Printer not printing red

[ljwhyte]

I have a latex 360 and it just will not print red and I have tried multiple files I have done a head clean and calibration, mine is the first image, and people are telling me that’s ok but should it not look like the
Second image? With a red stripe in? The roses should be red!!!

 

[P Wagner]

Are any of your inks significantly expired? You can check expiration date in the ink menu on the front panel.

You should be able to see a obvious difference between the light magenta ink and the magenta ink in the color calibration, with the non-light inks having more optical density than the light inks. If the Magenta ink is significantly expired, replace it with a new ink cartridge - but be aware that there are about 30-40ml in the ink delivery system.

 

[Geneva Olson]

did you check your printheads?

 

[ljwhyte]

did you check your printheads?

i did a printhead check looks ok

Are any of your inks significantly expired? You can check expiration date in the ink menu on the front panel.

You should be able to see an obvious difference between the light magenta ink and the magenta ink in the color calibration, with the non-light inks having more optical density than the light inks. If the Magenta ink is significantly expired, replace it with a new ink cartridge - but be aware that there are about 30-40ml in the ink delivery system.

yes just checked the magenta has 2020 on it but what is confusing it was printing fine the print before

 

[ljwhyte]

did you check your printheads?

I think they are ok here is the print out

 

[P Wagner]

i did a printhead check looks ok

yes just checked the magenta has 2020 on it but what is confusing it was printing fine the print before

Inks need to have the solids/ pigments in suspension. Eventually, pigments fall out of solution and then the fluid being jetted will contain less pigment and more carrier. This causes optical density to decrease in the affected ink(s). If any of the inks expired in 2020 (over 3 years ago), this has likely occurred.

 

[Geneva Olson]

are you able to look at the printheads through your browser? You should be able to see your printheads and inks and how they are firing.

 

[netsol]

Inks need to have the solids/ pigments in suspension. Eventually, pigments fall out of solution and then the fluid being jetted will contain less pigment and more carrier. This causes optical density to decrease in the affected ink(s). If any of the inks expired in 2020 (over 3 years ago), this has likely occurred.

i agree. however

if you are friendly (or can make a new friend) at home depot, lowes or at a paint store, you can get them to put your cartridge on their "shaker table"
it normally has a thing to hold quarts or gallons of paint.
we just bring in our own velcro strap

OR
you can simply spend 10 minutes shaking the cartridge

 

[P Wagner]

i agree. however

if you are friendly (or can make a new friend) at home depot, lowes or at a paint store, you can get them to put your cartridge on their "shaker table"
it normally has a thing to hold quarts or gallons of paint.
we just bring in our own velcro strap

OR
you can simply spend 10 minutes shaking the cartridge

This is true, it is certainly possible to shake the cartridges.

Just be aware that there is about 30+ ml of ink in the ink delivery system, plus about 10ml more in the printhead reservoir, and these are already pigment depleted. It will take a lot of printing (or a pull from a syringe) to get the re-shaken ink to the nozzles.

 

[netsol]

very true.
just offering a possible alternative

and i certainly would think twice about doing this, ou must consider age of the printhead.

sometimes on infrequently used equipment the price of a full set of cartridges can be a deal breaker!

 

[NoosaNet]

Your full magnets does look light on.
But you are able to print red in your test print.
Have you tried to print a different file with red in it?
Is the image RGB? What profile is imbedded?
My suggestion is convert the file to CMYK no profile imbeded.

 

[cornholio]

There is a internal testprint when you edit your medium. This way you can bypass the Rip. If the reds are ok, then your rip is the problem, if not, it's the printer.
By the way, shaking may not help to restore a expired cartridge...

 

[netsol]

certainly not an expired cartridge, but, if the issue is SOLIDS THAT HAVE SETTLED OUT it will certainly breath a little life into it. it will also ANSWER THE QUESTION of whether that is the problem. my mutoh prompts me to shake all cartridges every 48 hours, and i certainly give it a half hearted effort.
mostly because i imagine "clumps" of pigment clogging that head.

i believe the instructions for the WHITE INK tell me to shake for 10 minutes when installing a new cartridge.
red uses quite a bit of yellow, which has more suspended solids than anything except white and black, so, this MAY actually be his problem

 

[cornholio]

The cartridges are slanted downwards a little bit on the HP 300 and 500 series. If there isn't enough ink throughput, the heavier pigments sink down and are consumed first.(if the cartridges aren't shaken every month or so)
You can shake a cartridge as long as you want. When the pigment-heavy part has been used, they won't come back...
By the way, this is the testprint I mentioned. (I had to repair a l360 this morning an took a picture while testing the fixed printer )

 

[cornholio]

 

[netsol]

All absolutely true.
That's why I said it might be worth a try