Help with roland vs-540 | I need factory settings

[Polarbear199]

I recently acquired a Roland vs-540 and it doesn’t work at all. I am waiting for a new encoder and limit sensor. This machine will not complete the limit initialization and gives a service call error on startup. In the service menu the page settings are all “0”s. I’m hoping someone can run through their service menu and show me their factory settings. I am wondering if somehow the board has been reset.

Also, when I try to run any service on the motors, it gives me an error. Like motor aging, errors out in just a few seconds. The motors appear to work as they do move the cartridges on startup.

Any tips or suggestions on how to move forward with this? I’ve tried all of the most common solutions like cleaning the sensors and encoder strip. I have cleaned the rail and lubed it with 3in1 oil as many have suggested.

Thanks!

 

[Solventinkjet]

What error does it give you when it fails the limit position?

 

[Polarbear199]

Position out of range.

The cutter breaks away from the ink cartridge and moves to the left about 3 inches. Then it moves back and forth in small increments before it throws the error. I cannot push it, the motor is still engaged until it errors out. Additionally, the screen never gets to the point where it tells me to move the cutter to the left.

 

[Solventinkjet]

Position out of range.

The cutter breaks away from the ink cartridge and moves to the left about 3 inches. Then it moves back and forth in small increments before it throws the error. I cannot push it, the motor is still engaged until it errors out. Additionally, the screen never gets to the point where it tells me to move the cutter to the left.

Hmmm that is a weird one. Maybe Joe House has some incites. I've never run into that before.

 

[Polarbear199]

I’m new to this forum. Who is Joe House and how do I get ahold of him. I live in Oregon. I wonder if there is a skilled technician in my area that could help me?

 

[Solventinkjet]

I’m new to this forum. Who is Joe House and how do I get ahold of him. I live in Oregon. I wonder if there is a skilled technician in my area that could help me?

lol sorry. I just mentioned his name because it will notify him to this post. He's a tech who works on Rolands and knows more than me. I believe he's actually up in the north west so it might be something he could help you with in person as well. He works for a dealer I believe.

 

[Polarbear199]

Ah got ya. Thanks. That would be awesome!

 

[Terry01]

Ensure your encoder strip is tight on the spring and not bottoming out.

 

[Polarbear199]

It looks good. In fact, in the settings I was able to verify that the encoder strip is reading properly.

 

[Polarbear199]

Thanks for your input so far, I appreciate it. I’m wondering if you know this answer…. How does the cutter measure distance. It doesn’t read the encoder strip. That sensor is on the print carriage. So when it moves, how does it know how far to move? Is that based on motor rotation? Or is there another sensor that tells it how far it’s traveled? Thanks.

 

[Technician]

Thanks for your input so far, I appreciate it. I’m wondering if you know this answer…. How does the cutter measure distance. It doesn’t read the encoder strip. That sensor is on the print carriage. So when it moves, how does it know how far to move? Is that based on motor rotation? Or is there another sensor that tells it how far it’s traveled? Thanks.

cutter is use the motor rotary enconder to know where it is on the bed

 

[Terry01]

There is also a sensor on the back of the cutter carriage..It reads the same as the print carriage and hense will give you the carriage disconnected fault. Is why that encoder strip must be right and clean.

 

[netsol]

it sounds like the encoder sensor has no pulses to count.
did you
clean the encoder strip with alcohol? (and are you sure no one cleaned it with the wrong chemical previously?)
clean the sensor itself
with a digital meter, be sure there is 5v (i think it is 5v) on both sides of the sensor?

damn, i used to have a business card sized (or smaller) plastic card that would reflect the invisible light back in a visible range, so in 30 seconds you knew if the "sender" portion was functioning. i only repair my own equipment these days and can't locate one of these cards.
i am trying to google, but so far do not see one. one of the most useful things you can have with this kind of problem

 

[Polarbear199]

I did clean it with alcohol. I also flipped it over as some have suggested. I have ordered a new one. However, in the service menu > servo - I am able to watch the encoder count up and down when I move the print head. So I believe that it is reading the encoder properly. I will replace the encoder and sensor when they arrive.

 

[Polarbear199]

Ok I’m getting somewhere! Turns out one of the arms to the ribbon was bent. I was able to finally get past the limit initialization. Seems there are many errors I am going to have to get past. Now it is telling me that all of my cartridges are wrong. However I have the eco sol max cartridges in place. In the settings menu I can see the ink levels but it will not let me proceed from this point. Any ideas are greatly welcome.

 

[Joe House]

A little late to the party here, but sounds like you got good advice on the limit position and the encoder seems to be working. The system switches should all be on "0" in most cases. And don't make any switches without knowing what you're doing. We seldom go in and change those.
As for the cartridge message, make sure that they're EcoSol Max, not Max2. Make sure that the dates on the cartridges are not older than 2 years.
Hop on here and get the latest firmware and update your printer.
If this printer hasn't been printing for some time, your biggest challenge will be to get the ink flowing. If ink in the printer is extremely old, it my not be worth the cost to repair this. Unfortunately, we've had to give this bad news to more than a few customers looking to revive a printer that they got as a good deal, many times after spending a good deal of money to get to that point. I hope your case is different.

Good Luck

 

[Polarbear199]

A little late to the party here, but sounds like you got good advice on the limit position and the encoder seems to be working. The system switches should all be on "0" in most cases. And don't make any switches without knowing what you're doing. We seldom go in and change those.
As for the cartridge message, make sure that they're EcoSol Max, not Max2. Make sure that the dates on the cartridges are not older than 2 years.
Hop on here and get the latest firmware and update your printer.
If this printer hasn't been printing for some time, your biggest challenge will be to get the ink flowing. If ink in the printer is extremely old, it my not be worth the cost to repair this. Unfortunately, we've had to give this bad news to more than a few customers looking to revive a printer that they got as a good deal, many times after spending a good deal of money to get to that point. I hope your case is different.

Good Luck

I hope my case is different also! I would hate to have gone this far and find out that it is too expensive to actually fix. That would be super disappointing. The entire thing s in great shape. I am afraid that the print head may be damaged from drying up. I can need up changing the ink setting in the system menu. It let me re-load the inks. That took about two hours and then failed due to a wiper sensor error. So now I have to work that out and do it all over again. The process is complicated by the fact that o don’t have dummy cartridges. (I found a painstaking workaround to that one.)

 

[Polarbear199]

A little late to the party here, but sounds like you got good advice on the limit position and the encoder seems to be working. The system switches should all be on "0" in most cases. And don't make any switches without knowing what you're doing. We seldom go in and change those.
As for the cartridge message, make sure that they're EcoSol Max, not Max2. Make sure that the dates on the cartridges are not older than 2 years.
Hop on here and get the latest firmware and update your printer.
If this printer hasn't been printing for some time, your biggest challenge will be to get the ink flowing. If ink in the printer is extremely old, it my not be worth the cost to repair this. Unfortunately, we've had to give this bad news to more than a few customers looking to revive a printer that they got as a good deal, many times after spending a good deal of money to get to that point. I hope your case is different.

Good Luck

Where can I find the latest firmware?

 

[Zoogee World]

Where can I find the latest firmware?

It's the link in his message, if you move your mouse over the text, it is a link. As for the wiper error, make sure that the wipers aren't too dried out or hard, as if they are, they like to get stuck and not wipe the head. Don't buy the wipers from DIGIPrint, unless you buy OEM, as they are too hard and the motor can't make them wipe the head properly. Had that happen with my 2 SP-300V's.