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Sp 540 V Dropping Ink On Prints

waxworx media

New Member
Hi there,

i seem to have an intermittent problem with my Sp 540 V. every now and then, it drops dots of ink on to the print.

Roland service guy said it needs 2 new print heads. this sounds ludicrous considering that it only has 2 print heads ???

here in Australia, that's a $ 3500.00 job by Roland.

any advice would be greatly appreciated. i am getting seriously stressed out here as i have a fairly decent sized job to get out and, i dont fancy babysitting the machine for the next 30 hours !!!
 

jasonx

New Member
Are you heads clean? Like around the heads? Have you performed the cleaning procedure to wipe around the heads? That's usually my cause of ink dropping.
 

albert

New Member
hello

you might want to wipe the sides of the heads clean. fibers from the materials that you're using sometimes attach to the heads thereby attracting ink causing the ink drops. i've seen this many times on my printer.
 

waxworx media

New Member
thanks,

i will give this a try today and see how i get along. i thought print heads failing would be fairly unlikely ?

is this still a possibility ?
 

jasonx

New Member
thanks,

i will give this a try today and see how i get along. i thought print heads failing would be fairly unlikely ?

is this still a possibility ?

Post a print out of your test print pattern and we'll be able to tell you if its a head issue.
 

waxworx media

New Member
Test Strip

we printed a test, then we initiated a clean, the printed again.

Alex.
 

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jasonx

New Member
we printed a test, then we initiated a clean, the printed again.

Alex.

You don't need new heads.

You need to clean around your heads with cleaning fluid and swabs. Looks like you have a fiber attached to one of your heads which will cause the ink dropping.

The cleaning procedure is in the manual.
 

Jester1167

Premium Subscriber
You need to clean or replace your wipers from time to time as well. They get dried ink on them and collect hairs and fibers. When you clean or start up the printer for the day they can wipe on a piece of foreign matter.
 
Yes, clean your heads (most likely you have hair or banner strings hanging from the heads), clean the wipers, and wiper scraper. You shouldn't have to do more than a medium clean to bring the heads back.
 

waxworx media

New Member
thanks !!

we will give it a good once over, and see how we get a along. the wipers were changed a week ago along with the tech cleaning all the relevant parts during his service call.

since then we have done about 20 meters of full color printing so , it stands to reason that it would need a clean

i assume the ink build up on the heads is a regular occurance ? how often is considered regular maintenance by the User ?

Alex.
 

jasonx

New Member
thanks !!

we will give it a good once over, and see how we get a along. the wipers were changed a week ago along with the tech cleaning all the relevant parts during his service call.

since then we have done about 20 meters of full color printing so , it stands to reason that it would need a clean

i assume the ink build up on the heads is a regular occurance ? how often is considered regular maintenance by the User ?

Alex.

I think in the manual it states approximately weekly. This would vary depending on your printing usage and the build up. Also depends on the wear on the wipers to as how effective they are at wiping the heads.

Also use the latest wipers I remember the initial ones that were adapted from I think pigment printers didn't last too long in our solvent machines,
 
I agree withall of the above procedures. When the ink starts to drop, stop the print and inspect the bottom of the head. Is there a build up of ink, and where. I have also seen this caused by failing dampers. Inspect the damper. If it is full or looks like the filter is clogged, it is time for a new set. Last but not least is my favorite and the biggest pain. STATIC
 
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