HEAD STRIKES, HEAD STRIKES, HEAD STRIKES

[johnx]

You need to clean the vacume fans. They get clogged with dust and don't work correctly.

 

[Jim Hancock]

Be sure to clear all the holes in the platen to ensure max vacuum suction.

 

[netsol]

Likely something comparable to a fan inside your PC. Even on a $200k UV flatbed, they just use a few PC style fans for roll media suction.

 

[netsol]

not that i don't have things i SHOULD BE DOING, i see a modification involving a gast commercial vacuum pump in my near future
between the fact that december-february will be a bit slow, and my crazy governor's love of lockdowns (surpassed only by his love of the sound of his own voice <thank god i am not like that>) there should be plenty of time for an engineering project & the troubleshooting needed for the problems it causes

 

[2ny]

I cleaned the platen real good with denatured alcohol, it must have been sticky. It is working much better now, but still not perfect

Do you unroll the media before you start to print, or do you let the printer pull the media through? In my expperience you should unroll the media or else the machine is prone to skew the media as it pulls it through the printing process. We have a SP-300 that is still going strong after 15 years of service. We have changed quite a few heads on the Black/Cyan side, but have never had to change the Magenta/Yellow one.

Best regards
Tony

 

[Pewter0000]

Try what Solvent suggested about the vacuum and the heat.
To adjust the head height on the Roland XR-640:
Hit the menu button, then arrow down to "Head Height" . Arrow into that menu, then wait for the carriage to come out. towards the back of the carriage there is a white lever. lift it up. There is only 2 settings: high and low.

Menu? Wait for the carriage? I've never been shown that - we've only ever just reached out hand way in there and flicked the lever.

 

[Jim Hancock]

Menu? Wait for the carriage? I've never been shown that - we've only ever just reached out hand way in there and flicked the lever.

That is the fast easy way and it works just fine.

 

[Boudica]

Menu? Wait for the carriage? I've never been shown that - we've only ever just reached out hand way in there and flicked the lever.

LMAO - yah, I guess you could do it that way too. Never occurred to me (I was shown the scenic route). Good to know. I don't need to do that often, but now we all know the shortcut

 

[Pewter0000]

Do you unroll the media before you start to print, or do you let the printer pull the media through? In my expperience you should unroll the media or else the machine is prone to skew the media as it pulls it through the printing process. We have a SP-300 that is still going strong after 15 years of service. We have changed quite a few heads on the Black/Cyan side, but have never had to change the Magenta/Yellow one.

Best regards
Tony

Agree with this a lot - we had head strikes when I first started, but now we give it a little give on the back as well as make 10000% percent sure it's feeding as straight as possible; the roll is rolled as evenly as possible, etc. Made sure the media was fed out a little in front if there are any risks of ripples at the start of the sheet. Experience goes a long way too.

 

[CENTERVILLE SIGNS]

Do you unroll the media before you start to print, or do you let the printer pull the media through? In my expperience you should unroll the media or else the machine is prone to skew the media as it pulls it through the printing process. We have a SP-300 that is still going strong after 15 years of service. We have changed quite a few heads on the Black/Cyan side, but have never had to change the Magenta/Yellow one.

Best regards
Tony

Yes, I never let the printer pull the media. I always feed it out THANKS

 

[netsol]

centerville,
during the next month, imwant to "upgrade" one of my rolands to use a gast vacuum pump.
we can get enough vacuum to hold difficult nedia flat, without stopping the material from moving, i think

i will keep you posted

JIM HANCOCK

is it possible to adjust head height up by shimming or removing a shim to make this printer a bit more forgiving?

i run my sc545-ex in highest position most of the time, just wondering if this would work for centerville?

 

[Jim Hancock]

Yes, the head carriage can be raised. The head carriage screws for the height will need to be loosened and the carriage moved all the way up and temporarily tighten the screws. You will place a flat shim plate of the thickness of the head height you want under head carriage, loosen the screws and carefully lower the carriage until the print heads are flat on the shim plate. Tighten the screws. With some gentle force, lift up the front of the carriage and slide the plate out. The horizontal and bidirectional alignments will need to be redone.

 

[autoexebat]

I've never cleaned mine in 7 years , is this something that should be looked into ? or wait for a problem ?