Need Help Roland VP-540 Not Printing Black, Cyan

[kellogin]

I really hope someone has some insight. Had the VP-540 for years now and it's mostly printed without issue. Attempted to change out the Black print head (had a major collision with a media clamp) and that's when the problems started.

Immediately after installing the head and following all installation instructions to the letter from the service manual, I was getting nothing out of the black head. Started running back through everything to make sure nothing was missed. Discovered some bent pins on the print head cables. Apparently in my inspection I caused another issue because the Cyan dropped out immediately after.

Found a blown fuse on the main board along with another blown component:

I sent the board out to be repaired (by a company that specializes in Roland boards) put it back in along with new printhead cables and a new fuse... and still nothing... no black. no cyan.


Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks everyone and anyone in advance!

 

[Solventinkjet]

The first thing to check in these situations is if ink is actually flowing through the head. Disconnect the cap top tube from the pump tube and hook a syringe up to the cap top tube for each color you want to test. With the heads capped, pull the syringe. You should get a fair amount of suction and ink should flow into the syringe within seconds as long as there is ink in the dampers. If you pull a ton of air and get no suction, the cap top is probably bad. If you pull and get a ton of suction but no ink and the syringe pops back when you let it go, there is a clog in the cap top.tube. You should be able to work that out with the syringe and some solution. Check the pumps too the same way. You should be able to push air or solution through the pump tubes with ease. Once you know there is ink in the heads and they still don't print, the board may not have been fixed properly, the head may have fried due to the short caused by the bad head cables, and/or there could be another mysterious electrical issue. Did you check the fuse again? Is it still good? If it blew again, you need to do a very thorough check on all the cables for burn marks and any signs of a short.

 

[kellogin]

The first thing to check in these situations is if ink is actually flowing through the head. Disconnect the cap top tube from the pump tube and hook a syringe up to the cap top tube for each color you want to test. With the heads capped, pull the syringe. You should get a fair amount of suction and ink should flow into the syringe within seconds as long as there is ink in the dampers. If you pull a ton of air and get no suction, the cap top is probably bad. If you pull and get a ton of suction but no ink and the syringe pops back when you let it go, there is a clog in the cap top.tube. You should be able to work that out with the syringe and some solution. Check the pumps too the same way. You should be able to push air or solution through the pump tubes with ease. Once you know there is ink in the heads and they still don't print, the board may not have been fixed properly, the head may have fried due to the short caused by the bad head cables, and/or there could be another mysterious electrical issue. Did you check the fuse again? Is it still good? If it blew again, you need to do a very thorough check on all the cables for burn marks and any signs of a short.

Thanks Vander! This was extremely helpful. Apparently, everything just needed a little help to get going. All 4 colors are printing fine and my new black head prints perfectly.

Now my issue is that my computer says the printer is offline.... Not really sure what may have changed. I am going to try and update the IP and see if I can get it back.

 

[premiercolour]

Very good information.

 

[hunterp]

The first thing to check in these situations is if ink is actually flowing through the head. Disconnect the cap top tube from the pump tube and hook a syringe up to the cap top tube for each color you want to test. With the heads capped, pull the syringe. You should get a fair amount of suction and ink should flow into the syringe within seconds as long as there is ink in the dampers. If you pull a ton of air and get no suction, the cap top is probably bad. If you pull and get a ton of suction but no ink and the syringe pops back when you let it go, there is a clog in the cap top.tube. You should be able to work that out with the syringe and some solution. Check the pumps too the same way. You should be able to push air or solution through the pump tubes with ease. Once you know there is ink in the heads and they still don't print, the board may not have been fixed properly, the head may have fried due to the short caused by the bad head cables, and/or there could be another mysterious electrical issue. Did you check the fuse again? Is it still good? If it blew again, you need to do a very thorough check on all the cables for burn marks and any signs of a short.

VanderJ,

Could an old/failed damper be the cause of non suction for your test? I just replaced the magenta cap top and i'm getting very little suction on my magenta head when pulling air down.
Thanks!

 

[Fly N Dutchman]

Could I ask who you sent your board to? I have kind of had the same thing bent the pins on the cable and blew the fuse. replaced cables and keeps blowing fuse.
Thanks