Versacamm issue, need some help fast, thanks!

[Tony Rome]

I just had to replace a magenta cartridge after I did, it started printing yellow.
I called Roland and this is what the tech told me (seriously) do 8-10 powerful cleans.
I told him this happened a few years back and I remember doing something with a syringe to get air out of the line but I did not remember exactly what I did.
He said do not do that, do the powerful cleans, so I did, about 6-8 of them and I after a whole lot of ink wasted, I am in much better shape.

When the problem first started the magenta hardly registered anything on the test print, but between the powerful cleans and printing about 5 square feet of pure magenta I got it to where it is now (see pic)
My prints have some banding so I can get away with a few small/cheap jobs, but nothing that will look exactly right.

Any advice where to go from here?

My thoughts are
1. I need to do that syringe thing, but I have no idea what I did last time.
2. Replace capping station?
3. Your suggestion???

THANKS in advance!!!

 

[Solventinkjet]

8-10 powerful cleanings is excessive if all of your maintenance parts are working properly. It sounds like you may want to think about changing your cap tops out and make sure your wiper is clean and not bloated. Also check the bottom of the head to see if there is ink build up where the cap meets the head. Clean it very well without touching the middle of the head where the nozzles are. Then do 1 or 2 powerful cleaning and see if that helps.

If there is ink in the dampers and multiple powerful cleanings didn't bring the nozzles back, I recommend new cap tops and check the pump for any clogs.

 

[MtnView]

I am with VanderJ. I just changed out the magenta cap top on ours last week. I bought two cap tops since they are relatively inexpensive as replacement parts go. It looks like you may be changing out the black one as well soon.

 

[Tony Rome]

Thanks guys, so none of you think it is air in the line?
Is this what you are talking about as far as the part (cap tops)?
I am not sure what these actually do but what would these do/not do to create the problem I am having? Not let ink through due to build up or somehting?

Also, I am not sure how you tell if there is one for magenta and one for black, there are only two, right, what about the other colors?
Thanks!

 

[J Hill Designs]

mostly they stop having the ability to completely seal onto the head, causing lack of complete ink movement during cleanings and causing air to enter and dry up the head a bit

 

[MtnView]

Thanks guys, so none of you think it is air in the line?
Is this what you are talking about as far as the part (cap tops)?
I am not sure what these actually do but what would these do/not do to create the problem I am having? Not let ink through due to build up or somehting?

Also, I am not sure how you tell if there is one for magenta and one for black, there are only two, right, what about the other colors?
Thanks!

View attachment 99524

That looks like the cap top I use on mine. There is not a specific cap top per color. They all use the same cap top.

 

[Tony Rome]

Thanks everybody, I am all good now.
Seems like the cap tops did it, I did them both.

The black scares me a little, not sure what is causing it to look like that, maybe head is on the way out?

Thanks again!

Posted below is a before and after cap replacement.

 

[TCBinaflash]

Magenta looks awfully rough as well.

 

[Tony Rome]

Magenta looks awfully rough as well.

My guess is you didn't see it was a before and after, you must be looking at before.

 

[player]

Time for a head soak.

 

[Tony Rome]

I'll Google that but care to explain how you do a head soak?

 

[player]

Time for a head soak.

 

[player]

I'll Google that but care to explain how you do a head soak?

A head soak is when you pinch off the drain tubes from the caps, fill the caps with cleaning solution, then
let the heads sit on the caps when they are full of cleaner.

To do this you have the heads off the caps like in cleaning mode.
Clamp the lines that drain the caps. I use a large spring paper clip.
Fill the caps with cleaning fluid.
Move the heads back to the caps.
When the heads are seated and capped, turn off the printer's main
power so the pump does not suck on the fluid.

Instead of moving the heads over to the cleaning position,
I will use the head height function to move the heads off the caps.
You have to be quick though.

Let the heads soak anywhere from one hour to 24 hours.
Run a regular cleaning, or a medium cleaning, and print something substantial.
Sometimes when I have printed after the head cleaning, things clear up.

Don't work the heads too hard. Try a head soak, then do a manual cleaning, then
carry on. Don't keep trying fix it all at once. If you have good caps and wipers, and
manual clean regularly, things can clear up on their own after a head soak.

Another trick is to take a foam swab, soak it in cleaner, and carefully just barely touch the bottom
of the head with the sponge for a few to ten minutes. Do not apply any pressure or scrub or rub the head. Just let the
swab barely touch the head, and the cleaner gets drawn up into the nozzles. Use this carefully and sparingly.
You can also do a head soak after. Again, touching the head in any other way is disastrous.

You do know how to do a proper manual cleaning?

edit: Sometimes when doing a head soak one colour gets drawn into the other colour. This will require a medium cleaning and/or some solid colour printing. It can happen more supposedly if one cartridge is full and the other is empty. I have pull all the carts out after turn off the main and sub power, which helped, but I have still had it happen.

 

[Tony Rome]

A head soak is when you pinch off the drain tubes from the caps, fill the caps with cleaning solution, then
let the heads sit on the caps when they are full of cleaner.

To do this you have the heads off the caps like in cleaning mode.
Clamp the lines that drain the caps. I use a large spring paper clip.
Fill the caps with cleaning fluid.
Move the heads back to the caps.
When the heads are seated and capped, turn off the printer's main
power so the pump does not suck on the fluid.

Instead of moving the heads over to the cleaning position,
I will use the head height function to move the heads off the caps.
You have to be quick though.

Let the heads soak anywhere from hour to 24 hours.
Run a regular cleaning, or a medium cleaning, and print something substantial.
Sometimes when I have printed things clear up after the head cleaning.

Don't work the heads too hard. Try a head soak, then do a manual cleaning, then
carry on. Don't keep trying fix it all at once. If you have good caps and wipers, and
manual clean regularly, things can clear up on their own.

Another trick is to take a foam swab, soak it in cleaner, and carefully just barely touch the bottom
of the head with the sponge. Do not apply any pressure or scrub or rub the head. Just let the
swab barely touch the head, and the cleaner gets drawn up into the nozzle. Use this sparingly.
You can also do a head soak after. Again, touching the head in any other way is disastrous.

You do know how to do a proper manual cleaning?

Great, thanks so much for the detailed explanation!
I will try it tomorrow.
Yes I know how to do a manual cleaning, I try to do those once a week or once every two weeks

THANKS!

 

[player]

I do a manual cleaning at least once a week. Sometimes twice a week. Usually after I print anything substantial.

 

[player]

Once every 2 weeks is looking for trouble.