Versacamm Issue

[airborneassault]

Hi Sign Guys & Gals! Hope everyone is having a nice weekend!

I've got my Sp540V that I've been running for 3 years now. Up until lately its ran great but it feels like it's on the decline as of the last week. It runs regularly, is set up to do automatic cleanings twice a day and I do a manual cleaning on the machine weekly at the least.

All of the sudden any black that is printed is no longer crisp. The crop marks even have a hazy blur to them no matter what materials are used. I would imagine the black/cyan head is nearing the end of its life but the other issue that puzzles me is the after a manual cleaning. Normally after the manual cleaning I can look at the heads while printing and they are still clean and free of ink. After cleaning on Friday I noticed an excessive amount of splatter on the wiper tray and the heads were filthy, as if they weren't ever cleaned.

I went ahead and ordered a set of cap tops as I'm sure they're on the decline but my real question is the pump. Is it possible the pump isn't working like it should so the captops are retaining waste ink and spreading it to the heads when they cap?

Sorry for the short novel I've written but any advice or insight would be appreciated!

Thanks!
-Nathan

 

[GVP]

Don't know if the SP has it, but on our VP - have you changed the wiper scraper blade (and the wipers themselves, of course) ?

 

[airborneassault]

You're correct, the SP does have those same as the VP. The wiper scraper is new within the last 2 weeks (changed from the clear one that was the original to the new black one Roland supplies, don't know if that would matter they look identical other than color).

Wipers are also new, they were changed out during this last cleaning from the OEM black ones with felt on the back to the clearish/white aftermarket ones. Same way, they look the exact same as far as size other than the felt on the back & the color. I may change back to my old OEM's just to see if that would make any difference. Thanks for the ideas!

-Nathan

 

[sfr table hockey]

If you are getting pooling in the captops then you may have a blockage in the drain lines. If both captops pool then check both lines to the drain bottle. If you can remove the line from the captops and force some cleaning fluid through with a syringe, to the drain bottle, then you would be able to tell if there was a blockage between there and the drain bottle.

Keep a rag or paper towel over your connection as you force the cleaning fluid in case it builds up pressure and pops off the syringe.

As far as the pump goes, and I think most pumps are similar, the tubing just runs around inside the housing and there are a couple of rollers that rub against the tube to cause a draw. No ink leaves the tube line to go into a pump. A tube can break inside a pump and then leak but then it would no longer draw either. You can replace the tube in a pump for a lot less $$.

 

[jgolo]

Sounds like the same thing mine was doing, ended up being the head. Hope yours ends up better.

 

[DRamm76]

I think it may also be overkill to have it doing two regular cleanings per day. Only one is recommended and manually clean it every two weeks depending on how much printing you are doing.

As far as using OEM parts and supplies, just because they are the same color doesnt mean they will work the same way, so be careful there. It depends on what they are made from. Cheaper products usually mean they were made with cheaper materials, so they arent going to last as long or perform the same. Just a fact of life

It also sounds like you are getting a little bit of overspray as well. Cleaning can only prevent this for so long. As jgolo stated, it may end up being the head. What is the shot count on the head for this machine?

 

[nwbee]

What does the test print look like? Are someof the lines shifted a bit? You can try soaking the head if they are, since you have already cleaned them. Also, did the head hit nything? It could have been damaged.

 

[airborneassault]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

DRamm76 off the top of your head do you know how to get the shot count on each head? My tech did it for me over a year and a half ago but he's no longer a tech for that supplier and his replacement had no idea what I was talking about, needless to say they're no longer servicing my machine.

Anyhow, the test print is the same as it has been for the past 2 years, a few black lines are deflected (2 maybe 3 at max) but the overall print quality is unaffected. No head strikes or anything of that nature.

After thinking about the wipers I went out on a whim and swapped them back to the OEM's I had in stock. No instant results so I was beginning to rule them out, but I had a large job with some solid blue to be printed. I figured I'd go ahead and give it a whirl as the printing is relatively unchanged by the issue and it may be my imagination but it seemed as if the heads became cleaner as they printed and the blue they printed knocked my socks off.

 

[CS-SignSupply]

Head shot count can be obtained from the System report on some units or the Service Mode Reports.