Versacamm VP300 - Need to replace black print head?

[Dyno89]

New here, but I have had the VP300 for about 6 years now and I do small time printing and sign stuff, so the machine has not seen a ton of use, but I have begun to notice the black is not printing as "crisp" as it used to and theres some overspray on the black parts that I can notice under a bright light when I am printing something thats black on white vinyl. It seems to have gotten slightly worse over the past 6 months and I was told its likely the black print head going out. I do have a Service Manual and although I have never done any major service myself on this printer, I have done things like replacing video cards and other small parts in laptops and this doesnt look like its too much worse of a job to actually replace the head myself but the printer adjustement stuff that needs done after is what has me worried. Is this something that can be done myself? I know I can get a genuine Roland head for around $750-$800, but the local sign company with the Roland tech quoted me almost $1,600 to do the job. I am not a retail / full size sign shop or anything so I do not have that kind of money at the moment, but I do depend on this for alot of my income so I need to get it fixed asap.

One other question regarding the print head, I have never used cleaning carts to flush the machine or do an internal wash or cleaning as I was told I wouldnt need to unless moving the machine. I have heard about using the carts to do a head wash, would that be worth a try first? I dont know how that works, if its from the service menu or regular menu, I have not looked into that yet. I just dont want to spend $200 on 4 cleaning carts to clean / flush the machine and then have the head still need replaced and have to spend yet another $200 on 4 more cleaning carts when replacing the head. I assume that the carts are only good for cleaning once correct? I know in the service manual it mentions flushing the machine using the cleaning carts when changing the head out.

I just want to get as much info and knowledge on this as I can before I decide to proceed. Any advice or help is much appreciated!

 

[Robert M]

Test print

Post a picture of your test print so I can see what your head is doing. Have you looked at the bottom of the head to make sure the wiper is doing it's job. If you get a syringe with some flexible tube you can flush the individual head after pulling the dampers off. Are you running OEM inks?

 

[Dyno89]

Post a picture of your test print so I can see what your head is doing. Have you looked at the bottom of the head to make sure the wiper is doing it's job. If you get a syringe with some flexible tube you can flush the individual head after pulling the dampers off. Are you running OEM inks?

Sounds good, I will get a test print uploaded this weekend asap.

I have always used oem Roland Eco Sol Max ink carts and the wipers were just replaced and the bottom of the head looks clean. What is the proper procedure for flushing the head from above? Simply turn off machine power, remove covers and pull damper off the black ink then just attach a flexible piece of tubing to one of the plastic nozzles the damper pops into and squeeze the eco sol cleaning fluid through slowly or it it more involved than that? Also which of the two do I hook the tubing to? If theres a step by step procedure that needs done I appreciate any info, I dont want to do something wrong and mess it up worse.