SP540v Stops printing midway, "processing"

[jsalda]

Have had this issue several times earlier this week. Running some moderately long wrap prints, about 45 min on fast quality. Job gets about 3/4 of the way done and then printer beeps and the print head stops halfway across the platen. Display just shows "PROCESSING." Job drops off of VersaWorks like its completed. I have to shut the main power off and back on in order to revive it.

I sent the service log to tech, he said the last couple of errors were 0002. He also said the scan motor has 3000 hours on it. He want's to replace the scan motor first to see if that fixes it. However, in my research, 0002 is a communications error between main and servo boards. I don't want to jus start throwing parts at an issue. Also, it may be worth mentioning, I was running some banners before these errors started showing up, and had a pretty bad jam as the head hit a big wrinkle in the material. Anybody have suggestions on how to figure out exactly what the issue is?

 

[player]

How fast is your computer?

Could your network as in your router or cables be suspect?

 

[jsalda]

RIP computer is about a year old, I can't remember the exact specs, but it's a business desktop, not a pro workstation. It's much faster than its predecessor and I never had issues.

Network was was something I had considered. Router/switch is less than 6 months old, top-of-the-line Linksys. I need to check the cabling. Will post back with results after investigating the network.

 

[GVP]

Consider a dedicated network card for your computer, rather than go through network/switch/router?

 

[jsalda]

Consider a dedicated network card for your computer, rather than go through network/switch/router?

Yea, I definitely think it's time to consider this, business has increased enough that we need to take out as many variables as possible.

 

[jsalda]

OK, got into the shop and decided to do a little testing. Started a print job, and while it was printing, pulled the ethernet cable from the SP540v to simulate a network failure/error. The printer made 2 more passes as it emptied its cache and then the print head returned to the home position. From there I was able to cancel the job using the "Pause" button on the printers front panel and the printer returns to standby mode.

This is different than what I experienced last week. When it stopped last week, the print head stopped mid way across the platen and never returned to the home position. The only way to cancel was to shut off the main power on the side.

So, I'm led to believe that there is an actual issue within the printer.

Anybody have any further ideas or is my above thinking wrong?

 

[Northern Design]

cable

The cable from the mother board to the carriage is bad

 

[jsalda]

The cable from the mother board to the carriage is bad

So I talked to my actual tech that would be coming to work on it (his boss is the one that said scan motor) and he mentioned the cable also could be it. Nice to have a consensus. Will post back with results.

 

[jsalda]

So, here is what ended up happening. Opened the back panel of the machine and reseated all connections on the servo and main board. Left the panel off and started running. Everything was great, no problems. Figured all was well, put the back panel back on and within 2 feet of material started getting errors again. Replaced the servo board and all is good now, WITH the panel back on.

 

[timkaz227]

I have had the same problem. I have been running my printer for 2 years now w/ the back cover off and a small fan blowing on the boards. If it gets to 70 degrees in the shop w/o the fan running it craps out. What did the servo board cost to replace?

 

[jsalda]

I have had the same problem. I have been running my printer for 2 years now w/ the back cover off and a small fan blowing on the boards. If it gets to 70 degrees in the shop w/o the fan running it craps out. What did the servo board cost to replace?

Board was $685 from the Roland dealer. Tech already had an open ticket, so labor was just an hour. Took him about 10 minutes to replace, had to do a limit initialization and one other procedure (I think it had to do with the cut mark sensor). I saw boards on eBay for $450 and I'm sure the procedures are probably in the service manual if you have access to it.

 

[phototec]

So, here is what ended up happening. Opened the back panel of the machine and reseated all connections on the servo and main board. Left the panel off and started running. Everything was great, no problems. Figured all was well, put the back panel back on and within 2 feet of material started getting errors again. Replaced the servo board and all is good now, WITH the panel back on.

Great to hear you got it fixed, and thanks so much for the UPDATE, often times folks come on here and ask fro help and then we never hear from them again, thanks for letting us know the outcome.

Questions:

Did you replace the Servo Board yourself?

Where did you purchase the Servo Board?

What did it cost?

THANKS

Never mind I see you provided the answers, I'm slow at typing...lol

 

[jsalda]

often times folks come on here and ask fro help and then we never hear from them again

I know, I've noticed that a lot when I research issues. It's the least I can do for all the knowledge and help I've gained from JUST reading on this forum.

 

[Dirtbag]

Sounds like something we ran into with our XR-640 early last year. I believe we ran a Limit Initialization with instruction from a tech, but ended up replacing the head carriage cable. Glad to hear you got everything cleared up.