SP540V not printing 1 color

[PIA2022]

We are a super small sign company (printer was originally purchased & mostly used for our own family real estate business signage needs). I know the printer is becoming obsolete in the Roland world, but it has been very good to us and I have maintained it through the years.

The issue is it is not printing any yellow. It stopped after a power failure from a storm. We had a "Roland tech" sent to us several months ago by the dealer we originally purchased the machine from. He said it was the head. He replaced the head, then told us the fuse was blown, but that he could not solder a new on as that was out of his ability. We had the new fuse soldered on, and the small electronics person who did that also checked and found a bad transistor. Transistor was replaced and the main board was re-installed.

The new head now prints red, but absolutely NO yellow.

Cap has been replaced, damper replaced, ribbon cables and also the print carriage board were replaced during my recent trouble-shooting efforts. The ink comes down to damper but is not going through the head on that side and I can't seem to figure out why. If its a new head, what would make this happen? I have also replaced the mainfold on the head.

I just can't see throwing more $$$ at this "tech" coming back when he was less than competent from the get-go. He never even updated the head info in the printer when he originally came and installed the new. It didn't print anything as it didn't recognize the new head because it still had the old info and not the new code. I corrected that myself and the red now prints, but the lack of yellow is boggling my mind.

Anyone have any ideas of what else could cause this?

 

[Zoogee World]

Have you tried attaching a syringe to the line after the cap top and tried pulling ink through to see if yellow is coming through along with the magenta?

 

[Solventinkjet]

My guess is there is more damage to the main board than has been discovered. When transistors pop on that board it means the power surge was big enough to cause damage before the fuse popped. That would mean it was a fairly big surge and probably caused a good amount of damage. You could do a damper swap to verify it's an electrical issue. Just swap the magenta and yellow dampers and run a cleaning. If yellow prints in the magenta position, you can rule out ink flow issues. If yellow still doesn't print in the magenta position, it is more likely an ink flow issue.

 

[PIA2022]

Have you tried attaching a syringe to the line after the cap top and tried pulling ink through to see if yellow is coming through along with the magenta?

Yes, I have tried and only magenta is coming through

 

[PIA2022]

My guess is there is more damage to the main board than has been discovered. When transistors pop on that board it means the power surge was big enough to cause damage before the fuse popped. That would mean it was a fairly big surge and probably caused a good amount of damage. You could do a damper swap to verify it's an electrical issue. Just swap the magenta and yellow dampers and run a cleaning. If yellow prints in the magenta position, you can rule out ink flow issues. If yellow still doesn't print in the magenta position, it is more likely an ink flow issue.

I have not tried this, but will and can report back. Thank you

 

[PIA2022]

My guess is there is more damage to the main board than has been discovered. When transistors pop on that board it means the power surge was big enough to cause damage before the fuse popped. That would mean it was a fairly big surge and probably caused a good amount of damage. You could do a damper swap to verify it's an electrical issue. Just swap the magenta and yellow dampers and run a cleaning. If yellow prints in the magenta position, you can rule out ink flow issues. If yellow still doesn't print in the magenta position, it is more likely an ink flow issue.

Just swapped the magenta and yellow dampers and yellow DOES print from the magenta position. Nothing printed from the other. Could the "new" head be faulty?

 

[Zoogee World]

Just swapped the magenta and yellow dampers and yellow DOES print from the magenta position. Nothing printed from the other. Could the "new" head be faulty?

It does look like there is some sort of blockage on the one side of the head.

 

[Solventinkjet]

Just swapped the magenta and yellow dampers and yellow DOES print from the magenta position. Nothing printed from the other. Could the "new" head be faulty?

Now that we know it's not an ink flow issue, it's probably an electrical one. If you do a cable swap it will tell you if it's the head or the main board. Basically do what you did with the dampers to the head cables. Make sure to turn the machine off, unplug it and wait 15 minutes to avoid popping fuses. Then just swap the head cables between the yellow/magenta head and the cyan/black head. It won't work just swapping them on the same head so you have to swap them with the other head. This will change the order and position of the colors in the nozzle check but you will still be able to see which ones print and don't. If the yellow and magenta print after the swap, the head is fine. If the yellow still doesn't fire, it's the head.

 

[garyroy]

Put a surge protector on the machine when you get it fixed, a good one, like a UPS surge protector.

 

[PIA2022]

Put a surge protector on the machine when you get it fixed, a good one, like a UPS surge protector.

