printer smears long stripes across print

[Bare Foot Sign]

I have a banner 50''x80'' with a dark brown background and bright green letters. The printer is producing long blueish green lines across the print. We tried cleaning the printer thoroughly and replacing all the ink cartridges. Has anyone experienced this problem with any solutions?

Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[MachServTech]

Check underneath the printheads for hair strings or debris.

 

[rdm01]

Whats your test print look like? Possible could be your feed adjustment is off as well. Do you have a picture of the banner you could post?

 

[sfr table hockey]

Not sure what printer you have but I have had fuzz or something get on the censor that reads the encodor strip and was printing lines in the print. Once blown out with air it seemed to stop. The encodor strip itself might have something on it. If you can do an encodor strip test in the menu it will tell you if you have an error and then you know it is or is not the encodor strip.

+1 for checking for a fuzz under the heads or if you have a cutter, take the blade tool out and do the same test print. Fuzz gets on the cutter blade often and I forget to check it as I most of the time take it out while just printing.

 

[J Hill Designs]

I'd say +1 for posting a snapshot

 

[Bare Foot Sign]

Stripey Print Job

Hi,

Take a look at this banner that has a stripey print job. We are currently looking into replacing a sponge inside the printer that has ink collected on it. There is also a container underneath the printer that holds cleaning solution that seems to be filled with dirty black liquid.

We checked out the print heads and they don't seem to have any visible fuzz or dust on them. A maintenance person suggested it may be a damper on the heads that are clogged and caused the printer to basically "choke" and not let ink through.

Thanks to all of you for your advice.

:U Rock::U Rock:

 

[artbot]

that is textbook ink starvation. i'm about to cast/coat a bunch of prints. if someone doesn't help you solve it in the next hours i'll help you get rid of it. it's and easy issue to isolate and solve.

 

[theColorist]

I think your maintenance guy is correct. For troubleshooting, you can try printing it at a slower speed, so the ink supply on the damper doesn't get empty.

Hi,

Take a look at this banner that has a stripey print job. We are currently looking into replacing a sponge inside the printer that has ink collected on it. There is also a container underneath the printer that holds cleaning solution that seems to be filled with dirty black liquid.

We checked out the print heads and they don't seem to have any visible fuzz or dust on them. A maintenance person suggested it may be a damper on the heads that are clogged and caused the printer to basically "choke" and not let ink through.

Thanks to all of you for your advice.

:U Rock::U Rock:

 

[artbot]

ink starvation is a cause of either insufficient vacuum below the print head or insufficient ink supply above the print head.

first thing you do is determine what color is dropping out. swap ink lines with that color location with a different adjacent print head. you will be running the wrong color to a head. make up a graphic that is a big square of the color you are losing and the color you are switching (big cyan rectangle, big yellow rectangle or whatever).

does the ink starvation show up at the new position of the damper/line swap? or does it remain at the previously starved ink? if it moves to the new print head, you have a supply issue. let's say cyan is dropping out. you move cyan to a new head. cyan still drops out. ink supply. or cyan now doesn't drop out, but yellow drops out. vacuum issue.

do that first and then get back.

...

supply side is caused by clogged dampers, clogged line, uneven printer, high ink viscosity, clogged cartridge needle, faulty cartridge.

vacuum side is misaligned capping station, clogged pump tube, faulty pump, dirty cap or worn cap, clogged print head.

if neither of these can be isolated. than you can do a data cable swap to see if it's an intermittent data issue. but i doubt it. data issues are usually the result of printing gibberish. not lack thereof.

 

[Bare Foot Sign]

Muchos Gracias to you for your advice. We have decided to have a printer technician come in and take care of our printer. Should the solutions to this problem normally be able to get fixed by someone like me, the graphic designer? I'm not sure what is a normal amount of printer tech knowledge for someone like me.

 

[artbot]

definitely this is stuff that you will pick up on. this kind of stuff will happen here and there and after you understand the physics of the machine, it just won't be rational to wait for a guy to come do something that's probably easier than doing the dishes.

also, in my experience, techs tend to throw parts at machines without diagnosing. their montra is "change the dampers!". never diagnose the dampers or even clean a damper. and the parts they will use will not be super cheap chinese replacement parts.

i'm a digital fine artist. and i never have a tech mess with my printer. i'll maybe call one if things get extremely technical. but ink lines and capping issues changing print heads. that is in house stuff.