Need Help Roland Printer: What is going on with these crazy calibration tests

[Bryce I]

Been having some banding issues on the Roland TrueVis Vg-540. Today when calibrating the machine, the correct setting was a moving target. it was set to ten, which had a little overlap. Twenty looked good so i dialed it up. Next test print, twenty had a little gap and ten looked right. Set it back again. Also tried fifteen. After 4-5 times dialing it up and down chasing the perfect matchup, it finally worked. Is this normal? It's printing good now as I type this, but the issue (intermittent, color selective banding) has been popping up more and more frequently, despite performing cleanings, bi-directional tests, and manual cleanings regularly. Any insights would be much appreciated

 

[E Coloney]

I've changed a half dozen print heads on my XC-540 and been meticulous in the associated calibration but then seen problems when actually printing. It's the actual printing that matters so I've since used the calibration to get close and then tweak it from there for greatest performance/satisfaction.

 

[citysignshop]

Been having some banding issues on the Roland TrueVis Vg-540. Today when calibrating the machine, the correct setting was a moving target. it was set to ten, which had a little overlap. Twenty looked good so i dialed it up. Next test print, twenty had a little gap and ten looked right. Set it back again. Also tried fifteen. After 4-5 times dialing it up and down chasing the perfect matchup, it finally worked. Is this normal? It's printing good now as I type this, but the issue (intermittent, color selective banding) has been popping up more and more frequently, despite performing cleanings, bi-directional tests, and manual cleanings regularly. Any insights would be much appreciated

Welcome to the crazy inconsistency of Roland. I also had perfect printing this week....then the next job had significant banding. Changed the media profile, the next run printed perfectly. Calibrating to fix banding doesn't seem to 'fix' anything, nor does running a 'clean' when the banding looks like clogged nozzles. good luck with that.

 

[Bryce I]

Glad to hear I'm not alone in this. So would you say, its a good move to keep a collection of profiles to try? and when cleaning/calbration doesn't fix it, just start doing tests on them until one works?

 

[Joe House]

Which calibration are you talking about? There are quite a few on that printer. If you're talking about the feed calibration, which just happens to be labeled "Calibration" in the menu, then you likely have a dirty feed encoder disk. Turn off your printer and unplug it. Then open the right maintenance cover and remove the metal plate on the right - 2 screws in front on the bottom and 1 screw on the left edge up top. You will see the disk in there. Clean it with isopropyl alcohol on a lint free cloth - I use the alcohol wipes sold at pharmacies for cleaning skin before an injection and the work great. Just turn the disk by moving a grit wheel. Go around a couple of times, using a clean surface for the second time around.
Put things back together, plug it in and do the calibration once more. If this was the source of the problem, you should be good to go.

Good Luck,