Need Help Roland Versacamm 540i Just Printing Black Streaks

[mikestearns]

Hi, our Versacamm 540i has started doing this thing where it prints a giant black streak over everything, including nozzle checks. I've done a a bunch of cleaning cycles, manual clean, replaced the wipers, done head soaks, and replaced the cap tops and still nothing. Any ideas? I put in a support ticket with Roland but they take forever to respond.

 

[rjssigns]

Electrical, could be a ribbon cable. They're a wear item and depending on "mileage" could be shot.

 

[mikestearns]

Electrical, could be a ribbon cable. They're a wear item and depending on "mileage" could be shot.

Thanks, at that point is my best be to get a tech out to look at it? Or is there a specific ribbon cable I should check?

 

[rjssigns]

If you're not comfortable digging into your printer call a good tech. There are procedures to follow so you don't end up blowing a fuse or a board. As far as ribbon cables go you don't replace one. You replace them all since you have no way to tell which one is the issue. Trying to piecemeal will just cause 10 times the work and aggravation.
Ribbon cables are cheap, just tedious to replace.

 

[Jim Hancock]

Definitely looks like bad ribbon cables. Any head crashes ? What occurred around the time it started printing like this?

You did not specify which 540i model series, i.e., SP, VP, or VS. The ribbons and heads are different on the different model ranges. The SP & VP series are easy and can be easily done by the end user. The VS series is completely different and require being folded a specific way, so a touch of origami talent is useful, but plugging them into the head is a PITA, especially when it is already installed in the head carriage.

 

[mikestearns]

Definitely looks like bad ribbon cables. Any head crashes ? What occurred around the time it started printing like this?

You did not specify which 540i model series, i.e., SP, VP, or VS. The ribbons and heads are different on the different model ranges. The SP & VP series are easy and can be easily done by the end user. The VS series is completely different and require being folded a specific way, so a touch of origami talent is useful, but plugging them into the head is a PITA, especially when it is already installed in the head carriage.

Its the VS series. No head crashes. It had been working more or less fine before this, though one of the magenta nozzles had been pretty clogged. It was starting to clear up after doing a choke clean and a head soak. Then it started doing this, and after cleaning a few times, manual cleaning, and changing the wipers, no change. Then out of nowhere it started printing fine again and stayed that way for a couple months. We ran enough Arlon 46000 to full wrap the walls in a kitchen here as a test to learn how, a few rounds of stickers and wall graphics, then it started doing this again and hasn't stopped. I put in a support ticket with Roland at one point and they suggested changing the cap top, which I did, and that didn't change anything, which is what brought me here.

 

[Jim Hancock]

The captop has absolutely nothing to do with this problem. This is an electronic issue, not an ink flow issue. Based on the new info on the history of the problem, I would reassess my diagnosis to possibly being the printhead itself. Unless you are technically adept, you might want to consider having a tech come in. I would suggest they replace the ribbon cables first to eliminate those and if the problem still exists, then replace the head. If it's a dealer, they may insist on replacing the head at the same time. Stand your ground and insist upon the ribbons first. You mentioned a support ticket with Roland. Are you under warranty still? If so, get the dealer in there and let them replace both. If it's an independent tech, you may have to have a second service call, as the head is in the $1900 range and most independents will not want to order without knowing they are going to install it.

 

[mikestearns]

The captop has absolutely nothing to do with this problem. This is an electronic issue, not an ink flow issue. Based on the new info on the history of the problem, I would reassess my diagnosis to possibly being the printhead itself. Unless you are technically adept, you might want to consider having a tech come in. I would suggest they replace the ribbon cables first to eliminate those and if the problem still exists, then replace the head. If it's a dealer, they may insist on replacing the head at the same time. Stand your ground and insist upon the ribbons first. You mentioned a support ticket with Roland. Are you under warranty still? If so, get the dealer in there and let them replace both. If it's an independent tech, you may have to have a second service call, as the head is in the $1900 range and most independents will not want to order without knowing they are going to install it.

I'm fairly technically adept, but I think at this stage of the game I'd probably call in a tech. Its not under warranty anymore unfortunately. Do you have an idea of what could have caused a print head to go bad, if that ends up being the issue?

 

[Jim Hancock]

There is no telling what caused it. How old is the head? Sometimes they just fail. The 2 main causes of head failure are clogging and head strikes.

 

[mikestearns]

At the risking of sounding incredibly stupid, what's my best method for finding a tech in the area? Google isn't giving me any results, and I can't find any decent information on Roland's site. I put in a support ticket but sometimes that takes close to a week to get a response, and left a voicemail but I'm assuming that's probably not going to get me a call back.