SP540v Running with No Ink

[TheMattMan]

Has anyone had the problem of there versacamm not stopping when a ink cartridge runs out? Mine has kept printing 2 times this week when the Yellow and the Black has run out of ink. Is this a problem with the machine or the cartridges?

Matt

 

[zmatalucci]

Mine did it, it was the cartridges.

 

[TheMattMan]

My Magenta on the other hand stopped printing last week, paused the machine like it should, and it felt heavy to me and I took it apart to find a full cup of ink left in it. What gives.

 

[Gino]

I would sooner think the cartridge tab isn't coming out properly.... or something is jammed in there.

 

[threeputt]

Watch when you scissor open the ink carts. Be sure not to nick the sensors.

 

[Gino]

Didn't see your last reply.

This is going to sound dumb, but is your machine on a slight incline giving false readings ??

-OR-​

Are you not inserting them 100% correct ??

 

[petepaz]

never had that but it does sound like a sensor problem like the guys above suggested
problem is it in the cartridges or the machine
what does the printer status indicate for the ink levels when this happens

 

[TheMattMan]

I don't think I nicked the sensors or anything.. I will pay closer attention from now on to make sure. The printer is on level ground... hasn't moved since we had it installed.

The printer status acts correctly. It shows the ink on the last quarter and will have to be replaced soon, it just forgets to turn itself off. This has all happened in the past few weeks so until these run out of ink again I will not know if its a fluke or something wrong. Just hope it runs out of ink and messes up the small jobs and not the big ones

 

[Gino]

Just hope it runs out of ink and messes up the small jobs and not the big ones

Evidently, you haven't been in the sign business very long.........LOL It never works that way.... 'Murphy's Law' always kicks in before you can save a dime.

​

 

[TheMattMan]

Actually so far, no Murphy's Law.. The first time it happened in the first few inches of a new print, and last night on a Translucent 2x Overprint job it ran out of black ink on the bottom 2 contour/crop marks instead of screwing the whole job up... Even better, it was a square cut print, so I technically didn't need the crop marks, I was just being lazy.

Lucky me I guess

 

[mystysue]

OK.. if you look at an empty ink cartridge that has done correctly and stopped the machine.. you will see a tab thing that pops up kinda and shows the machine that its out of ink.. occasionally these will stick and not pop like they are suppost to so the machine does not know its out of ink..
Seems like a pretty simplistic way to tell if the ink is out.. but that is what it does.... The ink is actually like in a bag inside and as the bag colapses it makes the plastic tab move.. lol..
I know it happened to us once..and yeah.. with murphys law it was towards the end of a large banner..

 

[Doyle]

mine keeps doing this too....... really frustrating to come back into the room and see that your print is ruined. When it happened the second time, it took me a while to get the black to start printing again too.

 

[cartoad]

This happend to us last fall, called and asked the tech, he said he had several other shops complain in a short time. Told us to be sure and store our extra cartridges laying down, not on edge. Maybe there was a batch of bad cartridges.

 

[Ken]

There is a setting on the machine that allows you to deal with a low ink situation..continue or not..if you are set to continue..to squeeze every drop of ink out of the cart..well..
Ken

 

[Bogie]

Could that result in bubbles and hassle?

 

[pindesign]

This happened to me too. Thankfully my Roland tech was straight up with me and told me that Roland had a bad batch of cartridges where the tab wasn't popping out.

It is very unlikely to be caused by laying them down flat or nicking them with scissors IMO...

If you have had several cartridges do it, and they were all bought at the same time, this may explain the problem.

Roland has kept very quiet about this. I wonder if it could damage the heads?

Of course, it is possible that in some cases, a damaged sensor on the printer may be causing the problem, but if it only happened a few times from a particular batch purchase, then it is likely to be the dodgey carts. you can see if the tab has popped out or not when u remove it.

 

[Ken]

Pindesign...?

Can you show us a photo of the tab or whatever "popping" out..not sure what you mean..
Thanks..Ken

 

[pindesign]

Sure.

First photo shows the faulty black cartridge that we had. Printed dry, tab did not come out.

Second shows a normal empty cartridge.

Sorry about the lack of focus, but you see what I mean.

 

[Ken]

Thanks for the photos..I had to have a look at my sp300 carts..same setup.. no problems with that here..so far.
Cheers!
Ken

 

[grafxxx]

Evidently, you haven't been in the sign business very long.........LOL It never works that way.... 'Murphy's Law' always kicks in before you can save a dime.

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i second that