SP-300 ink problems....

[Sherry2006]

Hey guys, why would red ink be sucked into the yellow ink's lines and damper? Cant print yellow anymore, just faint pink lines. I am using a Roland SP-300. Nothing has changed lately on the machine. Ive done numerous medium cleanings, manually cleaned the internals, changed the yellow cartridge, and did one powerful cleaning. Nothing seems to work. Red ink is sucked into the yellow inks lines. What do I do?! thanks.

 

[Sherry2006]

alright... i changed the damper for the yellow. used the syringe to bring the ink back into the damper, and put everything back the way it was. Now, im still not getting any yellow, but thankfully no red in place of it and my yellow line is staying yellow. so, i guess im one step ahead, but not quite there. I did a couple more medium cleanings, and aslo manually cleaned everything myself. There is not even any yellow on the sponge. Ive run about four 12" x 18" pure yellow squares through to try and get it to print, but not a drop of yellow is seen. wtf?

 

[sfr table hockey]

Is there any chance that the waste line might be plugged. When you do a normal clean can you look into your waste bottle and see the lines and can see ink drip out of both waste lines. If a waste line from the pump gets blocked it won't draw ink into the print head and what does come out of the print head would just pool in the capping station and possibly contaminate the other lines. Just a shot in the dark. If you use a syringe and force cleaning fluid through the pump line you can unclog a line.

 

[Pacific Coast Sign]

Check your Cap Top - replace BOTH since the second will be going bad soon and you may as well change both since you are there anyway.
Next check the alignment of the captop to the head - it should be centered on the head - remove the metal shield and look directly to the heads as they are capped up. YOu may need a tech to come out and center the cap tops to the heads.

 

[Sherry2006]

so i changed the damper for yellow, did a wack of medium cleanings, and voila! took a little while before it worked, but yellow is now back in the lines and printing wonderfully. And yes sfr., I did make sure the line was not plugged, you could see the ink dripping into the bottle. thanks tho, that would be something i would normally overlook.
Thanks Pacific.! So far it's printing good, but if the problem persists I will def. relace the cap top, its probably overdue anyways.