Roland "Service Call 0110"

[SIGNTIME]

XJ540 ... While in mid print today the printer stopped, beeped, and said "service call 0110" (Input value from Linear Encoder is not changed when the Linear Encoder is setting its origin. When Motor stops during printing, expected movement is not completed on some head.). None of the buttons worked except the sub power. Turn off the both sub and main and turned back on and the code popped back up. Shut off the machine again cleaned the encoder stripe and fired it back up, same code.

What else can I do to troubleshoot this while I wait for a tech to come look at it (Monday)?
Do I have to go in service mode and clear the code?
Anything else that I should check?.....

 

[Ragnabrok]

It's a problem reading the encoder scale, either from a dirty encoder scale, a damaged encoder scale, or a dirty or damaged encoder reader.

You've tried cleaning the encoder scale, but make sure you clean the entire length, easiest to do in maintenance clean mode, so the scan motor locks are off and you can freely move the heads around. The encoder reader itself is behind the print carriage, with a blue wire heading to it. when the machine has power it emits a red light. You can (with the power off, unplug for safest bet) remove the encoder board and "credit card" it with a folded paper towel and a bit of iso. Getting it back in is tricky, since it's on a slotted hole, and can move too far forward or back, causing it to scrape against the encoder scale while it is moving.

Do what you are comfortable with, but try cleaning the encoder strip again.

 

[jfiscus]

Clean the strip again.
Cleaning the sensor isn't all that hard either. If it aint put back in the right spot you should be able to tell or adjust it easily.
Lube the carriage rails also with 3-in-1 oil.

 

[Stormyj]

I had this problem several times and cleaned it over and over. I ended up just buying a new encoder strip on line and changed it. Problem solved. They are only about $20 and you have to remove it to replace it anyway. Do yourself a favor and just change it.
Heres where I got mine.
http://www.sign-in-china.com/products/39/roland_encoder_strip_for_fj_740_2_6m_180dpi.html

 

[jfiscus]

You can also flip the encoder strip upside down and use that portion if the top is damaged or stained beyond repair.
I think you have to cut a new little hole with an exacto but it should be easy enough, it's been 6 or so years since I've had to do this.

 

[SIGNTIME]

ok the enconder strip and sensor were replace but the issue and code remained. Had the tech come down he was able to get the machine to setup in service mode and ran an aging and everything was working properly. Tech determinded to try a new scan motor, same issue. He did however get it to setup in user mode finally by putting a little pressure towards home position on the carriage while the printer was setting up and from there the printer works normal, untill the printer is turn back off then on? He aligned and set tension on the belt but still the same error code on setup unless pressure is applied to the carraige.

Any ideas what to do now?

 

[Solventinkjet]

I would run the limit position initialize function. It sounds like the carriage is not resting in the proper position so it is having issues unlocking the head.

 

[SIGNTIME]

I would run the limit position initialize function. It sounds like the carriage is not resting in the proper position so it is having issues unlocking the head.

Our thech said that was good the 10 times hes done it, so that's not the problem.

Tech says teh next step is to try a new servo board. Hoping that isn't the case, they are pretty expensive.

 

[jfiscus]

The pressure is only going to do one of a couple things to cause a change in the machine:
- Apply pressure to a pressure switch or put tension on a cable/belt.
- Move a "vision" sensor to another location so that it sees what it likes/doesn't like.
- A wire could also be broken/loose on the head and moving the carriage completes the circuit.
One of those are occurring with "pressure", so check what is effected by the pressure and you'll find the culprit.

 

[SIGNTIME]

The pressure is only going to do one of a couple things to cause a change in the machine:
- Apply pressure to a pressure switch or put tension on a cable/belt.
- Move a "vision" sensor to another location so that it sees what it likes/doesn't like.
- A wire could also be broken/loose on the head and moving the carriage completes the circuit.
One of those are occurring with "pressure", so check what is effected by the pressure and you'll find the culprit.

The pressure is applied while the printer is trying to setup, if you look down on the cariage it is trying to park, but needs to mover over towards the home position about 2mm. You can see it making tinny movments but it's as if it's stuck there, until you apply some pressure. Will see what the tech says about what you mentioned. Thanks.

 

[Signed Out]

Update to the situation. (I'm signtimes business partner)

Tech left the other day, said the problem is most likely the servo board, and that we can run it as is until it gets fixed. He also tightened up the belt thinking that would compensate for the added pressure that we had to apply during setup. I was concerned about over tightening the belt, he said he set it to the upper limit and it would be fine.

We came in the next day to finish printing a wrap we are in the middle of. Printer is making some different noises then before, but nothing alarming at this point. Banding in darker colors is still there, which I'm not sure if Signtime mentioned in this thread, but before it errored out it was banding pretty bad, and could really be seen in dark green. So we stopped printing that, and printed a job with lighter colors and as it was printing the printer started making more noise, kind of a slapping clunking clicking sound as it stopped at the home position to head the other way. We stopped printing and called the tech back.

