Printing problem SP540 - horizontal line across - Need help

[agencealoha]

Hi everyone, i need help with my Roland SP540,
since a few days, i got horizontal line across the vinyl when printing
(you can have a look on the attached image)
and this can appear right after starting or after printing 50 cm, or none, or more and less...
test print is really good, encoder strip is clean and all settings are pretty good
any ideas or suggestions ?
many thanks
Franck

 

[Solventinkjet]

Check the bottom, of the heads to make sure you don't have any inkcicles hanging down and dragging across the media. Other than that, it's either a deflecting nozzle or the head is starting to fail. I would make sure the maintenance parts are all up to date and clean as well.

 

[agencealoha]

thanks for your quick reply...
but i checked already the bottom and nothing left there, it's totally clear...also i can insure that maintenance parts are all good and clean
what do you mean by deflecting nozzle ? what's the thing that could make this happen ?
i hope it's not the head starting going bad (anyway the test print is very good, or there no incidence with it ? not related)
thanks again

 

[Solventinkjet]

Deflections happen when the ink doesn't fire straight down and instead fires sideways. You would notice it on a nozzle check. The lines will look wavy and out of place. It could be a partially clogged nozzle which can cause pressure to build up and make a nozzle fire longer than it should. I would do a head soak and see if that helps at all. Pinch the cap top tubes closed, fill the cap top with cleaning solution, and let it sit for at least an hour or longer. Then run a cleaning cycle and see if that helps at all.

 

[agencealoha]

All right, so i'm going to do this and i 'll let you know...
anyway that's the last thing to do i guess before thinking of the head's dead ?
thanks to you

 

[Jim Hancock]

Have you done anything in the print head cavity recently? Do as Solventinkjet.com suggested. If that doesn't work, you might also reseat the ribbon cables on the print heads. Be sure to power off and unplug the power cable first. It looks like some of the nozzles are going into what I call a free fire mode. Usually it is a much broader swatch of color and is caused by a ribbon cable not being seated well. If those 2 things don't work, it's probably time to think about a new head...

 

[agencealoha]

No Jim, done nothing in the print head cavity, but i will take a look on it...
ok i will do these 2 things : head soak and reseat the ribbon cables
and i will let you know about the advancement
thanks you to you both guys

 

[agencealoha]

Hello
some news..
i've done what you said both of you, and for the moment after 1 month it still working...
good day

 

[Gino]

I like happy endings.......................

 

[John.]

I had this issue, for me it was the ribbon cables to print head, it then happened a few months later and this didn't fix the issue again. It was the cables from the main board to carriage board that had a fault this time. I found the issue to be damaged wires on the bend before the cables plugged into the board sockets.

To fix I removed the cables from the main board and carriage board then flattened the ends where they bend into the sockets and tapped with soft masking tape, this removed the sharp angle at which the cables bent before going into the sockets.

I ordered new cables the same day but I'm yet to install almost two months later as the issue hasn't come back yet. I'll probably premask the new cables if I need to install so I or whoever has the machine in the future doesn't have the issue return.