Holy Crap! Please Help!!

[Designer85]

I've got a must have banner order due tomorrow and my magenta and yellow seems to have crapped out on me!!

I was having this issue a few weeks ago, fixed it by syphoning the ink through and problem solved....I thought. Fearing it may be the dampers, I ordered a set Friday, UPS screwed up the delivery time and they just got here today! Only they weren't the right size so no help there (not my fault, stupid customer service).

I took out the yellow and magenta dampers and everything looked ok there. I did do one stupid thing by restarting the printer before I plugged the ribbon cables back into the printhead...ZAP! Small spark shot out, no damage to the ribbon cable so I guess things are ok there.

I rehooked everything back up, syphoned the magenta and yellow (it syphoned ok), turned everything back on and not even one bar of magenta or yellow on the test print.

Could this be because that ZAP blew a fuse somewhere? If so, where? I looked everywhere for a blown fuse. Or could it be that the old dampers that are still in there are just crap and need replacing? Or maybe some other helpful suggestion.

I really need some helpful advice here. Please help!!

 

[Designer85]

I've got an SP-300 by the way. Thanks.

 

[Designer85]

Somebody please chime in! I'm really hurtin' here!

 

[ballgame]

Main board. Where was the ZAP?

 

[DOGraphics]

Somebody please chime in! I'm really hurtin' here!

Dude, where in the USA are you. Sub it out if you have to.

Good Luck.

 

[Designer85]

The zap (or more like a POP with sparks) came from the yellow ribbon cable as it touched the metal chasis.

I shut it down and unplugged the printer before I unplugged the ribbon cables so I could have better access to the dampers. I unpugged them from the printhead side only and tucked the ends up and out of the way.

Unfortunately, after I turned the printer back on I realized the ribbon cables were not plugged in. Not thinking very smartly I just grabbed them so I could plug them back in and the yellow ribbon cable touched the metal chasis of the printer and the pop with sparks came from that area only. Just where the end of the cable touched the metal chasis. I looked at the cable and all looked fine. I also looked at the main board and I didn't see any blown fuses, unless I'm looking in the wrong place.

Is this the problem? I wasn't getting any yellow or magenta before this happend. So I don't know what to do.

I've got a rep resending two dampers and a capping station, will be here tomorrow. He wanted to do this to save me some money (Closest rep is like 3 hours away). He didn't know for sure if this would fix it, but was the most economical choice on my end.

 

[Designer85]

I would have subbed it out if this had happened earlier. There is one other place in town that does banners, and they couldn't fit me into their schedule today. I've decided to print it as a black and white banner (since my black and cyan works) instead of color - I'll give them a discount - That's all I can do at this point.

 

[Designer85]

Update: I just installed the new dampers and cap top....still not working

I'm worried it may be the mainboard. Any suggestions?

I found a company called MacMedia that says I can ship the main board to them and they may be able to repair (ie: probably just install new fuses). What does everyone else think?

 

[SignManiac]

Check your voltage parameters first then look at the parabolic inducers on the secondary sub board. If you see any burned transistors around or near the central or primary printed circuit board (PCB) the edge connector socket, often popularly referenced simply as a slot, is more than likely the culprit. Often times, you can override that slot by rewiring the red power line with the blue one. But be careful, you might not like where the rabbit hole takes you.

 

[Rooster]

You blew the fuse on the mainboard. I've heard rumours that they can be fixed but have never found anyone that could do it. It's not a job I would attempt myself.

It's an expensive mistake to make. I made it myself once in the past so take solace that your misery has company.

 

[Blizare]

Fuses are soldered to the main board on the stupid old rolands. I'd bet $5 it's just the fuse. Obviousley nothing is going to come out of that printhead with no power. Send it out to get fixed from the company you found or buy a new board.

 

[Designer85]

The company that I was refering to is MacMedia http://www.macmedia.com
I plan on calling them in the morning to find out more. The turnaround looks pretty fast as well. they sell just the fuse for the mainboard also, but I would much rather pay them to do it right than me blow something else up.

I'll keep you posted. Thanks.