Head Replacement already?? (SP-540V)

[DeeHutch]

I"m not sure the life expectancy of the print heads, buy my local Roland tech is telling me the black print head needs to be replaced on my machine.

I bought it brand new in February of '06 and as our only printer, usage is moderate.

The problem: When printing black text, the lines/curves around the text are not crisp......it either has a "drag" look like there is lint on the print heads or a pixilated look like a low-res JPEG or something.

Only happens on black and only happens when printing on vinyl. What's weird is, it doesn't happen when printing on banner.....only vinyl.

Things I and the Tech have done to correct the problem:

Cleaned encoder strip with alcohol, encoder strip is only about 6 months old anyways.

Full cleaning and head cleaning with swabs, etc. (this is done daily anyways)

Wiper replace

Sponge replace

Caps replaced

Still does it.....only conclusion the tech is offering is replacing the black print head and estimated the cost to be around a Grand with installation.

I"m not saying I don't trust him, I just want to make positively sure and see if there are other alternatives to try first.

Anyone have any experience with this or a similar problem?

Thanks.

 

[jasonx]

We had the same thing after a year with our SP. Ours was mainly I think to lack of use the first 6 months.

Post up a photo of your test print. We can see if all your nozzles are firing or if they are deflected.