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Headstrikes With Xr640

ChaseO

Premium Subscriber
Hey guys, I'm really struggling with headstrikes/smudges on my new XR. What am I doing wrong? It does it with all media, but on banner stock, its really bad. I have adjusted heat up/down and have my head set on the high setting. I have tried using two pinch rollers, all the rollers, media clamps, no clamps and still consistently get smears. any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks
 

oksigns

New Member
make sure the vacuum setting is on high

double check those temps. you need to adjust all three locations, pre, print and dry

make sure the media is loaded correctly and evenly

evenly distribute pinch rollers

try, after loading the media and locked in, unrolling a good amount and loosely rolling it back on the roll again with some slack.

Biggest tip that I use religiously, load your media in but do not drop your pinch rollers. Pull a good amount of the media over the heating platen at a low temp, 88 or 94 (f), let the printer warm up to that temp. Once the printer holds that initial temp, lock the pinch rollers down, and rewind the media to the "beginning" to start your job.

Before the project prints, you can raise the "dryer" temp to something more suitable.
 

petepaz

New Member
sounds stupid but have you done a manual cleaning?
(while you are doing that make sure nothing is hanging from the print head, hairs, piece of the media from a head strike or something may gotten knocked loose)
 

ChaseO

Premium Subscriber
Thank you guys for the suggestions. Pete, it doesn't sound stupid at all, but I should have mentioned I've been printing with a different Roland for years so I know all to well about how a hair or fuzzy can ruin a print.

oksigns, I have already been through most of what you suggested or knew to do so anyway, but I did turn the vacuum power to 100% instead of auto, so I will give that a whirl.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.
 

Baz

New Member
Don't know your setup but i had found with my Roland printer (no take up reel). I have to put some tension on the banner material when it is coming out of the printer. Once i have enough length, i tape up the material to a table surface and put a cardboard vinyl core which has some weight inside of it. I have two of those cores on hand specifically for banner printing. One has a couple of small paint cans and another i put in some lead rods. It just rolls along as the print comes out.
 

Behrmon

Pr. Bear-Mon
What banner material? I've found the XR to be picky on banner. I've switched to solely 18 DS Pole banner, Strong vac and haven't had an issue since. Might sound a little crazy but it more than makes itself up when we don't loose a 30' on the second side over and over again.
 
Hey ChaseO,

No need for you to continue struggling with this issue. It's recommended that you contact Roland support and get help with this ASAP. We'll need you to complete our support submission form so we can create a support ticket for you. Go here to submit your info: Product Support Form | Roland

We look forward to helping you and take care,

Roland Technical Support
Roland DGA Corp.
rn
 
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