SP300V: Print Head Issue

[drgnslayr]

Greeting everyone!

I recently purchased a SP300V. Noticed a slight banding in the black, so I performed a test print. Here it is:

http://farhadevelopment.com/testprint2.jpg

I started off by doing a couple of powerful cleans. Then I did a manual clean, including dabbing the nozzles carefully with Roland cleaner. And I filled the cap with the same cleaner and let it soak. I probably should have clamped the hose to make sure cleaning fluid stayed in the cap, but didn't. Then I ran one more powerful cleaning and did another test print and only showed maybe a 1 or 2% improvement.

I contacted my Roland dealer and he said he should come out and replace the head. Before I go to that expense, should I try other fixes? Perhaps clean out or replace black damper? Change the head cable? My ink cartridge is almost empty, but I pulled it out and shook it and it still feels like it has a bit of ink left.. consistent with what the printer shows.

Does this look like a wasted print head or some other issue?

Thank you, in advance, for offering up advice!

 

[Solventinkjet]

There is always a possibility of the head being bad but judging by the perfect quality of your other colors, I would try changing the damper, and cap top first. You could just have some ink flow issues that are causing the black to not come through the nozzles well enough to produce a good test print. I unless you are getting some kind of over spray or funky digital patterns in the print, I would say the cable is good.

The ink cartridge could be causing the issue as well. You are going to have to get another one soon anyway so I would suggest putting a brand new one in and running a normal cleaning.

Lastly, but something you may want to check first, take the damper off and check the manifold for cracks and or clean breaks. This is common on used machine especially if someone inexperienced refurbished it before you bought it. A broken manifold will definitely cause issues with ink flow. Manifolds are replaceable fortunately.

If all else fails, flush the head and hope for the best. Then call us a Solventinkjet.com and we can help you troubleshoot. We specialize in helping people fix their own machines and only sell you a print head if you absolutely need it. A lot of techs, especially Roland techs, will go straight for the expensive parts without trying to actually diagnose the problem.