubes were clogging with dried ink. So I ran a wire down them with cleaning solution. You can't use water or it will harden the ink. When your all done and it's all back together pour a little cleaning solution in the cap area to see if it drains out properly.

The tubes going to the bottle could also clog. I fill a little cup that drains down that tube to flush them out. When the drains are all clean it works a lot better for me because I only use the machine for only a few days every week or two. You have to clean it more thouroughly than when you use it every day.

 

[GSGservice]

Jet is correct about nozzle soaks, we put together a procedure and passed it on to Roland several years ago. I am not sure if Roland is giving out this info but we use it to help customers several times a week. You can speed things up if you use binder clips to clamp off the lines. Also be careful pushing solution through the manifold. You are much better off to syringe ink/solution from the bottom of the cap tops

 

[cheryld]

Clogged heads

I hope these directions help my problem. Is the procedure posted done on a Roland? If not does someone have directions for a Roland? I have a Roland SP300 and believe I have a clogged head.

 

[JET]

Yes
I used it on a Roland VP540. The Roland tech guys I showed also started using it. Just don't overfill it or you will end up with a mess like I learned. It is hard to clean under the sponges and wastes a lot of cleaning fluid.
You may also want to take off the drain tubes and check to see if they are clogged. If they are really clogged run a small wire down them to loosen the clog while pouring cleaning solution down them. Use only cleaning solution. Never use water. Water will coagulate the ink to a hard substance. If you have high humidity in a room it could also be a problem. Set up a dehumidifyer.

This method works great especially if you do not use the printer a lot. I found if you run the test print ever 2 days you will avoid the clogging. You also should check your rubber seals to see if they are sealing properly. When you pull a sucktion with a syringe from a drain tube there should be resistance and no leaks or sounds of air leaking in past the seals. If the syringe pulls easily then you have bad seals. The main reason they clog is poor seals but they will clog after a few weeks even with good seals. Some people say they don't have this problem but they are probably using the machine all the time.

 

[JET]

A review of the capping station. The capping station has a foam pad touching the head and a tube leading from the capping pad to the drain bottle. Ink gets sucked from the head through the foam pad to the drain bottle. When the printer is not used for a while the ink on the pad starts to dry which causes the nozzles in the head to dry as well. Ink becomes solid when it dries which makes it hard to disolve and break up unless you use a cleaning solution.
The capping station pump can wear out which will result in insuficient suction. This will prevent proper cleaning.
The dampers are the first line of protection. The tubing from the cartridge goes to the damper which sits directly on the head. The damper has a filter inside it to capture any particles that could clog the nozzles. After a good deal of ink travels through the damper, you may have particle build up which will prevent the flow of ink causing nozzles to drop out. There is also an o-ring that seals it. The system needs to be leak free or you will get air in the lines. A vacume is needed when the printing stops so the ink does not drip or siphon. They say the dampers should be replaced at least every two years but it depends on use.
The heads contain extremely small nozzles that the ink flows through. The surface of the head must be kept wet in order to prevent the head from drying out the ink. If ink inside the head forms solid particles it will block ink from flowing. It is imperative that the capping station pad be kept moist to prevent the head from drying.

The VP540 and other solvent printers are different than pigment printers. NEVER use water to clean them. Solvent printers are petroleum based and the ink will immediattly turn to a solid. Some other printers are water based and you may see directions that offer this as a way to clean the machine. Use ONLY solvent cleaning solutions.

A squirt of cleaning solution in the pads every few days is a good idea to keep them moist.

 

[Pacific Coast Sign]

I'm glad we're not your techs! (shaking head) This will be the Centerfold in next month's Roland Tech Bulletins!

