Roland VS series damper replacement help

[Ben Kinsella]

Hi i have searched the forums for an answer to this but cant seem to find one...

On our VS640i the metallic ink intermittently pours out while working and runs down both sides of the media (each side).... When we aren't even using metallic on the job...

Its now happening more and more and i cant leave it running on take up over night for fear of it happening. You can actually see the droplets coming out of the head at rest. (I presume this is air in the lines causing it).

I have replaced the cartridge numerous times (although we do take out to shake gently every few days).

Each time it happens we perform a light choke, clean and circulate the ink numerous times. it seems to do the job for a few weeks but then comes back.

I have also replaced the top cap on the machine.

I am now wondering if it is a damper? (I believe they should be replaced every 6 months regardless). Has anyone ever had this issue. If so please could you help. Also if anyone knows a good set of instructions for a damper replacement that would be great as i cant find any anywhere....

regards

 

[untitled]

I can't really help you with your issue, however I have the service manual for the VS-640 which has instructions for changing the damper. I would think it is pretty similar to the VS-640i but I don't know that for sure. Hopefully it helps out a bit.

VS-640 Service Manual

 

[Ben Kinsella]

Huge thanks for this i will take a look!

It has been ok today, until we did a normal head clean and it started dripping from the head....

 

[davyde]

Ive seen this a few times on sites and cane down to machine had a head strike and damaged the edge of the print head which allow ink to leak out. Unfortunately had to change the head and being the dx7 head - not cheap. A faulty damper will result no pressure and ink will not hold and just flow back up the ink line leaving the channel dry in the head. Check the condition of the head surface and surrounds, shining a torch on it at the right angle will show any deformation (if any) caused by a head strike.


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[Ben Kinsella]

I will have a look at the head in detail now, however we have experienced this problem on multiple colours but after a good choke they went away never to return, The metallic seems to not go away. Its as soon as we clean the head it leaks very bad, if we circulate the link immediately after it does not leak. It will print 50+ metres perfect therafter with no leaking etc, but as soon as we do a normal clean it then leaks....

 

[davyde]

Is the wiper cleaning the head properly in normal clean function? Ive seen machines that when the wiper rotates to wipe its in the wrong position. Other than that im out of ideas!


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[Ben Kinsella]

I have just looked at the head with a torch and it is perfect, like a mirror surface with zero imperfections...

I sometimes move the wiper cradle accidentally when replacing it, but i thought it always returned to its previous positions? i can confirm ive definitely loved it a couple of notches either way by accident.

 

[Joe House]

Bee careful of the info you get online.
The wiper will return to its home position after you change it or reboot the printer or a number of other functions. If it doesn't, you'll get a wiper error.
Also, ink doesn't flow uphill. Ink cartridges are higher than the head, so any natural ink movement would be out the head. The dampers on the vs series have a check valve, that if damaged or otherwise "stuck open" can cause ink to leak. One other thing that has been noticed, but Roland corrected this long ago, is that neighboring dampers can sell in hot weather and cause adjacent dampers to leak by pressing against the valve. If you have some 3rd party dampers in there they could still suffer from this problem.

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[Ben Kinsella]

Thanks for this info!

As this is a VSI we are using metallic and white, however all the other cartridges are refill / bulk cartridges...

I remember the ink leaked out of the head on other colours before we went o the bulk.....

I have just filled up a refill cartridge now with metallic ink (cut open a cartridge). And put it in the machine, ive done 2 light chokes and circulated and then cleaned the head 3 times, as yet it has not leaked... I am going to run some tests now and clean again... I fear that the metallic cartridges we have had have been pressurised - air in them etc. (fingers crossed this is the issue).

 

[Ben Kinsella]

Unfortunately after an hour of printing and then a normal head clean it has started leaking again....

 

[Ben Kinsella]

I have since pulled the dampers out to check if there was anything obvious (i don't yet have any spare dampers). The metallic ink is running freely out of the damper like a tap? Can anyone confirm this is a faulty damper or something more serious? Picture attached. Help is very much appreciated.

 

[davyde]

Bee careful of the info you get online.

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I cant agree with you more joe! Ive been caught out with advice i got online in the past. My comments are purely based on my own personal experience on the field and the unusual problems ive come across.



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[Yanoa]

I have since pulled the dampers out to check if there was anything obvious (i don't yet have any spare dampers). The metallic ink is running freely out of the damper like a tap? Can anyone confirm this is a faulty damper or something more serious? Picture attached. Help is very much appreciated.

Hi Ben,
Any change since your last post?. I've the same problem with metal ink. In my case, even with a pre-print cleaning, after a few meters, it restarts to leak. The Roland guys said me that I need to change the cap top and/or the dumper.
A little detail, since I've changed the head (a few months ago) the sound that I can hear from the pump aren't "syncronous" like before the new head. Now it sounds like "asynchronous". I would say, before is like "tac tac tac tac" and now is more like "tactac tactac". Maybe the pump doesn't do his job well?.

 

[ewded]

Not an expert but it seems like your choke valve is faulty. You cannot repair it yourself, you need a tech to verify and exchange it.

 

[Yanoa]

Not an expert but it seems like your choke valve is faulty. You cannot repair it yourself, you need a tech to verify and exchange it.

Choke valve are part of the pump?

 

[ewded]

No, the choke valve is a part of the choke assembly, don't know where actually its located before OR after the pump, but it's purpose is to stop ink to freely flow out on the nozzles.

 

[Yanoa]

OK. On my VS-640 its on the left side.

 

[mleg1972]

On the VS, the chole valve is just a metal clamp that squeezes the ink lines. Doubt it went bad.

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[mleg1972]

Use an Allen wrenches to close the choke valves, and then you can replace the dampers.

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[Mata]

Replace the damper, there should be no ink running out of it and I think that will solve your issue.

Remember to turn the choke on before changing it, You can do it through a service mode or do it manually, I don't know the service mode route so take the cover off the back where the inks are, you'll see the lines of ink go into white choke valves and the ink lines coming back of them. They'll be a big white cog, I think you need to turn that so the metal hook is not in between the white bracket, either way it needs to be the opposite to what it is when you take the cover off. To double check, take the cover off, turn the white cog and then turn the printer back on, it will automatically turn the choke off so you know you need to change it to the other way. Hope that makes sense.

Once the choke is on, you can then change the damper and the choke will automatically turn back off when you switch the printer on.

Be careful not to spill ink n the head as you will damage it, trust me I know.