NO M... at all on one head. XC540

[Jumpshoutmedia]

I did a test print tonight, and to my dismay, the M head in the #1 block is completely blank, nothing printed for M!

I don't use my machine very much, I print maybe 4 jobs a month (lately), but I try to at least fire it up once a week, and I clean it a lot.

I did 2 powerful cleanings, and as a last resort I soaked a swab in solvant and pressed it into the face of the head (more blotted), It looks like half the head came back to life, but it's about 50%.

Obviously my print quality is degraded to crap, I'm getting banding really bad, and none of the colors look right.

Am I in for a new head?

What's the going price these days for a Roland OEM head, installed.

Also, since it was new, my printer seems to consume wipers. For as little as I use my printer, it seems like I'm putting in a new pair once a month! They get covered in dry crusty ink, and mis-shapen (wavey) and bent over. Is there a problem with my printer? or is this normal?

Seems like with the same volume, my SP300 only got a new set of wipers every 3-4 months. (I know there are more heads on the XC) but does it use them THAT much faster?

Thanks guys.

 

[jasonx]

Do you perform weekly maintenance? Clean around the heads, clean the wipers and clean around the capping stations?

 

[Jumpshoutmedia]

Do you perform weekly maintenance? Clean around the heads, clean the wipers and clean around the capping stations?

Yeah, except sometimes, it's every OTHER week. The most I've ever let it go without cleaning was 2 weeks when I was out of town, but the main/sub power were on.

 

[Pacific Coast Sign]

Keep using your soaked swab and hold to the face and head massaging the head lightly. Your head is dried and you have to work to get it clean. remember you can do power cleans on just that bank of heads to save ink. Keep at it...it will come back - and remember to always leave the power on as it will turn itself on and perform cleanings while you are away for 3+ days. The price of a new head is $895 without labor and mileage.

 

[cdiesel]

You should be able to bring the head back, but chances are you've got a problem with the capping station which caused the head to dry out. As for the wipers.. the machine will self clean even if you're not using it as long as the main power is on. I'd recommend cleaning your machine more often, especially the wipers and capping stations.

 

[Jumpshoutmedia]

Well the head came back, we replaced the cap-top, and it took a while to start taking ink, we also swapped the hoses on the pumps to make sure I didn't have a pump going out. Strange. We can't figure out what caused it, since the tech even said the captop we replaced looked perfect.

 

[synergy_jim]

medium cleans while jiggling the carriage back and forth should do the trick. I suspect you have a bad seal on the capping station and the head is not getting vaccum when running the cleaning. The bad seal probably lead to the dry out of the head in the first place.

 

[Pacific Coast Sign]

The cap tops may not have been aligned with the heads...this acts like a bad cap...use a flashlight and watch as the caps come up to the heads...they should be centered with the heads.

 

[Jumpshoutmedia]

medium cleans while jiggling the carriage back and forth should do the trick. I suspect you have a bad seal on the capping station and the head is not getting vaccum when running the cleaning. The bad seal probably lead to the dry out of the head in the first place.

Sounds like a winner to me! What do you mean jiggle the carrige? Like the entire print carrige (assembly that holds the heads and moves back and forth)? isn't it bad to put pressure on this? Obviously I wouldn't be wrenching on it, but I figured since the servo's hold it in a particular spot (pretty accuratly) any lateral force would put stress on the motor/belt.