sp300 media shifing / feeding crooked

[supurb]

Hi there,

I'm trying to problem solve a new reoccuring issue I have wiith my Sp300. Recently the media wants to starting going crooked on me after the first 18" is printed (pushing to the right). This of course bunches the material causing head strikes. I print on static cling Material. Print heat 98, dry 104. Here is what i've done so far.

1) changed the pinch rollers. They are both new within the last month. I couldn't get the washer to fit back in on one but it still seems to be in there tight.
2) The clamps on the roller occasionally seemed to want to move so i backed them up with a screw hose clamps so they can't move. This seemed to fix the issue for a while.
3) when the clamps were moving, the flanges would start to shift and start falling out of the material, so a ran a rod through them with wing nuts to hold them tight to the material.
4) I also check to see that the rods the media sit on were moving freely. They were and I oiled them anyway just to make sure, not sure if that does anything or not.

The bottom steel roller is all one piece i think, so that couldn't be the problem could it? Unless the tiny teeth on one side were to wear out? They seem the same to me on all sides. I picked off any debris i saw on it.

Lastly, it seems to happen when the roll is new, and when its near the end.

Seems like when i take the media out, move the pinch rollers, clamps around a little an fire it back up that sometimes its okay for while.

Also- I have no idea what the brake is suposse to do? However i have been printing on the machine for years without using it.

Is there chance the pinch rollers i got aren't big enough, they seem to clamp down pretty good.

Any help you guys could offer as would be great as I am very busy with christmas orders.

 

[supurb]

Hi - Still hoping to get some direction on this.

I read that the outer pinch rollars are different from the middle ones (which are tapered) and I have no idea what kind I put on, I bought them off ebay. I have the correct ones coming in the mail just to make sure. However I have some updated symptoms.

I took rollers off my other machine (cj500) and put them on this machine and now the problem has become much worse. Now its is not printing right at all even after switching the rollers back. The image fades off to the right as it prints and is very blurry. The curious thing is that the print actually starts in front of the right pinch roller instead of directly to the left of it. Thinking that perhaps i touched the encoder strip I ran the linear encoder and linear Calib from the service menu. This did not help at all. Also when i do test prints the image seems to be fine.

I did a visual check of the encoder strip and did not see anything. I think my next step would be clean to encoder module or sensor, I will have to look at the service manual to see where that is. Also I will probably want to clean the encoder strip, do have to remove it to do that ?

My best guess right now is that 1) I used the incorrect pinch rollers which caused the media to shift, 2) that some how I got the encoder stip or sensor dirty while working on the pinch rollers. Does this sound like i'm on the right track ? I really could use some help because if can't get this up and running I will potentially will have to refund $1000 of Christmas orders. Thanks.

 

[truckgraphics]

Hi - Still hoping to get some direction on this.

I read that the outer pinch rollars are different from the middle ones (which are tapered) and I have no idea what kind I put on, I bought them off ebay. I have the correct ones coming in the mail just to make sure. However I have some updated symptoms.

I took rollers off my other machine (cj500) and put them on this machine and now the problem has become much worse. Now its is not printing right at all even after switching the rollers back. The image fades off to the right as it prints and is very blurry. The curious thing is that the print actually starts in front of the right pinch roller instead of directly to the left of it. Thinking that perhaps i touched the encoder strip I ran the linear encoder and linear Calib from the service menu. This did not help at all. Also when i do test prints the image seems to be fine.

I did a visual check of the encoder strip and did not see anything. I think my next step would be clean to encoder module or sensor, I will have to look at the service manual to see where that is. Also I will probably want to clean the encoder strip, do have to remove it to do that ?

My best guess right now is that 1) I used the incorrect pinch rollers which caused the media to shift, 2) that some how I got the encoder stip or sensor dirty while working on the pinch rollers. Does this sound like i'm on the right track ? I really could use some help because if can't get this up and running I will potentially will have to refund $1000 of Christmas orders. Thanks.

Most likely the encoder strip. If I recall, you can clean it with a lintless cloth and rubbing alcohol. See the forum for more info. My memory could be fading on the use of rubbing alcohol. We traded in our SP300 a couple years ago (for a new Roland). It was a great machine.

 

[player]

The outer pinch rollers are usually angled to pull the media to the outside of each side.

The center ones are straight.

 

[shoresigns]

Also- I have no idea what the brake is suposse to do? However i have been printing on the machine for years without using it.

I would guess that it probably needed the oil you gave it. Most materials will unspool themselves onto the floor if I don't put the brake on.

 

[supurb]

Okay - Thanks everyone for your thoughts and advice! I will write a summary so that this thread may be of use to others.

So I went to clean the encoder strip. I took the cover off and saw that my sponge was a mess. It was so saturated that it was leaking outside of the sponge casing. I had everything needed to clean that up and change out the 3 sponges. (small one, "T" sponge underneath it, and the Long sponge underneath). A very easy job, one that I don't see covered in the sp300 service manual.

I then took a swab and used warm water. I swabbed the part of the encoder strip that I could see, just the side that was facing me. The Swab ended up with a little bit of dirt on it.

I then went to print and all of my problems are solved. Makes me wonder if I had any pinch roller issues to begin with because I've been printing for several hours and everything is good. I will keep an eye on everything but at this point I am Very Very relieved to have a working printer.

Wondering if the mess the sponge made splattered on to other things and caused my encoder strip to get dirty.
Lesson Learned - Change those sponges!!!