Roland sp300v versacamm. Print problems!

[person'ize it]

Hi everybody

I am new to this so please be gentle with me.
I have an SP 300 V and am using versaworks to print and cut from, when i print things off sometimes they come out great and sometimes i get a scoring of ink straight across parts of the print, like as if it has thrown too much ink out.
I notice if i reset the vinyl and print a small area i tend to have no issues it seems to be when you want to print say a metre length!

Am i doing something wrong ? I lift the lever then load my media - I put the rollers as far apart as i can roughly about 1-2cm from the ends of the vinyl then move the two fingers in onto the vinyl everything at this point seems ok and flat, I usually choose generic 1 or generic 2 media from the media option and choose fast print, the printer will start and sometimes i get a perfect print and cut no problem, but have noticed sometimes i get like air pockets under the vinyl and this seems to be where the head hits and scores lines of ink, any ideas please have tried a couple of different medias and various settings on the standard list and so far the only one that has never let me down is clothing heat press material.

Any advice would be great please as it is doing my head in!!

 

[oksigns]

At the end of your post, you are describing what sounds like to be head strikes. Maybe the material is curling- which would explain why smaller jobs don't see this.

Try manually cleaning the heads as there may be lint or dust accumulating on there causing the ink to siphon and smear.

Edit: sometimes the loaded media will curl while the printer is warming up. You will want to reset it and reconsider the temperature

 

[person'ize it]

Have done a reset on machine to factory, you say consider the temp, do you mean turn it down ? is there any way you can stop the media from bowing up in odd places ie another roller in the middle or something or an option for more vacuum on the printer ??

 

[player]

The vacuum should hold it down.

When printing, in versaworks, under printer control, set everything to have the media profile control the printer. There are 3 spots for this. That way it controls the vacuum and heaters plus other things. I am not at my pc so I cannot give you the exact phrasing, but you should get it from that.

You should not get smeared ink. The heads should not touch the media. If it is buckling, the setting above should help.

 

[oksigns]

Have done a reset on machine to factory, you say consider the temp, do you mean turn it down ? is there any way you can stop the media from bowing up in odd places ie another roller in the middle or something or an option for more vacuum on the printer ??

Just as player says, you can manage your temp in versaworks.

When you drop the pinch rollers, the media is firmly pressed down. When you introduce heat, you risk shrinking and/or expanding the media causing it to buckle in between the rollers. So it's a good idea to wait for the printer to hit the set temp and check to see if the media has stayed flat. If there is bowing, release the rollers and drop the temp a bit.

Feel free to search the forums for similar problems too.. it's chock full of information.

 

[Speedsterbeast]

Make sure the printer doesn't have to pull the media off of the roll. If the roll is too heavy it may bind up and get head strikes. I unwind the media between the rollers and the platen surface so it goes into the printer easily

 

[Sign Works]

Are you using your media clamps?

Are you using a quality media?

Are your pinch rollers in good / clean condition?

Some cheap media shrinks on the roll exposing adhesive which can end up all over the pinch rollers and this will cause all kinds of media skewing & buckling, this happened on my SP-300V once from Orajet 3640, I simply will not use that media any longer.

 

[player]

Post a picture of your test print pattern so we can check out your heads...

 

[person'ize it]

Thank you for all your comments and answers.

We are finding that the machine is great on t-shirt vinyl no issues at all. But when using printable vinyl we are probably wasting 50% as you start a job and then when you get so far in !! Bang you see the vinyl has bowed or raised in places so the head drags ink all over it. We bought the vinyl from MDP, but have also got some Moto x heavy stuff and that is the same, can anybody advise a decent roll that they have no problems with as am happy to try anything.

I think the heads must be ok cause get some great results on the t-shirt vinyl or the odd small things on the printable MDP vinyl, I am rolling some vinyl off the roll as advised.


Regards

 

[player]

You are doing it wrong and I bet your heads are already showing damage. At $800- $1,000 per head plus dampers and labor you need to stop ruining your printer.

