Print head strike disaster!!!

[messmedia]

Disaster strikes!
My Versa Art 640, while printing some block-out banners, striked heavily on a banner since it somehow wrinkled. It striked so heavily - the head stopped and machine called an error with advice to turn off the power.

When I turned it on again, it did one cleaning cycle, and I did print test. It was horrible! Many missing nozzles, and colors are separated (meaning heads got moved from it's positions??)
So I did few more cleaning cycles and one manual cleaning - nothing helped.

Anyway, I'll attach photo of my printtest, and another one, when I tried to print 3 color patches and one outlined with black registration color.

Any thoughts? Can this be fixed from your experience, and how? Is there any advice/tutorial on how to at least align properly printheads?
Any words are welcome at this point!!!

Attached images:

 

[messmedia]

to further point at this print test image: it seems all heads (if so) are moved, there is tiny gap between cyan and magenta, and much larger two gaps between other colors ...

 

[messmedia]

Well, I noticed that "not aligned part" is not - it. Actually, whole column of nozzles in black and yellow is missing.
I replaced wipers, did some more cleaning cycles but still - no good.

Any advices??

P.S. Heads for my Roland here are 760 eur each (installation and service not included). OUCH!
1 sqmt (~11 sqft) of printed Vinyl - 15 eur. Ouch!

However, I've inspected the heds from below - no visible scratches, which is odd, since nozzle test is very bad ...

 

[grafixemporium]

I've had the same situation happen to me... with banner material too. You may or may not have permanent damange to your heads. Right now, they really need a ridiculously throrough cleaning before you can determine if there is deflection in the nozzles.

First thing you can do is run a bunch of normal or medium cleaning cycles. Don't run a heavy cycle as it's just a waste of ink. Keep running them and then run test prints to see if any of the nozzles are coming back. One or two cycles is not gonna do it.

If that didn't work, you have to decide how much you feel comfortable doing on your own. How old is the printer? Under warranty? If so, stop and call a service tech. Even if there's head damage, you might be able to get it covered under warranty. I did.

Anyway, the next step would probably be to soak the heads. If you feel comfortable, open the panel below your capping station and use some binder clips to clip off the tubes running out of the caps. This will allow you to pour cleaning fluid into the caps and not have it drain out immediate. Push the head carriage to the left and away form the capping station. Fill all the caps to the brim with cleaning fluid and push the carriage back into place until the heads rest in the caps. Let them soak for a good long while. Then remove your clips and run a normal cleaning cycle and test print. See where you're at.

If the heads are really, really clogged, you can use a syringe to syphon out the gunk from the tubes below the capping station. If you've never done this, or seen it done, just call a Roland tech to come help you out. Also, if you don't have a good seal on your caps, all those cleaning cycles are probably not helping much... just wasting ink.

Good luck!

Andrew

 

[grafixemporium]

By the way, I refuse to use the take up reel with banner material anymore. It nearly always bunches up at some point and causes potentially terrible issues like the one you are experiencing now. They are banners... we just let them fall onto the ground. The weight of the material keeps from wrinkling or bunching.

 

[artbot]

i'm almost positive that your head will be fine after some cleaning. what is suspect is the missing colors all on the same side. the head may not be meeting up flush with the capping station at this point. i'd reset your head height, inspect for level, inspect for contact with the capping station seal.

 

[MachServTech]

Sometimes I will gently wipe the nozzle plate with cleaning solution and a lint free swab. Cleaning the cap can help create a tighter seal and help reprime those nozzles.

 

[Gabriel]

It's not the cleaning cycles who's going to solve this. All you have to do is to gently clean the encoder strip first. Turn off the printer, unplugg it, remove the cover from the back and take out all the flat cables you see. Keep the printer like this for 2 minutes. After that, reconnect those flat cables - exactly they were - carefully. Turn on the printer, perform test print! Voila!!!
TESTED!

 

[grafixemporium]

Sometimes I will gently wipe the nozzle plate with cleaning solution and a lint free swab. Cleaning the cap can help create a tighter seal and help reprime those nozzles.

Pretty sure you're not supposed to come in contact with the nozzle plate at all. All you're going to do it push garbage back up in the nozzles and risk causing physical damage. I haven't touched the nozzle plate on our printer in 3 years and it's still perfectly fine.

Yes, you should clean the rubber gaskets around the caps often. We clean them every time we clean the heads... which is not often enough, but every 2 or 3 days or immediately before a large print job. You have to keep the rubber gaskets soft and rubbery or they will not get an airtight seal on the heads and the cleaning cycles won't be effective.

 

[grafixemporium]

It's not the cleaning cycles who's going to solve this. All you have to do is to gently clean the encoder strip first. Turn off the printer, unplugg it, remove the cover from the back and take out all the flat cables you see. Keep the printer like this for 2 minutes. After that, reconnect those flat cables - exactly they were - carefully. Turn on the printer, perform test print! Voila!!!
TESTED!

Huh?? Are you suggesting an electrical problem is causing the test prints pictured above. That's crazy talk.

 

[phototec]

I've had the same situation happen to me... with banner material too. You may or may not have permanent damange to your heads. Right now, they really need a ridiculously throrough cleaning before you can determine if there is deflection in the nozzles.

First thing you can do is run a bunch of normal or medium cleaning cycles. Don't run a heavy cycle as it's just a waste of ink. Keep running them and then run test prints to see if any of the nozzles are coming back. One or two cycles is not gonna do it.

If that didn't work, you have to decide how much you feel comfortable doing on your own. How old is the printer? Under warranty? If so, stop and call a service tech. Even if there's head damage, you might be able to get it covered under warranty. I did.

