SC-500 Help

[mudmedia]

As some of you may have seen me posting about problems with my SC-500 I have found a couple answers thanks very much to the people who had suggestions but have a couple more...

I figured out a lot of the poor quality was really because the material i was on i went to my local sign supply store and seen the oracal 3164 is for water based inks it recommends so i went and picked up some 3165 Rapid Air stuff to just try to see if this was my problem because it recommended solvent inks. I did that and it appears to be a lot better but i still have some banding going on.

What causes Banding? Someone told me it was because the heads are dirty? We replaced one of the heads and i clean them both daily and do a hand clean about 3-5 days of operation. Is there anything else that can cause banding from a distance the prints look great is just up close you can see where the head is moving back and forth they tell me thats banding?

I then talked to another person who helped and said its your profile i told him what media i was using and told me to try and download the profiles off oracals website. I went and looked and they do not offer my model. They offer a sc 545 but im not sure if it will work?

so my two questions are:

1) What possibilities do I have of eliminating banding on this machine what parts do i look for to replace and such? OR is it just the age of the machine? ARe SC 500's any good now days?

2) IF oracal does not support a profile for my machine can I use a different model number? what model should i try to use it on?

Thanks

 

[Replicator]

Though I am not familiar with your printer, banding can be caused by many things.

The most obvious are the material, the profiles and the images you're printing . . .

I would recommend finding out what materials are best suited to your specific printer.

Also make sure to get media that has profiles readily available.

As far as images go (CRAP IN = CRAP OUT), make sure the images are not pixilated to badly if bitmaps.

The stars must all align for prints to come out right . . . Materials, profiles and image compatibility are key . . .

 

[sfr table hockey]

Most times I have found the banding was from not having the heads lined up propper. There is a test print you can do in the service menu that will do your allignment test prints. If they are off then you will get banding. If you print in uni direction and get no banding then you know the heads are ok and it's just the Bi direction settings you need to adjust.

 

[Jester1167]

There are alot of things that can cause banding. It would help if you posted a picture.

To low on your heat settings can cause dot gain. one head pass will get pulled into the last pass. It's been along time since I have seen it but, I remember it as a dark line next to a light line.

Each profile has a section that lets you adjust the scan interval (not sure about the wording) The thickness and spungyness of the material determines how far the pinch rollers need to advance the material on each pass. This is called scan. If all your media bands the same way and distance, adjust it on the printer. If each one is different, you need to adjust your profiles.

 

[Jester1167]

I forgot, you replaced a head. There is a long process in service mode to make sure the heads are all aligned as well.

Also, SC 500's were acually more water based then eco sol. I think this is when Roland called it Sol ink. Has your printer been converted to EcoSol / EcoSol Max inks?

 

[Pacific Coast Sign]

The SC500 was designed for the old EcoSol ink... you are now using EcoSol Max inks - very different and print different with your printer. Yes, you may get great quality with the printer.
Do you design with CMYK, or RGB? RGB will give bolder prints.
Banding issues include (and NOT limited to)
1. Your printer heater setting(s)and environment temps
2. Head alignment
3. Dirty environment and/or printer, heads, encoder strip
4. Bad dampers
5. Bad Cap tops / pump
6. File (low resolution)
7. Media - always suspect with "low cost" materials
8. Bad motor(s), or circuit boards
9. Worn out heads - too high shot count (6 Billion is kind of an average)
As you can see, there is also the possibility of a combination of any of the above.
It may be worth having your local tech come do a service call and all adjustments etc...