Are you printing with Versaworks? Which profile are you using for vinyl?

Post your test print...

 

[person'ize it]

You are doing it wrong and I bet your heads are already showing damage. At $800- $1,000 per head plus dampers and labor you need to stop ruining your printer.

Are you printing with Versaworks? Which profile are you using for vinyl?

Post your test print...

Yes we are using Versaworks and have tried generic 1 - 11 - 3 and using the settings as mentioned letting the media control it, which i thought seemed to be great but then the vinyl started doing its trick of lumping in areas.

Will post test print around lunch time today as not at machine right now

 

[player]

The test print is when you press the test print button and it prints the 4 blocks made up of little bars. This lets us know how the heads are really doing.

I think the gcvp vinyl (not sure) is a good one to try.

I would go online and get the Orical 3651 profi

That head strike or head smudge... is it at the start of the print? How much vinyl do you lead out before you start? There needs to be about 6" so it stays flat and also covers all the vacuum holes. (later you can play with it)

What is the actual vinyl you are using? Do you have more than one?

Are the printer's vacuum fans actually working? There is a panel at the back you can take off to expose the fans. (I had the SP540V). The fans may be all clogged up with dirt, or not running, or worn out.

The heaters work?

You said that you chose "fast print". I always used 720 x 720... Try that when printing for now.

Do you have extra wheels to add to increase hold down? I would try them.

 

[player]

Am i doing something wrong ? I lift the lever then load my media - I put the rollers as far apart as i can roughly about 1-2cm from the ends of the vinyl then move the two fingers in onto the vinyl everything at this point seems ok and flat, I usually choose generic 1 or generic 2 media from the media option and choose fast print, the printer will st!

What are the two fingers? If they are the flat chrome metal pieces, don't use those. They are removable. You would only need those for banners, fabrics and materials that are curling or lifting at the edge. I never used them for vinyl.

 

[person'ize it]

Thank you everybody i,ll go and try the heat thing now.

 

[person'ize it]

Thank you everybody for your advice.
We printed off around 7m worth of Vinyl today and with bits of advice from you all managed to only waste about 14 inches.
Heating does seem to be the issue, we have switched the pre heat to off on the menu and that is making things a lot lot better.

Thanks all i will keep having a play with different media profiles to try and get the heat bang on. Am finding the GVWG Monomeric Calendered Self Adhesive Vinyl media profile seems to be giving me the best results today

 

[oksigns]

Thanks for the status update. I'm glad to hear there was some improvement. Remember, you can always make a search to find a conciseness to your dilemmas as there is almost always more than one right answer.

 

[splizaat]

Make sure the printer doesn't have to pull the media off of the roll. If the roll is too heavy it may bind up and get head strikes. I unwind the media between the rollers and the platen surface so it goes into the printer easily

People who always suggest this are unreasonable and absurd....Do you sit by your printer 8 hours a day and constantly unroll material off the back side of the printer?

 

[Speedsterbeast]

People who always suggest this are unreasonable and absurd....Do you sit by your printer 8 hours a day and constantly unroll material off the back side of the printer?

I'm surprised at such negativity out me trying to help a colleague out. I'm sorry that your life is in a place where you feel the need to lash out at others. Hopefully things will improve for you.
I don't run my printer for 8 hours a day, and when a roll is new and heavy, I do in fact, keep an eye on it. But I can unroll 6' at a time and 90% of my prints are not that long anyway.
It was just a suggestion that maybe could have helped.

 

[truckgraphics]

I think keeping a bit of slack between a heavy roll and the platen is a good idea.

 

[player]

I would like to see the test print from when you hit the test print button on the panel. I don't think you will have a very good print.

Again, what brand and type of vinyl are you using?

I print miles and never have a head strike or smudge. There is still something not correct. Keep it up and you will need new heads. I wish you the best, I am telling you this from experience.