Routine Maintenance timing

[ml4cs]

6 months in now with my used Roland sp-540i and just looking for some recommendations on routine maintenance and part replacement (yes I know it has to do a lot with how much is being printed) etc but looking for some ballpark generalities. I am printing about 400+ ft of vinyl a month (54"), nothing crazy but a decent amount. And I also know that some of these things are troubleshooting if there are print issues, but looking at preventative maintenance vs its broken on a Friday at 6pm with a big deadline and I don't have a replacement part available for 3-4 days. I have stocked up on replacement consumables just in case.

How often or how do I know when its time to replace:
-Dampers
-Wipers
-Captops
-Pump
-Print heads

I do a manual cleaning procedure around the heads, captops and wipers every 1-3 days depending on usage and print performance.

Is there any other maintenance I should do every so often? do I need to flush the lines (like an oil change) ever?

Any reports or test prints I should run every so often to ensure its running properly?

Thanks

 

[balstestrat]

I do it like this:

-Dampers - Never, only if there is an issue or with a new printhead
-Wipers - Yearly
-Scraper - Yearly
-Captops - Yearly
-Tubes from pump - Yearly
-Pads - Yearly
-Pump - Never, only if there is an issue
-Print heads - When print quality drops below required

do I need to flush the lines (like an oil change) ever?

Any reports or test prints I should run every so often to ensure its running properly?

No, you use the printer and you are doing it continuously.
Just the usual nozzle check and continue working as usual.

 

[Solventinkjet]

The above info is pretty standard. The only thing I might add is, most people don't change dampers until they start having issues. If you replace them once per year along with the rest you don't get any surprise failures. It's not completely necessary but can be useful.

As far as cleaning goes, the manufacturers recommend a daily, weekly and monthly cleaning regimen. In reality you can get away with about twice per week. Just clean the cap tops and wiper to make sure they don't have ink build up. Then once per month clean the part of the surface of the head that the cap top comes in contact with avoiding the nozzle area. This is a good time to pour some cleaning solution down the cap tops to prevent clogging.