How often do you all calibrate your machines?

[MrSalumi]

After a few hours with my nose in the service manual I have my roland dialed in like a hunting rifle. It got me to thinking how often should I be doing this? Obviously after a big move or physical impact but on a regular basis how often are you all calibrating your equipment? (not for color but for alignment etc.)

 

[asd]

never, if it ain't broke don't try and fix it
i do maintenance once a week clean the heads manually, check for wear and tear on consumables parts, wipers, sponge and that is all I do.

 

[kanini]

never, if it ain't broke don't try and fix it
i do maintenance once a week clean the heads manually, check for wear and tear on consumables parts, wipers, sponge and that is all I do.

+1 Only when I notice a difference in output or if something is wrong... The regular cleaning is of course a routine.

 

[rjssigns]

I do regular cleanings every week or more frequently if needed. Then once a year I have a tech come in and give the printer it's yearly "physical". (belt tension, sensor checks, registration etc...)

 

[Kentucky Wraps]

I've had my Roland for over 4 years...never calibrated it. Moved it 3 times. Never replaced a head. Only recently replaced the caps. I let the automated cleaning do it's job and if hair & stuff gets on the head and creates drips...I manually clean it off. Changed the wipers a couple times. I have 8 dampers waiting in a box just in case.
Oh...and I've been using 3rd party inks (Solaris) for about 3 years now and it hasn't broke my machine like Roland claims it will. Maybe it hasn't been long enough...or Perhaps I'm just one of the lucky ones.

 

[omgsideburns]

Usually run auto-cals every week or so.

Anything that requires physical adjustments? Only if I've done something to knock it out of whack.

 

[TheSnowman]

I only have it done when the tech is here, which has never been when the machine wasn't under warranty. I had my JV3 for about 7 years and never calibrated it once. It hadn't given me a reason to.

 

[MrSalumi]

Wow, I was expecting to hear that you all are doing it more frequently than that. I'll be happy not to have to do those calibrations again for another year or longer! Thanks for the responses.

 

[amw]

Over 6 years with our Rolands and NEVER needed to do it after it was set up. It has been moved 4 times and 3 of those time stood on end to "make it around a corner". Still cuts right on and prints perfect.
We did a head wash and pumped out all the inks before moving (since it had to "stand up").

We are just now talking about bringing in a tech to do a "tune-up" on them. The only part on either of out printers that ever "broke" was the wiper scraper 1 time cracked in half. Rolands are built to keep on going IMO.

Tony

 

[ColoPrinthead]

never, if it ain't broke don't try and fix it
i do maintenance once a week clean the heads manually, check for wear and tear on consumables parts, wipers, sponge and that is all I do.

I only calibrate when I'm having quality issues.