Oce Arizona - White ink extreme dripping when printing floods

[DPICopy]

We're having an issue with our 318GL. When printing any flood white (W|W|C, W|W|W, W, etc.) it will print fine for the first couple inches then the head will go out and start dumping streaks of thick white ink all over the print and bed.

We've tried:
Switching out the micron filter in the carriage
New white ink filter
Degas module has already been bypassed previously

When we print white text or smaller white areas it prints fine, it only seems to happen with floods. We printed a full bed (individual 28 pieces) of cut acrylic that each had a 2 layers of solid white 2" logo on them, no issue.

Before I place a pricy service call I just wanted to check here and see if there was any insight or additional troubleshooting that we could try on our end.

Photos attached.

Thanks!

 

[Select Bulgaria Service]

May be:
1. Somerhing happens with meniscus vacuum during the print. You have to check and adjust if needed. I would start from this point. Need special tool.
2. There is a problem with white ink.
3. There is a problem with white head.
4. There is a problem with the white head filter in head.
5. There is a problem with a hose berween subtank and head filter.
6. Check the vacuum hose between carriage and valves. You can not see the air. Need tool from p.1
7. Remove the absolute value of white in color profile and try again.

May have a problem with vacuum 3-way valve. Small yellow part near the ink pumps. Left side of the ink bay.

What happens when the gantry stay at home? Can you see drops of ink on printhead surface?
Need somebody with experience and with tools.

 

[Technician]

We're having an issue with our 318GL. When printing any flood white (W|W|C, W|W|W, W, etc.) it will print fine for the first couple inches then the head will go out and start dumping streaks of thick white ink all over the print and bed.

We've tried:
Switching out the micron filter in the carriage
New white ink filter
Degas module has already been bypassed previously

When we print white text or smaller white areas it prints fine, it only seems to happen with floods. We printed a full bed (individual 28 pieces) of cut acrylic that each had a 2 layers of solid white 2" logo on them, no issue.

Before I place a pricy service call I just wanted to check here and see if there was any insight or additional troubleshooting that we could try on our end.

Photos attached.

Thanks!

Step 1 is to make sure your degass system works. The printhead you have in that machine can’t handle air in the ink. Do you get same problem if you print same job on paper?? If not it could be static problem. When you get the problem how does it look on the printhead plate??
And of course it could be miniscus vacuum problem check for leak and maybe need adjustment.

 

[Pauly]

Are you getting any errors on the console ?

 

[DPICopy]

Are you getting any errors on the console ?

No error codes on console. Occasionally a UV lamp error will pop up but that's it, and it's pretty infrequent.

 

[DPICopy]

Step 1 is to make sure your degass system works. The printhead you have in that machine can’t handle air in the ink. Do you get same problem if you print same job on paper?? If not it could be static problem. When you get the problem how does it look on the printhead plate??
And of course it could be miniscus vacuum problem check for leak and maybe need adjustment.

Happens on paper/vacubond as well. I was hoping it was just a static problem with the acrylic.

The degas tubes have all been removed/bypassed, is there another part of that system that could be failing or not functioning properly?

White plate doesn't have any noticeable problems after this occurs and a standard cleaning brings it back up.

 

[unmateria]

Looks like air on the white tubings. Check all tubings, replace orings (the rubber little donuts), the rubbers on the dampers and sometimes is just the rubber of the cartdridge (where the needle pinch)

 

[DPICopy]

Looks like air on the white tubings. Check all tubings, replace orings (the rubber little donuts), the rubbers on the dampers and sometimes is just the rubber of the cartdridge (where the needle pinch)

Thanks, I agree! Do you have the part # for the orings and dampener rubbers by chance? Searching the CSA Shop is kinda a nightmare.

 

[AlsEU]

We're having an issue with our 318GL. When printing any flood white (W|W|C, W|W|W, W, etc.) it will print fine for the first couple inches then the head will go out and start dumping streaks of thick white ink all over the print and bed.

We've tried:
Switching out the micron filter in the carriage
New white ink filter
Degas module has already been bypassed previously

When we print white text or smaller white areas it prints fine, it only seems to happen with floods. We printed a full bed (individual 28 pieces) of cut acrylic that each had a 2 layers of solid white 2" logo on them, no issue.

Before I place a pricy service call I just wanted to check here and see if there was any insight or additional troubleshooting that we could try on our end.

Photos attached.

Thanks!

Are you sure the meniscus vacuum set point and range of changes are correct? The white ink is the heaviest of them all, and if the meniscus vacuum is too weak, white is the first to drip. You wrote that the problem arises after a few inches of print. I would check the meniscus vacuum set point, the range of changes, how fast it's being rebuilt, and the meniscus vacuum pump.