I have a Roland SP300v..... My prints have been getting messed up from the head hitting the material. It doesn't jam or anyhting, so I usually don't see it until the job is completely finished. I can understand the edges curling up sometimes causing this problem, but how is it hitting the center of the vinyl? Today, I noticed that I had a spot in the media that was slightly raised and seen that it was going to be a problem. I reset the media, made sure it was tight, pre - unrolled the media, etc.... and still could not get the media to lay completely flat. Do you guys have any tricks or tips for this? Thanks
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SP300 Head Strikes
- Thread starter neckbone
- Start date
threeputt
New Member
Assuming the 300 is similar to the 540:
Print with the head in the "up" position. Especially on banners, but even vinyl jobs.
Use all the media rollers. Be sure the material is in no "bind" from the feed side of things.
Be sure the vinyl is not skewed.
Finally is the temperature of the room pretty cold?
Print with the head in the "up" position. Especially on banners, but even vinyl jobs.
Use all the media rollers. Be sure the material is in no "bind" from the feed side of things.
Be sure the vinyl is not skewed.
Finally is the temperature of the room pretty cold?
DizzyMarkus
New Member
Lower your "print" temp -- raise the dryer temp
(102) (118)
Make sure there is no "fuzz" or any strings etc hanging off the heads
Markus
(102) (118)
Make sure there is no "fuzz" or any strings etc hanging off the heads
Markus
DizzyMarkus
New Member
no worries -- I have a 300v also and when the print heat was to high, the material would get wavy under the roller pressure and I would get little lines etc --
Markus
Markus
I'm using the default settings and the print Heat is at 45C and the dryer is at 50C..... is that about right?
DizzyMarkus
New Member
These are what I use for Orajet 3551
102ºF = 38.889ºC
118ºF = 47.778ºC
just what I use ;0)
Markus
102ºF = 38.889ºC
118ºF = 47.778ºC
just what I use ;0)
Markus
truckgraphics
New Member
Howdy Neckbone. Did you solve the problem? We are having the same problem with Oracal 3268 (6 mil) in our SP 300.
truckgraphics
New Member
Let me reply to my own reply (checking my condition to see what condition my condition is in)....Just turned off the heater, but kept the dryer on low (38C) and we finally got through a 4 foot run. It only took us 25 feet of material to get there !!!!
I've done a couple of things that's helped eliminate 99% of my problem.... I reduced the heat some....... if the rolls sits on the machine, the material tends to wrinkle over time if the pinch rollers are left down, so make sure you release the rollers and allow the material to lay flat, then apply the rollers again when you get ready to print. I also noticed that most of the time when I put the roll on the machine, the end of the roll is already wrinkled some, so I run that out until its completely smoothed across were the head will be traveling ...... The final thing, which I just did and may had played a roll in a lot of this in the past, is replaced my pinch rollers. I had one of my rollers to go bad, so it may have been getting worn out the whole time, allowing slack?????? Don't know but I guess anythings possible. Hope this helps you out.
I have a roll of the 3268, but have not tried running it yet. I might be asking you for any tips on that.
trimitbyrich
New Member
I'm pretty sure the SP 300 has a white lever on the head assembly to move the head up or down. It's not marked but its on the upper left side of the head assembly.
I know that this is a pretty old thread but just thought I'd add my two cents.
This should be taken as advice for all printers, not just the SP300.
Heat can certainly be a problem but one of the more common problems in my experience is not tightening and centering the media. Doing this is very simple, you "install" the roll on the printer and before you put down the pinch rollers you simply grab the media in the center and pull it down, that'll make sure that it's tight and straight. If you don't do this the media can travel left and right quite a bit during printing, this is especially apparent if you have a take up system, you will see the media going in one direction instead of coming onto the take up system in a perfect roll.
Another thing to keep in mind is not to put the pinch rollers at the very edge of the media or have the roller stay half on media and half off, this can cause problems as well.
Hope this helps someone out.
This should be taken as advice for all printers, not just the SP300.
Heat can certainly be a problem but one of the more common problems in my experience is not tightening and centering the media. Doing this is very simple, you "install" the roll on the printer and before you put down the pinch rollers you simply grab the media in the center and pull it down, that'll make sure that it's tight and straight. If you don't do this the media can travel left and right quite a bit during printing, this is especially apparent if you have a take up system, you will see the media going in one direction instead of coming onto the take up system in a perfect roll.
Another thing to keep in mind is not to put the pinch rollers at the very edge of the media or have the roller stay half on media and half off, this can cause problems as well.
Hope this helps someone out.