jv3-130spII - printing is skipping/stuttering etc...

[ATTTR]

I. HATE. THIS. MACHINE!

Okay, now that I got that off my chest...

I don't know what the issue is because the media is perfectly smooth when it starts out, nut then it goes under the rollers and where there is a space between the rollers, it raises slightly and the print heads stutter (best word I can think of at the moment) over the surface and leave nasty black marks in rows down the image.

This is happening more and more often, no matter what media I use. Even vinyl. So... are my rollers too tight to the print material?

Any ideas/solutions? I am wasting so much print material and ink from having to reprint I think my boss is going to start taking it out of my paycheck.

 

[artbot]

take a good photo of the effect. also are your pinch rollers clean? they can get gummed and leave tracks.

 

[ATTTR]

The best I could do. Hope it's visible.

 

[genericname]

What's your heat set at? Did you remove the High/Low toggle on the head carriage?

Edit: Also, check under the heads to make sure there are no ink-stalactites. You might have enough clearance for a clean head, but not one with ink deposits around the sides.

 

[ATTTR]

Heat is set steady at 38.
Not sure what you mean by removing the high/low toggle. (I have a toggle for thin/thick material, it's set to thin)

I always do a through cleaning daily (I am kinda OCD that way), and also before every major print job.
I've never seen any ink stalactites (great euphemism, btw). Hopefully never will.

It hasn't been a constant thing, either. It's so random.

 

[genericname]

Yeah the thick/thin toggle is what I meant. Just wondering because without it, it's possible to set the carriage too low.

If it were just one media raising, I'd say it's your media. Your heat's nowhere near high enough to cause warping in all of your media as well.

You might have a busted vacuum unit. It's set to high? Do you hear it whirring up when you load media?

 

[gabagoo]

You need to set your heads to high. The print quality is not as good but not that noticeable. I had the same issue when the machine was new 7 years ago.

My dealer for whatever reason refused to move it to the thick position with BS stories.
Still not sure why they did that. Best thing for me was finding this site so I could sort the BS I was getting and realize that I could change the settings myself.

 

[genericname]

You need to set your heads to high. The print quality is not as good but not that noticeable. I had the same issue when the machine was new 7 years ago.

My dealer for whatever reason refused to move it to the thick position with BS stories.
Still not sure why they did that. Best thing for me was finding this site so I could sort the BS I was getting and realize that I could change the settings myself.

It'll immediately hide the symptoms, but it won't solve his problem. Media warping will cause colour and pattern distortions due to varied drop widths as they travel downward. That you can move the head higher is no question, but you should be able to print on just about anything in the low position, without issue.

Edit: Splellig goot and! punctuate

 

[gabagoo]

True but he was just getting head strikes from what I read. never saw any pics

 

[thesignguy1986]

We had the same issue with our JV3 and it was all heat. We actually set ours at 38* as well and it didn't help until we moved down to 30*. Also make sure your material is pulled out a little because it will buckle from just sitting there as well from the previous heat. Should def do the trick though


Also make sure that the media is always pulled straight and tight. Seems obvious but a lot of people make this mistake

 

[gabagoo]

I also found with lower heat settings that you would need to laminate as the ink never really adhered as well as higher heat settings.

 

[genericname]

I also found with lower heat settings that you would need to laminate as the ink never really adhered as well as higher heat settings.

Definitely a concern. SS2 inks are rated as curable at 35C. Considering the energy it would take to heat to that through media, ideal heat settings would definitely be higher.

 

[ATTTR]

I don't hear anything out of the ordinary when I do anything with the printer, but then again, it sounds the same since I started working with it, so if it was broken before, I wouldn't know it. It's pretty darn loud anyway.

I will give the thick setting a try so I can compare prints.
Will also play with the heat settings. When it was set lower, the print looked awful and uneven.
It was very odd, so the Tech suggested 38 at all times.

I try to give myself about 5" of lead before printing, this also helps when I laminate.
I laminate everything regardless, as everything I print is used outdoors.

Thanks everyone for all the tips! Much appreciated.