Anyway, the next step would probably be to soak the heads. If you feel comfortable, open the panel below your capping station and use some binder clips to clip off the tubes running out of the caps. This will allow you to pour cleaning fluid into the caps and not have it drain out immediate. Push the head carriage to the left and away form the capping station. Fill all the caps to the brim with cleaning fluid and push the carriage back into place until the heads rest in the caps. Let them soak for a good long while. Then remove your clips and run a normal cleaning cycle and test print. See where you're at.

If the heads are really, really clogged, you can use a syringe to syphon out the gunk from the tubes below the capping station. If you've never done this, or seen it done, just call a Roland tech to come help you out. Also, if you don't have a good seal on your caps, all those cleaning cycles are probably not helping much... just wasting ink.

Good luck!

Andrew

Andrew,

That is great info, thanks for breaking down the procedure step by step, very helpful.

I been on this site for 3 years this month, and most of the time suggestions are given which are very short worded, almost worded in short hand, like everyone reads short hand.

Example: "clamp tubes, soak heads, cleaning cycle, that should do it".

Yours: "Anyway, the next step would probably be to soak the heads. If you feel comfortable, open the panel below your capping station and use some binder clips to clip off the tubes running out of the caps. This will allow you to pour cleaning fluid into the caps and not have it drain out immediate. Push the head carriage to the left and away form the capping station. Fill all the caps to the brim with cleaning fluid and push the carriage back into place until the heads rest in the caps. Let them soak for a good long while. Then remove your clips and run a normal cleaning cycle and test print. See where you're at.

If the heads are really, really clogged, you can use a syringe to siphon out the gunk from the tubes below the capping station. If you've never done this, or seen it done, just call a Roland tech to come help you out. Also, if you don't have a good seal on your caps, all those cleaning cycles are probably not helping much... just wasting ink."


Bottom line, I want to commend you for taking the time and provide a very detailed step by step guide on how to do this, I have never done this and would not be able to do it by only following the short example, however, your detailed step by step, procedure and specific suggestions, like, "use some binder clips to clip off the tubes running out of the caps", would make it possible for me to accomplish the task.

 

[grafixemporium]

I should probably qualify my posts by letting you know that I am not a certified or trained printer tech. I just watched and learned from the tech who has repaired my printer in the past. So, I can tell you that those steps have worked for me... but I don't know what the OP's specific problem is.

 

[Gabriel]

Huh?? Are you suggesting an electrical problem is causing the test prints pictured above. That's crazy talk.

I'm sure that I'm right. We'll see.

 

[artbot]

i clean the nozzle plate frequently on my jv3 (gently... of course). yes touching the plate can cause damage. but remember the wiper is beating the thing to death, head crashes, cap tops. i get a solvent swab very soaked in solution and put it completely flat against the head and do a gentle pivot. don't wipe back and forth. this method was taught to me by a printer tech many years ago.

 

[animenick65]

Pretty sure you're not supposed to come in contact with the nozzle plate at all. All you're going to do it push garbage back up in the nozzles and risk causing physical damage. I haven't touched the nozzle plate on our printer in 3 years and it's still perfectly fine.

Yes, you should clean the rubber gaskets around the caps often. We clean them every time we clean the heads... which is not often enough, but every 2 or 3 days or immediately before a large print job. You have to keep the rubber gaskets soft and rubbery or they will not get an airtight seal on the heads and the cleaning cycles won't be effective.

That makes no sense at all considering the wipers touch the heads many times every day.

Soaking a lint free swab with solvent and very gently brushing the heads can really help dislodge any dried up gunk on there. T

 

[grafixemporium]

If your heads have that much dried up gunk on them that they need to be soaked, then you should soak them properly... in the capping station. It's easy to do and I described the simplest way to do it above. Yes, the surface of the nozzle plate comes in contact with the wipers... of course it does. But that is a mechanical motion. You go jabbing at it with a sponge swab and you're asking for trouble.

 

[MachServTech]

You go jabbing at it with a sponge swab and you're asking for trouble.

Of course Sasquatch and HamHands should keep their mitts off this area, however if your printhead is uncooperative, if you are careful and have common sense this method should be fine.

Clearly Artbot and myself use this method on occasion. As a former field service tech I have used this method for re-priming (not scrubbing!) stubborn nozzles hundreds of times.

 

[messmedia]

Oh, some really good advices here!

Tech guy from the company I purchased my printer actually walked me through almost same steps, except - I did not push cleaning solution through the head, he advised to take out some color from the head with syringe.

Anyway, NOTHING HELPED, and if I saw even one nozzle show up after procedures, I would have hope, but this print test REMAINED the same after all stuff I did. So I left it alone, and started calculating and changing my plans for this summer season (I kinda wanted to expand my t-shirt printing business more, but heads would destroy my plans)
Last night I was at my shop to finish some designs, and for no good reason at all i did try to print nozzle test. So, it was fine. IT WAS FIIINE!!!! WTF?

Happiness, wings grew on my back, nothing seemed sane at that point. How the hell machine repaired itself? I mean, if nozzles were clogged, wouldn't those cleanings helped at least a little bit instantly???

Though, I am not complaining :{). I also tried precision test, my Roland still can print readable 2pt text in 4component color, and easily readable 3pt text in same color. So, no print deterioration occurred.

Next machine I will purchase WILL BE ROLAND, and this is not written as advertising for Roland, but as friendly SHARING my opinions so You all know it is all good with Roland (if You are up for buying a printer for Yourself) ... :{)

So, Thank You all for commenting and help, I actually copied this thread and made it like a tutorial for myself :{) -

 

[Edis Belgrade]

Hey Alexandre...WTF?
Everything is just fine with your machine...i fixed it throught wireless))
Just want you to know that i am watching you everywhere...)

Pozdrav!