SP 300 issues...

[EternalAudio]

Few issues I was wondering if anyone else had and was able to fix..

First, which started recently.. And is quite intermittent..

It will give an error of "Sheet Set Error" OR... "Left pinch roller" OR "Right pinch roller" OR sometimes the carriage will completely pass the left pinch roller, not stopping... and return a "width" of 0.0"
And yes.. I checked the pinch rollers to make sure they are set properly...

BESIDES that issue...

Im getting print "splotching" Not sure what the correct term is..

any ideas why this happens?

*pic attached* shows a square print of CMYK each square being 100% of each respective color, and 0% of every other color.

 

[rjssigns]

SP300 Issues

Hard to tell from pix, but the Cyan looks to have "overspray" which could be a dusty reader strip. Other colors look to be starving which could be any number of things. What inks do you use? When was the last time the dampers and cap tops were replaced? If a 3rd party ink is being used that leads to things like clogged lines ruined dampers, etc... Sorry I am not more help.

 

[TSdesigns.NET]

The pinch roller problem is most likely the encoder strip or the wires connecting the print head carriage. I've had both issues cause the pinch roller error. Clean the encoder strip and see if that works. If not they are fairly cheap and easy to replace and if cleaning or replacing the encoder strip doesn't help its most likely the wires. I can't remember the correct name for them though. Do a search for cleaning encoder strips on your printer I think you can use alcohol or cleaning solution. But there's many threads about encoder strips on here.

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

Never use your solvent cleaning solution, use alcohol even mixed with a little water will clean it.

 

[njsignguy]

i also had the 0.0 reading and it turned out to be the following: the silver metal on my pinch roller has become loose. It is held on by a little screw which in order to get to, you would need to take apart the whole top end of the machine. The silver part gets read and if its not in its normal position it spit out a 0.0.

 

[strypguy]

Cut carriage cable could be your sheet set error problem. The "splotching" is probably the cap tops. I've had both those problems and those were my fixes. It's a good place to start anyway.

John

 

[InkjetAuction]

Replace the cut carriage cable

Right. Your pinch wheel problem is the cut carriage cable that connects the cutting carriage to the mainboard. This cable carries signals for the pinch wheel sensor, cropmark sensor, and the contour knife solenoid. Replace this cable along with the two plastic guides and your pinch wheel problem will go away. (Approx $40 parts plus less than an hour of labor).

Now your cyan overspray is another story. What does the nozzle test look like? Can you post a photo?

~E

 

[Patentagosse]

If not they are fairly cheap and easy to replace

$250 for a ½" strip of mylar, that's not what I call fairly cheap in my shop. However, after replacing this part, my printer got back on track and performed like a new one. I tried to wipe it with alcohol but it ended up ruining the "clearcoat" on the strip (maybe I wiped too much?). 'Had to wipe until all flicks n' chips were removed... printer run fine for few days and started screwing prints again so I replaced it.

 

[TSdesigns.NET]

I'm glad you got it back up and running. I had the prices flip flopped on the encoder strip and carriage cable. I thought the encoder was cheaper sorry about that.

 

[luis velez]

i have the same proble and was the contancs on the cables was drty

 

[EternalAudio]

Now Im getting another issue... While printing, magenta seems to stop printing completely. Sometimes it happens in the middle of the print, sometimes near the end, sometimes just after it starts..
Printer is not my friend lately...

 

[Patentagosse]

Printer is not my friend lately...

Bad Karma... I'm french-canadian but there's an english expression I particularly love to illustrate the bad days:

When the s**t hits the fan 'Saves me lots of explanations...

 

[J Hill Designs]

does it 'run out' or does it just stop dead?

 

[EternalAudio]

does it 'run out' or does it just stop dead?

If by 'run out' you mean gradually stops printing magenta, then no.. It is quite sudden. I can always tell the moment it stops.

What I have done, was, once I see magenta stop, I pause the machine, wait for the print head to return to the captops, then remove the rubber hose from the captop to the pump (where the y-join tube is) and used a syringe to carefully suck out the ink. Once I do that, I replaced the rubber hose back to the pump, and unpause, and it then prints "just fine" Until it decides to stop again. (always random time) then repeat the process...

Make sense?

 

[EternalAudio]

i also had the 0.0 reading and it turned out to be the following: the silver metal on my pinch roller has become loose. It is held on by a little screw which in order to get to, you would need to take apart the whole top end of the machine. The silver part gets read and if its not in its normal position it spit out a 0.0.

Mine are a little loose. Ill try tightening the screw see if that helps. thanks!

 

[EternalAudio]

Right. Your pinch wheel problem is the cut carriage cable that connects the cutting carriage to the mainboard. This cable carries signals for the pinch wheel sensor, cropmark sensor, and the contour knife solenoid. Replace this cable along with the two plastic guides and your pinch wheel problem will go away. (Approx $40 parts plus less than an hour of labor).

Now your cyan overspray is another story. What does the nozzle test look like? Can you post a photo?

~E

Heres a pic of the test print from this morning

 

[GTSTech_1]

With that test print (nozzle check) your heads have to be towards the end of their life or your using 3rd party ink. You have way too much deflection going on to produce a great quality print. For your "Drop out" on magenta, look at the captop, is the sponge swollen to the point the sponge is higher than the rubber edge, if so replace. Also if you haven't replaced the damper in the last year, go ahead and do that as well (Roland recommends changing them every 6 months). In laymans terms the dampers are like an oil filter for a auto.


My .02

GTSTech_1

 

[EternalAudio]

With that test print (nozzle check) your heads have to be towards the end of their life or your using 3rd party ink. You have way too much deflection going on to produce a great quality print. For your "Drop out" on magenta, look at the captop, is the sponge swollen to the point the sponge is higher than the rubber edge, if so replace. Also if you haven't replaced the damper in the last year, go ahead and do that as well (Roland recommends changing them every 6 months). In laymans terms the dampers are like an oil filter for a auto.


My .02

GTSTech_1

Using roland ink.

So theres really no way to fix that then other than buy new printheads?

Havent replaced the damper in... 3 years...

and the captops dont seem to be swollen.

Never replaced them either.

 

[CS-SignSupply]

Your magenta head looks permanently deflected. Buy the captop and replace it... run a clean or two and do test print. See if the new captop helps at all. If not, I suspect the head is not going to get better on its own.

Curious... have you changed the wiper or wiper scraper ever?

 

[EternalAudio]

Your magenta head looks permanently deflected. Buy the captop and replace it... run a clean or two and do test print. See if the new captop helps at all. If not, I suspect the head is not going to get better on its own.

Curious... have you changed the wiper or wiper scraper ever?

I replaced the wiper maybe 8 months ago.

I have two new captops on order as well as new dampers. We'll see what happens when they arrive.