strange pattern

[iladi]

hi, everybody, good to see you.

here is my problem.

i have a strange pattern on my print, only on the large grey area. i have a similar print, but smaller in size and it has no pattern.

printed from corel, on versacamm, roland max inks, calibrated, profiled matterial -mactac Print vinyl 829R. overprint x2, because it will be backlighted, Roland sp 540v. in medalion i have enhanced in photoshop the pattern for viewing purpose.

any explanation?

i have a red adicted client. i usualy print for him even larger red areas with no artefact at all. so it must be an ink combination/material isue. i think

 

[Ken]

I expect that you are using "standard" mode and not high quality mode.
Is this a fountain fill for the background?
Could also be contamination of the vinyl. Try cleaning the vinyl before printing. See if the same thing happens.
Ken

 

[iladi]

it is a hi res print. it is also a uniform background, not a gradient fill.

 

[Ken]

Then , suspect contamination on the vinyl.
Ken

 

[Mason]

I agree with Ken, Id also do a manual cleaning.

 

[vid]

Can you see the pattern showwing up in the type? Is it a new roll of vinyl?

We've had a similar experiences with that ^@$#Q)*! pattern --- VersaCamm, Hi-Res, and Overprint settings like yours with ControlTac and Arlon products, too. Mostly on the translucent materials in broad areas of color. We haven't really found a definitive answer yet.

One suggestion from our printer vendor was to take the drag bar off the roll of material so that it pulls easier when feeding --- or spin off the amount of material needed for the job.

The theory was that the feed rollers would pull the material off the roll to allow slack. Then, as it fed into the machine, it would get taunt and slow the feed rate enough that it would print "heavier" when it was pulling the material... and "lighter" when there wasn't stress on the vinyl.

That has helped us some, but sadly has not completely cured the issue. It still happens to us with the lighter colors like yours.

We've had VersaCamm, Roland and Arlon reps look at samples and the the best answer we got was, "huh, well ain't that sumpthin'? I'll have to show that to ___________, and get back to ya..........................................."

I'm hoping there's a better solution, too.......

 

[cartoad]

We had a similar issue a few weeks ago printing on clear, half way thru the roll, unrolled enough to do the job and let it sit for a few hours and then printed ok. Thinking that the roll may have been very tightly wound and had some effect on the vinyl, but no real answers, just like Vid, very interesting,
Hal

 

[asignstop]

I had similar patterns while prinitng w/ a mimaki - it ended up being the self collecting roller pulling too tight. Do you have a self collecting roller on the roland? Possibly adjust this pressure as well to the minimal needed, ditto on the back "drag bar".

 

[mark in tx]

How old is the printer?

 

[iladi]

thanx for feedback everyone. it also may be a heating issue (it's very hot outside, no AC inside ). i will consider unroll media before printing.

printer is 7 months old.

 

[vid]

update FWIW

(edit)the best answer we got was, "huh, well ain't that sumpthin'? I'll have to show that to ___________, and get back to ya..........................................."

I got someone to get back to me! ...we now have a new magenta/yellow printhead and beautiful prints with any setting.

I used the key words ink starvation in describing it over the phone to our vendor to prompt a resolution. Previously, we had used the term banding. (I guess in the world of printer troubleshooting, banding implies a more mechanical, or software related problem.

The issue we had typically showed itself when we ran with a hi-res/2 overprint setting in areas of broad color on Roland's VersaCamm SP540V. With the wider range of color and increased ink laydown in this setting, it became more apparent there wasn't enough ink available to fully cover where it was supposed to fully cover...
In the lower resolution settings, the print head could better keep up with the print demands --- so the problem wasn't as obvious.

For reference, the troubleshooting flow chart the tech went through was:

>The customer doesn't know what they're talking about when they use the term banding... and their art is screwed up.

>The customer is using a cheap non-printabale vinyl that has been stored on a shelf causing flat spots on the product before printing.

>The media is tugging as it is pulled through the printer.

>Hole or Gap in the ink lines which would allow air into the system causing ink starvation.

>Clogged dampers which wouldn't allow enough ink through the printhead causing the starvation... (we've got new dampers, too).

>Bad Printhead... (which was our solution).

I've also learned that there's a wiper scraper that needs to be cleaned periodically.
When I gave the tech a deer in the headlights look and said "hmmmuh?" at the mention of "wiper scraper", he returned the "uh oh" glance... and tore into that housing for inspection.
By good fortune and the grace of a stringent in-house cleaning/maintenance program, he was actually surprised that our wiper scraper hadn't been scraped or wiped in a year and a half. ...but it was a little crusty.

That's my update anyhow... happy printing and keep your encoder strip clean!