Print head speed on a SP-540V

[corel4signs]

Hello.....

Increasing my print head speeds on my Roland, what will I expect? Can you still used bi-directional and will there be a loss on quality.

Please let me know

Thanx for the time

Lars

 

[threeputt]

You will notice a loss in color depth, loss of resolution, and maybe banding.

 

[corel4signs]

print head speed

What is a recommended print head speed other then default

 

[ChiknNutz]

Be more specific with what your plans are. I run Wasatch SoftRip and my typical head speed is at 760 (what those units are is beyond me) for a 720x720x8-pass mode (used for 95% of all jobs). At this resolution I get 64 SFPH. If I run it at 360x720x16-pass then the head speed can go up to 1000. I have also made a 450x360x4-pass mode (head speed of 1000, which seems to be max) that works good for banners, and really kicks it out at about 165 SFPH. However, the color RED suffers at this resolution, but overall it's really pretty good.

 

[P Wagner]

The maximum head (carriage) speed that I would recommend using on the VersaCAMM is about 760mm/s. Ideally, the Media selection (Media Profile) that is made will define this value, along with a host of other settings that are optimized for balancing quality with speed.

Bob

 

[corel4signs]

speed

My current head speed is 720 mm/sec, for me that is slow as molasses in January!

 

[P Wagner]

Keep in mind that the head speed is only one factor that determines throughput. Pass count is also very important. The lower the number of passes, the faster the printer will print; however too few passes will result in a loss of ink density and can also introduce banding artifacts to the printed output. As Chris mentioned, 720x720 8-pass is a pretty standard print configuration on the Roland SP printers. Also keep in minda that the SP is the entry-level machine in the VersaCAMM line.

Bob

 

[corel4signs]

Roland specs

Thanx Bob .......I will have to experiment and noted that model I have is entry level.

 

[KForceOH]

Entry level is a funny term to me. 20K for a "entry" level machine? That just sounds crazy I guess. I was told the VP line only produced faster cuts and had nothing to do with the actual print quality itself. I guess I will just be happy with my "entry" level machine.

 

[P Wagner]

The SP-series starts at $10,995 (list), and the 54 inch unit retails for $16995. That is the definition of 'entry-level' for a print & cut device. The VP-series and XC-series cost considerably more.

Bob

 

[KForceOH]

We could of had the VP for 3500.00 more, which is not that much considering the investment. But again I was told by the people selling the machines the VP only cuts faster, everything else is the same. Not sure the SP540 does an excellent job for me, but I am entry also I haven't ran into anything it can't do, a little more speed might be nice I guess.

Kyle

 

[B Snyder]

If you read any of the info on Roland's website or any of their marketing materials you will see that cutting speed is not the difference between the SP and VP printers.

 

[peavey123]

We could of had the VP for 3500.00 more, which is not that much considering the investment. But again I was told by the people selling the machines the VP only cuts faster, everything else is the same. Not sure the SP540 does an excellent job for me, but I am entry also I haven't ran into anything it can't do, a little more speed might be nice I guess.

Kyle

Whoever sold the printer to you was wrong then. The VP prints a lot faster then the SP. There are a bunch of little upgrades as well. Too late now..you have the SP. lol

 

[hoppers]

No the VP is faster as it has 4 print heads compared to 2 in the SP. I dont thinkthe VP is blazing compared to the SP, but like 30% or so faster then the SP.

 

[Myster Enigma]

Hello everyone. I am aware that I am very late to the party but how do you adjust the print head speed? So far I have set the printer to only print the width of the media and also set it to print at high speed on Versaworks. Can the print head speed also be increased somehow? Thank you

 

[Solventinkjet]

Hello everyone. I am aware that I am very late to the party but how do you adjust the print head speed? So far I have set the printer to only print the width of the media and also set it to print at high speed on Versaworks. Can the print head speed also be increased somehow? Thank you

In general print head speeds are determined by the heads ability to fire accurately. The manufacturers know what the limit is on these heads and designs the printers, specifically the firmware, to control the motors to print at the ideal speeds for the particular head. So basically your printer is already optimized to print at the fastest speed where the quality doesn't get too bad. Is it possible to change the motor speeds via parameters and firmware? Yes but it's not practical or even necessary because you already have an optimized system. There were machines like the Mutoh VJ1614 that were basically VJ1604s with updated firmware that allowed the machine to print slightly faster but not very much and it took trained engineers to accomplish it. So what I am getting at is it's not worth the time and energy to try it out. If you want a faster printer you just need to buy a faster one that has a print head in it capable of printing at that speed.

 

[Myster Enigma]

In general print head speeds are determined by the heads ability to fire accurately. The manufacturers know what the limit is on these heads and designs the printers, specifically the firmware, to control the motors to print at the ideal speeds for the particular head. So basically your printer is already optimized to print at the fastest speed where the quality doesn't get too bad. Is it possible to change the motor speeds via parameters and firmware? Yes but it's not practical or even necessary because you already have an optimized system. There were machines like the Mutoh VJ1614 that were basically VJ1604s with updated firmware that allowed the machine to print slightly faster but not very much and it took trained engineers to accomplish it. So what I am getting at is it's not worth the time and energy to try it out. If you want a faster printer you just need to buy a faster one that has a print head in it capable of printing at that speed.

Thank you for your response. I suppose I better leave it as it is because I wouldn't want the prints to come out any worse. In fact printing using the high speed setting on Versaworks has also shown me a problem. The heads don't fire accurately. With my SP540v I bought it used just 2 weeks ago and everything seems to be in great condition. I researched on Youtube and have cleaned the printheads, wipers etc. However the black and cyan nozzles never seem to get better. There are some missing lines on the test print for both and when I print at standard or high speed I can see the banding. At high quality I can see it if I really look for it.

Now i have performed numerous medium and powerful head cleans but the test patterns are still the same, they don't improve nor do they get worse. I did another manual print head clean with a solvent cleaning solution and the results are still the same. The print heads honestly aren't too bad for what I want done but do you recommend anything I can do to get the printheads looking perfect without buying a new one? I don't know if the same rules apply but for my epson A3 inkjet printers I use Isopropyl alcohol and a syringe to pump the solution onto the nozzles and let it soak. This really cleared up the nozzles and made the printheads fire accurately again. Is there a way to soak the Rolands printheads with the solvent cleaner? What would you recommend.

Thank you