Greetings and thanks for any help. Just bought a used Roland SP300V with the Cyan, magenta and yellow showing test print patterns good but the black pattern having missing lines as well as lines not ligning up. Sign ink supplier says bad print head - nice guy but of course hes in the business of selling print heads. Could anyone tell me - when a print head is both missing lines AND lines are not aligned right - can that be cleaned out? Heard of Print Head Doctor cleaning system but cant understand how that would fix bad alignment. Thanks
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Roland SP300V bad print head - what do I do?
- Thread starter Amer28
- Start date
Greetings. So do you know Bob? He's from Earth. also.
Did you get a user or service manual with your printer? Kind of hard to tell how bad your black test print is without actually seeing it. Sometimes even if the "line" in the test print do not line up, doesn't mean the head is bad. Try soaking the head. Pinch off the lines going to the waste bottle and fill the capping stations with cleaning fluid. Park the head over the capping station for at least an hour, maybe longer. There might just be dry ink causing your problem.
Couple of other things.
1. The search function on this forum is priceless. I think earlier in the week some were talking about this very problem.
2. Might want to do a formal intro on yourself. Or better yet, if you're going to be awhile, join the premium section. You might find more info there.
Dave
Did you get a user or service manual with your printer? Kind of hard to tell how bad your black test print is without actually seeing it. Sometimes even if the "line" in the test print do not line up, doesn't mean the head is bad. Try soaking the head. Pinch off the lines going to the waste bottle and fill the capping stations with cleaning fluid. Park the head over the capping station for at least an hour, maybe longer. There might just be dry ink causing your problem.
Couple of other things.
1. The search function on this forum is priceless. I think earlier in the week some were talking about this very problem.
2. Might want to do a formal intro on yourself. Or better yet, if you're going to be awhile, join the premium section. You might find more info there.
Dave
Hi robert - tech manual would be great. thanks for reply. My email is amer2828@verizon.net. Ill post pattern when back at office on monday.
Phil Swanson
Premium Subscriber
I went several years with my black test print looking terrible,but my prints were still looking great. Mostly, some the very small prints were getting a little blurred but not all of them, so I would just print some extras and throw away the bad ones.. I finally did have my print head changed but it's not cheap, after parts,travel, and labor it was around $1800.
I would make my decision more on how the prints actually look when there done, the test print pattern is just a guide to let you know witch heads may be a problem IF you are actually having printing problems.
If it aint broke don't fix it.
I would make my decision more on how the prints actually look when there done, the test print pattern is just a guide to let you know witch heads may be a problem IF you are actually having printing problems.
If it aint broke don't fix it.
Not sure how well this is going to post - cyan, magenta and yelow are all fine with just black bad. I filled up the capping station with cleaner, pinched off the drain tube and let soak over weekend, came in this morning and ran 2 cleans - nothing changed. Dont yet understand the printheads, clogging, etc. Any way to clean better? Will spend $800 for new head if have to but hate to if I can somehow figure out how to fix this. thanks fo any help.
Also, in response to post this is effecting our actual prints - thanks.
Last edited by a moderator:
Looks like you have more problems than just the black. I think I see some magenta in the yellow.
Other than getting some cleaning cartridges and pulling the fluid thru the heads to try and loose up any dried ink, I don't have any other solutions. It also looks like maybe there are some damaged nozzles on the black, but maybe it is just dried ink.
Dave
Other than getting some cleaning cartridges and pulling the fluid thru the heads to try and loose up any dried ink, I don't have any other solutions. It also looks like maybe there are some damaged nozzles on the black, but maybe it is just dried ink.
Dave
appreciate the feedback. 99% sure the magenta/yellow is because of all the cleaner used to try to clean black. Only happened after cleaner in was pooled in black/cyan capping station.
I am pretty sure the previous owner left it this way with bad print pattern for quite a while as he did not print much black and new pattern to be bad.
I'm guessing only real hope now, besides new head, is something like Print Head Doctor but again, wish I could understand how/why bad clogged print heads would create misalignment on print pattern. I would think clogging would only have places missing on print pattern not misalignment
Again, thanks for trying to help me.
I am pretty sure the previous owner left it this way with bad print pattern for quite a while as he did not print much black and new pattern to be bad.
I'm guessing only real hope now, besides new head, is something like Print Head Doctor but again, wish I could understand how/why bad clogged print heads would create misalignment on print pattern. I would think clogging would only have places missing on print pattern not misalignment
Again, thanks for trying to help me.
Robert M
New Member
That head
what you are gettng is deflection, the ink is not firing straight out of the nozzle. Try pulling the damper and gently pushing some fluid thru the head. I will send you a tech manual right now
I have all the parts you need at www.solventinkjet.com
what you are gettng is deflection, the ink is not firing straight out of the nozzle. Try pulling the damper and gently pushing some fluid thru the head. I will send you a tech manual right now
I have all the parts you need at www.solventinkjet.com
You do have two issues occurring. You do have clogged nozzles. Each line represents a nozzle and when it is not there then that nozzle is clogged. The other issue is deflection which can be caused by debris on the face of the print head or on the perimeter. You will want to clean the perimeter of the printed head with a swab (foam tip on a stick). If you have cleaning solution I would recommend using that as your cleaning agent. Next you will want to check the capping station for debris, and last you will want to clean wiper blade. If you have dried ink on the wiper blade then every time you perform a cleaning you are re-applying that to the nozzles on the print head.
FrankieTeardrop
New Member
Hello, you have the same exact problem I have. I was told it's a flaw in the design. Apparently this is pretty common for just the black to clog up like that. I just keep printing like this & it's not too bad but like someone else said the small stuff gets a little blurry around the edges so I print black with mostly the C M Y mix & a little K thrown in, helps a tad, I think. If you find a good solution to this other than replacing the head let me know!
Can I ask who you bought the printer from?
anozira02
New Member
Don't throw that print head away just yet,, I still think if you give it a good soaking and push some cleaning fluid through it with a syringe very gently, place a sheet of white paper under it to see if anything coming out. I you get a fine mist type of spay coming out, the head just might be ok..I had this happen to me some time back...and it worked!
conwaycopies
New Member
I'm having the same issue with my 540. Did you do the head replacement yourself or have a tech do it?
twister
New Member
Think of the deflection like a shower head that is starting to clog when taking a shower. It will still work but the water may not spray parallel to the other jets. I have the same issue that has slowly gotten worse over the years. I just replaced a yellow/magenta head from a head strike so I am also going to replace my Black/Blue head to fix this problem. I will keep it and play around with it to see if I can flush the jets but since it's 6-years old now I can't complain too much about replacing it.
bayviewsignworks
New Member
I replaced the head on my SG-300 within the last year. I came in after one day and the blue had run out. I've attached the print test. I've soaked the head, replaced the cap and done a Med cleaning as well as lightly pressed a soaked swab again the print head. - Thoughts?
Attachments
Relentless
New Member
Could I please get a copy of the tech manual. stickaroundsigns@outlook.com
Thankyou so much, it's so difficult to find these things