Definitely!! While we had one on there previously, the machine was moved to another location and somehow was not plugged back in and hadn't been noticed. Painful lesson learned!

 

[PIA2022]

Now that we know it's not an ink flow issue, it's probably an electrical one. If you do a cable swap it will tell you if it's the head or the main board. Basically do what you did with the dampers to the head cables. Make sure to turn the machine off, unplug it and wait 15 minutes to avoid popping fuses. Then just swap the head cables between the yellow/magenta head and the cyan/black head. It won't work just swapping them on the same head so you have to swap them with the other head. This will change the order and position of the colors in the nozzle check but you will still be able to see which ones print and don't. If the yellow and magenta print after the swap, the head is fine. If the yellow still doesn't fire, it's the head.

I will try this in the morning and see what happens. So black cable to magenta location, cyan to yellow and vice versa?

 

[Solventinkjet]

I will try this in the morning and see what happens. So black cable to magenta location, cyan to yellow and vice versa?

Exactly.

 

[PIA2022]

Now that we know it's not an ink flow issue, it's probably an electrical one. If you do a cable swap it will tell you if it's the head or the main board. Basically do what you did with the dampers to the head cables. Make sure to turn the machine off, unplug it and wait 15 minutes to avoid popping fuses. Then just swap the head cables between the yellow/magenta head and the cyan/black head. It won't work just swapping them on the same head so you have to swap them with the other head. This will change the order and position of the colors in the nozzle check but you will still be able to see which ones print and don't. If the yellow and magenta print after the swap, the head is fine. If the yellow still doesn't fire, it's the head.

I swapped head cables and still no yellow, so I guess I'm off to buy a new head. I appreciate all the help and once I receive the new head and get it installed, I'll post an update. Thank you!

 

[netsol]

just as an aside, the head rank does not keep you from printing

those power transistors are a complimentary pair and should always be changed in a pair

it is also possible an additional component is damaged

can you SAFELY do a voltage test? the collector of 1 of the pair (the 2sa middle pin) should be grounded.
the collector of the other (the 2sc transistor, middle pin) should have roughly 41 volts dc

 

[PIA2022]

UPDATE: The new head arrived and I installed it today. We are up and running again!! All colors printing. Woo-hoo!! I appreciate everyone's help!

 

[netsol]

that is GREAT NEWS!

 

[Char3148]

Roland parts have a 90 day warranty. Your tech should be able to open a service order and have it replaced or refunded.
Hopefully you still have the head. When I originally saw this post, I was not a registered user or I would have replied sooner.

 

[netsol]

Roland parts have a 90 day warranty. Your tech should be able to open a service order and have it replaced or refunded.
Hopefully you still have the head. When I originally saw this post, I was not a registered user or I would have rep

Roland parts have a 90 day warranty. Your tech should be able to open a service order and have it replaced or refunded.
Hopefully you still have the head. When I originally saw this post, I was not a registered user or I would have replied sooner.

roland parts may have a 90 day warranty, but you misunderstand, i think, the warranty on printheads
i have installed heads for 40 years & you pretty much install at your own risk. original poster may have some recourse with the tech who installed the head, or that company, but they will fight like a cornered animal if you try to recover the costs from them. you will need a team of philadelphia lawyers for that. and will still probably lose

 

[Char3148]

roland parts may have a 90 day warranty, but you misunderstand, i think, the warranty on printheads
i have installed heads for 40 years & you pretty much install at your own risk. original poster may have some recourse with the tech who installed the head, or that company, but they will fight like a cornered animal if you try to recover the costs from them. you will need a team of philadelphia lawyers for that. and will still

roland parts may have a 90 day warranty, but you misunderstand, i think, the warranty on printheads
i have installed heads for 40 years & you pretty much install at your own risk. original poster may have some recourse with the tech who installed the head, or that company, but they will fight like a cornered animal if you try to recover the costs from them. you will need a team of philadelphia lawyers for that. and will still probably lose

Their previous post said they had a tech install it. If they used a reputable Roland dealer, they can open a Roland service order and have the head replaced or refunded. It is certainly worth a try for the cost of the head. I am a ROLAND TECH for a dealer and We have replaced and refunded many Roland parts in the past that were either defective after use or not functioning when installed.

 

[netsol]

I ASSUME this was a 3rd party tech (although some of the larger service companies are absolutely SHAMELESS when they do damage to your printer. i will not mention names but have heard quite a few horror stories.

and in all fairness, it is not hard to destroy a head after the tech leaves, so i understand the difficulty in print head warranty