Test Print means what?

[CheapVehicleWrap]

Not saying that's your problem just that you can wipe the heads that way. Would never believed it myself until a tech taught me. As Mike says above... your wiper touches the nozzles. It basically unclogs nozzles similar to a soak, but your doing the job by hand.

 

[tciou]

Is it possible to attach a picture with the actual "super banding" phenomenon ? The test print looks and is good.

 

[Dragos_RO]

It's not from alignment.
The cleaning will not help.

1. Try to print on another material. Mabe the coating of the material is not so great.
2. The material or the printer is loaded with static electricity.
Verify if the printer is grounded.
Clean the media whit technical alcohol or medicinal alcohol.

 

[Colin]

1. Try to print on another material. Mabe the coating of the material is not so great.

As already stated, this occurs on various vinyls.

The material or the printer is loaded with static electricity.
Verify if the printer is grounded.

This is a possibility. I noticed that ever since I put a polypropylene flooring tile down in the shop (over the concrete), I get a little finger zap every time I touch the printer controls, stereo or metal storage cabinet. But, this fine banding problem didn't occur until recently, and the flooring has been down for about a year.

The printer isn't grounded other than the "ground" in it's power plug.

Clean the media whit technical alcohol or medicinal alcohol.

As the banding is occurring on all vinyls, I don't think this will help. (?)



*Added: The image below was printed at 720x720

 

[Jack Knight1979]

In service mode there is a test print called "test fill" or something along those lines.

It puts down 8 passes @ 720x720, 100% ink saturation per head. This will allow you to diagnose which head is failing. Isolate and replace.

You have a head that is going out. Did you have a head strike a couple weeks to months ago?

How many shots are on the heads?

When I bought my Roland I had two heads go with about 1600k shots on them. I assume something happened in transit that damaged the heads.

I have a head now that is on 7 billion shots and fires like the day it was installed. They've died at a couple million shots too.

I'm happy if I get two years out of a head. I also have heads that have been in for four years.

 

[Signed Out]

is that a spot color because some of our spot colors print like **** but so we use there cmyk values then fine tune the color if it a spot color try matching in cmyk values and see if thats all it is

 

[Colin]

In service mode there is a test print called "test fill" or something along those lines.

How does one get into service mode?

You have a head that is going out. Did you have a head strike a couple weeks to months ago?

Never had a head strike.

How many shots are on the heads?

Don't know, but the machine is only 14 months old and has not seen heavy use. Having said that, I've never let it sit for more than a few days without doing at least a small print.

 

[Colin]

is that a spot color because some of our spot colors print like **** but so we use there cmyk values then fine tune the color if it a spot color try matching in cmyk values and see if thats all it is

Yes, it was a RVW color. When I do a test print with some rectangles filled with pure C, M , Y or K, it doesn't happen; it looks perfect, but when examined with a magnifying glass, the lines are there ever so slightly.

 

[scuba_steve2699]

Soak a swab with cleaning fluid and wipe the head from back to front. Keep the swab clean (don't use a dirty one). Put new wipers in too.

I would NOT do this - unless you want to clog a nozzle with a piece of foam. Soak the swab and hold it in place to allow capillary action to draw cleaning solution up into the nozzles and help dissolve any dried or clogged ink.

 

[anotherdog]

The rep or service guy can't tell you to do it because that would void warranty and be directly against manufacturers instructions. That said it works. I have had ink build up on the head and had to both replace the wipers and directly clean the surface of the head (I can admit that now in public since my warranty has expired). It's mainly because for some reason crap (technical term) has built up on the wipers and they arent doing the job. If the wipers are ok the head should clean...unless of course you have a head strike.

It could just be a fibre or thread of vinyl that is touching the head as it moves or is stuck on one of the wipers. I had this going on and it literally took me going over with a magnifying glass to find it.

 

[Colin]

It could just be a fibre or thread of vinyl that is touching the head as it moves or is stuck on one of the wipers. I had this going on and it literally took me going over with a magnifying glass to find it.

If it is indeed a small piece of lint, wouldn't it need to be stuck on the head and not the wiper in order to be causing this?

 

[sardocs]

I'm tending to think static might be the issue. I've been having issues with my Roland the last few weeks. Nozzles were firing but magenta was getting into the yellow. Even after medium and powerful cleanings the yellow was orange. And I'm getting little static zaps from metal items around the shop. Our tech suggested putting a dehumidifier near the printer. After a day and a half of running it, and emptying a couple gallons of H20 from the air in the shop, everything is back to normal.

 

[signage]

Sardocs a dehumidifier would make it worst, I think you meant a humidifier!

 

[Colin]

Sardocs a dehumidifier would make it worst, I think you meant a humidifier!

I think you meant "worse".


:Big Laugh

 

[Gino]

Worse/worst... you still have a problem.

Have you tried sucking ink up through and making sure you don't have an obstruction causing bleeps ??

 

[Colin]

Nope.

 

[sardocs]

Nope, I meant what I said, and said what I meant, it's a de-humidifier, 100%. It was on the advise of our Roland tech, and I thought it was an odd suggestion, but it really did fix the issue for us.

 

[anotherdog]

If it is indeed a small piece of lint, wouldn't it need to be stuck on the head and not the wiper in order to be causing this?

On the wiper it leaves a fine line of ink on the head that spatters when the head prints. I had a tiny whisker of lam stuck on the media guide that was brushing the heads as they passed. took hours to find (and many head cleanings). I have also had lint on the wiper (I really should clean this place up).
Sometimes finding the problem requires a little detective work.

 

[Colin]

Hmmm, ok, I'll look further.

 

[HulkSmash]

I think you meant "worse".


:Big Laugh

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