 

[racer67x]

kind of a related question...I took the plunge a few weeks ago to get into printed stuff after working with vinyl for the last 10 years.
bought a used sp-300v from a couple who were retiring,they did a print the day I picked it up and I plugged it in immediately upon arriving home and manually cleaned it but with no software I hoped it would be okay a week or so.
now I have everything installed and when doing a test print I get some small dots but no lines,tried soaking the head as instructed above last night for a few hours,ran it thru the cleaning cycle a couple times but still have the same problem.
is this something like I just don't have profiles or something right or should I let the head soak longer?
clamped off the lines and followed above directions to a "T" but when I first started the pads on the capping station felt dry..now they are nice and moist with roland cleaning fluid (cut apart a cleaning cartridge to get some) and I'm hoping it comes back.
drain lines seem clear and machine is in nice condition just want to make sure it isn't software profiles before I continue.
thanks for reading and hope someone can give me a little guidance.


edit: okay..after posting this earlier I ran it thru a couple more cleaning cycles and watched it come back,thank god.
missing about 3 black dots out of all 4 colors so this worked wonders and you guys have my utmost thanks!


yesterday I couldn't even say "ROland ServIce TechnIcIan"..
Today..I ARE ONE!

lmao

 

[sfr table hockey]

kind of a related question...I took the plunge a few weeks ago to get into printed stuff after working with vinyl for the last 10 years.
bought a used sp-300v from a couple who were retiring,they did a print the day I picked it up and I plugged it in immediately upon arriving home and manually cleaned it but with no software I hoped it would be okay a week or so.
now I have everything installed and when doing a test print I get some small dots but no lines,tried soaking the head as instructed above last night for a few hours,ran it thru the cleaning cycle a couple times but still have the same problem.
is this something like I just don't have profiles or something right or should I let the head soak longer?
clamped off the lines and followed above directions to a "T" but when I first started the pads on the capping station felt dry..now they are nice and moist with roland cleaning fluid (cut apart a cleaning cartridge to get some) and I'm hoping it comes back.
drain lines seem clear and machine is in nice condition just want to make sure it isn't software profiles before I continue.
thanks for reading and hope someone can give me a little guidance.

Do make sure the drain lines are not blocked otherwise there will be no suction to draw ink into the heads. You could try to attach a syringe to the drain line in the drain bottle. Try to draw the syringe. If you hear sucking then that line is clear. Do both lines. If you have resistance and no ink coming out then there may be a block.

 

[racer67x]

Do make sure the drain lines are not blocked otherwise there will be no suction to draw ink into the heads. You could try to attach a syringe to the drain line in the drain bottle. Try to draw the syringe. If you hear sucking then that line is clear. Do both lines. If you have resistance and no ink coming out then there may be a block.

I think I got it and was editing my post as you replied..thanks!

 

[petepaz]

my sp300 is about 4-5years old and my vp540 is about 3.5years old
and knock wood never had a clog but i also have the self cleaning mode on and we use them alot but even when we close for a week no problems
(i know that uses more ink but if that keeps my heads from cloggin so be it)

 

[trimitbyrich]

if you leave the main power on and the sub power off, the machine will periodically clean itself if you are not using it for some time.

 

[JET]

All these proceedures were shown to me by a Roland tech. The soak was my own idea that Roland techs now use. They use a clip like the other poster stated. I reccomended the changes for the flushing adjustment to Roland and it was amended in V7 of the service manual where it explains in an update how to align the caps. My machine had a banging problem because they used the first cap to adjust it but it needed to be adjusted more to the west.

Stay away from companies that do not help show you how to clean your own machine because they are interested in making a lot of money off the service calls. I had one company that came out and fixed Versa works for me for free. Now I buy from them all the time. The other companies I stay away from.

Some of these cleaning methods like taking the heads out and squiring cleaning fluid through is only for last resort. A service tech did this once but they ended up replacing the head anyway because there was a defect in the nozzle. But it is worth a try if you have to replace the head anyway and you do your own repairs.

 

[Rickey J]

I have used the method in the past and it works great! The tech that came to the shop told me about it and recomended I did it every once in a while. Also if you are running a Roland Sp-300 they have some firmware thats been out a while that will help with the cleaning. It cleans the machine every 8 hours.

 

[JET]

Do you know if they have a upgrade for the VP-540? The autoclean works real fast sometimes and other times it takes longer. Not sure why.