Tech now says possibly bad pulleys and needs a new belt, maybe servo board too.. I don't think they have any clue what is going on. Anybody have any thoughts? Printer has been down for a week now.. NOT GOOD.

 

[Signed Out]

Another update. Printer got much worse since last update. Was making horrible sounds, head carriage wouldn't park correctly (we had to park manually and power the machine down so it wouldn't try to clean itself) and print quality went down the tube. We finally identified the problem. It wasn't a servo board or anything electronic. We found that the bracket(pic with arrow attached) holding the pulley on the left side of the machine was rocking left to right as the carriage moved. Tech Tried tightening everything, but that didn't work. Had to wait weeks to get a new bracket in. Once the new bracket was put in there was no more rocking back and forth, all noises disappeared, print quality back to normal, no more trouble with the head carriage parking. We thought it was fixed. That was last week. Discovered today that the bracket is rocking again. I know that within a week the printer will be down again because of this.

I want to fabricate a stainless steel plate and bolt the bracket in more securely. Crude pic attached, yellow plate, red bolts. I'm pretty sure this will stiffen it up, but where is the movement coming from in the first place? My tech thought the original bracket must have been bent, seemed true at the time, but now the new one is rocking too?

Does anybody have any clue what the underlying problem could be? Anybody see any reason why I shouldn't start drilling holes in the machine and stiffen this up? Waiting for a call back from our tech and from roland too, but I think all I'm going to get is a shoulder shrug as they've told me they've never seen this problem before.

 

[player]

Is there a chance you could get a different tech in? Yours sounds like he is just replacing parts...

 

[Signed Out]

Is there a chance you could get a different tech in? Yours sounds like he is just replacing parts...

We've had both of our dealer's techs in working on this issue with the machine. I know they are trying, but they don't know the problem, or it would be fixed by now. They have also spoken with roland about it, and have been following their instructions. They say it is a very uncommon issue. I must say at first I thought they were jerkin me around a bit, but they have done much of the work as a "courtesy call" and I can tell that the tech cares... Butttt the machine is still not running as it should.

Does anybody else out there have an xj-540? The xc-540 might be the same and have the same pully? Could you look at this pulley and bracket while your machine is printing and tell me if there is any movement?

 

[jfiscus]

I don't think it could hurt anything to drill those holes and stiffen that up. If it don't work nothing is broke and you're only out a couple bucks.
I would bet even some VHB and polymetal would do the trick.

 

[Signed Out]

I don't think it could hurt anything to drill those holes and stiffen that up. If it don't work nothing is broke and you're only out a couple bucks.
I would bet even some VHB and polymetal would do the trick.

Good idea. Probably stick with some stainless, or maybe aluminum and VHB to see if it works. 3mm acm is to thin, 6 mm is too thick. I could mill down a piece of aluminum for a nice snug fit.

Anybody able to see if this bracket and pulley have any movement on their printers?

 

[Desert_Signs]

Good idea. Probably stick with some stainless, or maybe aluminum and VHB to see if it works. 3mm acm is to thin, 6 mm is too thick. I could mill down a piece of aluminum for a nice snug fit.

Anybody able to see if this bracket and pulley have any movement on their printers?

XC540 here. That piece always moves around, always has.

 

[player]

Good idea. Probably stick with some stainless, or maybe aluminum and VHB to see if it works. 3mm acm is to thin, 6 mm is too thick. I could mill down a piece of aluminum for a nice snug fit.

Anybody able to see if this bracket and pulley have any movement on their printers?

I wouldn't touch it until Roland is through. You would not want to have that as their reason not to do something for you.

 

[Signed Out]

XC540 here. That piece always moves around, always has.

How much movement are you seeing? Ours get rocking quite a bit. Does the belt on your printer ever slap parts of the head carriage causing a slap/knock sound?

When we had the tech put a new bracket in a couple weeks ago, it didn't move at all. We've been running it with the little cover off to monitor it. About a week after the new bracket was installed it started to wobble again. Our tech checked out their xc540 and said that bracket doesn't move on their machine.

Further investigating last week we moved the head carriage by hand and we could feel a spot in its travel where it moves more freely than the rest of its travel. The spot is right about in the center of travel, and you can also feel this spot with your hand on the pulley bracket. You can also see the bracket move when the carriage is in this spot, when it travels in both directions. When the printer is running the bracket moves a lot more than just in this one spot. We checked the rails that the head carriage travels on for wear spots or any inconsistency, but couldn't find anything wrong.

 

[Signed Out]

Anybody else out there willing to look at this part for me while your printer is printing? Post#12 shows a picture of the pulley bracket in question. Trying to determine if this movement is common.