How many cleanings during a 3'x5' print...VP540?

[LivinLarge]

Title says it all. Now don't get this confused with my other issues I am having in other posts...this one is for a friend.

while she is printing say a 3'x5' banner (NOT in High Quality) just standard, her VP540 is pausing to clean or cycle ink (makes the same sound as a cleaning) but i truly don't know the actual thing it is doing...several times...I mean a minimum of 3 if not 4 times.

I know when i am running something...it might do it once maybe twice if it's a long run...say 10' or greater. but this machine is doing a LOT!

Any ideas?

thanks!!

 

[Bigdawg]

My VP 540 cleans during printing, but not that many times on a five foot print. That doesn't sound right at all.

 

[Malkin]

I would guess that there is a bottleneck on the network, and the data is not being transferred to the machine as fast as it should be, which causes the machine to pause waiting for it.

The cleaning noise it makes might just be what it does after the heads stop moving and are docked.

Just a guess!

 

[MarioDesign]

I have a VP540 and noticed it would pause every once in a while when printing. As soon as I upgraded my computer to something more powerful with much more hard drive space it hardly ever happens anymore.

 

[Sideshow]

Its the computer.

the print loads into both the printer and the computers memory, if you dont have a fast enough computer with good RAM, it will pause.

We had an old athlon64 with 2GB ram at first, but upgraded to a PhenomII X4 with 12GB and it runs without delay now.

If you cant upgrade your computer yet..... a simple tip, make sure your desktop is empty save your recycle bin. ALL folders images, etc on it, have to load into windows memory when windows loads, so it eats resources. And close everything but your rip print software

 

[LivinLarge]

well i have experienced a "lag" when file is processing from pc to printer...and that is usually just a stall in the head moving(printing).

but say during normal operation...everything is running smooth...head stops at doc, click click click click click tap tap tap tap tap suck suck suck...then back to printing again. That is the problem that seems to be growing. i am use to that happening once maybe twice during a print...BUT 3 to 4 times during a 3'x5'??

or are you saying that a lag in the computer is what creates that to begin with? that cleaning action....?

 

[Sticky Signs]

First off, I don't think it's the cleaning cycle that you are hearing. It's probably just the capping station moving up and down. The printer is probably stopping because there are other things running on the computer like antivirus software. Make sure all applications are turned off and see if it's doing the same thing. Had a similar problem when printing large files. Turns out it was Norton P.O.S. software hogging all the memory. I've unplugged my rip station from the internet and disabled NOrton. I only get the pause in printing when I'm running really large files.

 

[Large Format]

Roland VP printers will will preform numerous cleanings when using 3rd party inks.

 

[Gene@mpls]

Roland VP printers will will preform numerous cleanings when using 3rd party inks.

Not so with my Triangle Inx.

 

[graphixlee]

Do you have "Periodic Cleaning" enabled on the printer? If so, disable it. The other symptom, pausing at either end and then printing a pass, is "data late". This is a network issue. The printer will not print a pass until it has all of the data for that pass. If there is a network bottleneck, the printer will pause between passes.

 

[swannisl]

If you're using 3rd party inks, try replacing the chips with new chips and I can almost guarantee that will fix the problem.

I had the same annoying problem as you can see from some of my other posts. Finally figured out the problem: I'm using Solaris Ink (which prints great), however Roland couldn't read the chip on some of the ink cart. - usually the Cyan. I replaced the chips and the problem was solved.
The same problem started happening last week when I put a new Cyan cart. in...again, changed the chip and everything is working fine.

 

[Mosh]

Ours NEVER stop like that unless the ink is out. SLow computer or 3rd party ink F'up

 

[Trimline20]

Ensure that the printer's Firmware is up-to-date. Some of the older F/W included too many cleaning cycles depending on printer model.

I've never had anyone explain what the chip on the cartridge is supposed to do but some Roland models do not even use it. I have the original VersaCAMM SP-300 which does not utilize the cartridge chip at all.

I did however notice a large difference in cleaning cycle frequency after updating the Firmware.

Mark

 

[bmendes]

The VP-series empty the cap tops during printing, there is no waste sponge in this series of printer so during printing ink that would normally be fired into the waste sponge gets fired into the cap tops which requires the pump to empty them during normal printing.

Hope this helps
regards
Brett